Superboy Vol 4 50



Survival of the Fittest - The Last Boy on Earth Pt 1 of 4


 * "Keep your paws off me, you stinking ape!"
 * --Superboy

Summary
Volume: 4 Issue: 50 Month: April Year: 1998

Credits
Head Writer: Karl Kesel Cover Artists: Pencilers: Tom Grummett Inkers: Karl Kesel Colourists: Buzz Setzer Editors: Mike McAvennie & Maureen McTigue Special Thanks: Jack Kirby

Synopsis
Cast of Characters:
 * Superboy (Kon-El)
 * Wild Men
 * Gorr
 * Howler
 * Growler


 * Tuftan
 * Caesar
 * Lady Tawna
 * Dr. Canus
 * Nosferata
 * Killa
 * Nosferata

Locations:
 * Wild Lands
 * Roam

Items:
 * None.

First Appearances: The Wild Men Final Appearances: No Final Appearances

Synopsis:Superboy, with long hair and only rags of his costume, cowers in some ruins, hearing the voices of those hunting him. He is being pursued by a company of four animal people: a minotaur named Gorr, a wolfman named Howler, a bearman named Growler, and a tigerman named Prince Tuftan. They are equipped with crude weapons, except for the prince, who sports the "royal gun." Superboy apparently cannot speak and doesn't use or possess his powers. Nevertheless, he is no slacker, and fights hard against them. Still, outnumbered and not quite himself, the Kid is captured.

The hunters take him back to Roam, a city populated completely with animal people of every sort and ruled by Prince Tuftan's father, a tiger man named Caesar. Tuftan captured SB in the hopes of presenting him as a gift to his beloved, the Lady Tawna. However, an old snake creature named Sacker protests the exchange, claiming that the boy belongs to him, that his mark is around the boy's neck (there is a pendant with a S shaped snake on it). Caesar offers an ancient artifact (a TV) in exchange for SB, and despite the objections of Dr. Canus. Sacker warns that they should give the boy a special venom to hold in check his more aggressive tendencies.

While a celebration explodes in Roam, Dr. Canus withdraws to the cavern of Nosferata, a bat woman, and from him she learns about the boy, the celebration, and that Caesar's guard will be down. Caesar looks over SB while Tuftan goes to fetch the serum Sacker provided. Caesar is attacked by a gorilla man named Killa, but Superboy manages to snap his chains and with a shout of triumph he lays the gorilla out flat. A crowd rushes in as Killa escapes and Caesar explains that the Kid saved him. Over the protest of Ratsputin, the royal warlock, Caesar orders that the boy must undergo the Test to see if he is the Mighty One. br>

Trivia

 * This storyline is a homage to Jack Kirby's Kamandi: The Last Boy on Earth.

Recommended Readings

 * Adventures of Superman
 * Superboy and the Ravers
 * Teen Titans (Volume 3)
 * Young Justice

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