Superboy #68 is an issue of the series Superboy (Volume 1) with a cover date of October, 1958.
Synopsis for "The Boy of Steel vs. the Thing of Steel"
When a defective duplicating ray created by Professor Dalton strikes Superboy, it creates a grotesque, stupid, imperfect duplicate of the Boy of Steel which nonetheless possesses all of his incredible power. Moreover, it is not affected by Green Kryptonite. Superboy remarks that the creature is "bizarre", to which the creature replies, "Him call me...(mumble)...Bizarro! Is...is that my name?" Bizarro is basically good-hearted, but cannot control his powers very well, and proves dangerous to Smallville. However, he is befriended by a blind girl named Melissa, who senses his benevolent nature. Superboy is unable to defeat Bizarro by conventional means, but finally senses that the metal of the demolished duplicator ray itself can destroy him. Bizarro deliberately flies into the piece of metal Superboy holds, destroying himself, but creating a vibration that restores Melissa's sight. Superboy muses that Bizarro may well have understood what effect his destruction would have on Melissa's eyes and, as the Boy of Steel flies away, he hears Melissa say "I never saw Bizarro myself, while blind! But I know, from his gentle voice, that he must have had a kind face!"
Appearing in "The Boy of Steel vs. the Thing of Steel"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Kent Family
- Jonathan Kent (Mentioned only)
- Martha Kent
Antagonists:
- Bizarro Superboy (Single appearance; dies) (Origin)
- Elephant
- Gorilla
- Lion
Other Characters:
- Professor Dalton (First appearance)
- Zookeeper (Unnamed) (Cameo) (Single appearance)
- Citizens of Smallville
- Four Member Posse (Unnamed) (Cameo) (Single appearance)
- Three Gym Class Boys (Unnamed) (Single appearance)
- Sculptor (Unnamed) (Cameo) (Single appearance)
- Smallville Police Officer (Unnamed) (Cameo) (Single appearance)
- Hilda (Cameo) (Single appearance)
- Hiram (Cameo) (Single appearance)
- Melissa (Single appearance)
- Melissa's Guide Dog (Unnamed) (Cameo) (Single appearance)
- Aunty (Unnamed) (Cameo) (Single appearance)
- Airplane Pilot (Behind the scenes) (Unnamed) (Cameo) (Single appearance)
- United States Army
- Brigadier General (Unnamed) (Cameo) (Single appearance)
- Three Flamethrowers (Unnamed) (Cameo) (Single appearance)
- Two Tank Crew Members (Unnamed) (Cameo) (Single appearance)
- Three Guided Missle Range Personel (Unnamed) (Cameo) (Single appearance)
- Prince Charming (Mentioned only)
Locations:
- Earth-One
- Space
- Krypton (Flashback only)
- Saturn
- Earth's Moon
- Earth
- Smallville
- Professor Dalton's Laboratory
- 321 Maple Street
- Kent Farm
- Kitchen
- Clark Kent's Room
- Secret Closet
- Kent Farm
- Hiram & Hilda's Farm
- Park
- Smallville High School
- Room 102 Braille Classroom
- Gym
- Sculptor's Studios
- Smallville Museum (Mentioned only)
- Lead & Zinc Works (unknown location)
- Mountainside (outside of town)
- Carved Face of Superboy
- Army Base (Unnamed) (nearby Smallville)
- Metropolis
- Metropolis Zoo
- Florida
- Guided Missile Base (Unnamed)
- Smallville
- Space
Items:
- Duplicator Ray (First appearance) (Destroyed)
- Glowing Metal Pieces
- Radium
- Duplicate Radium
- Geiger Counter
- Jewel
- Duplicate Jewel
- Superboy Robots (Cameo)
- Punching Bag (Destroyed)
- Green Kryptonite
- Lead-lined Suit
- Melissa Puppet (In ruins)
- Artillery Guns
- Flamethrowers
- Atomic Bomb (detonated 240,000 miles away on the Moon)
Vehicles:
- Tank (Destroyed)
Notes
- This issue is divided into three chapters:
- Part I: The Amazing Bizarro
- Part II: The Runaway Super-Creature
- Part III: The Battle with Bizarro
- Binky -- Lost a Free Education! public service advertisement.
- Little Pete gag strip.
- Shorty gag strip.
- Casey the Cop gag strip.
- This issue is reprinted in Superman Annual #2, DC Special Blue Ribbon Digest #15 and The Greatest Superman Stories Ever Told.
- Superboy appeared last in Adventure Comics #252. He appears next in Adventure Comics #253.
- Martha Kent appeared last in Adventure Comics #252. She appears next in Adventure Comics #253.
Trivia
- First and only appearance of Bizarro Superboy. He is not to be confused with Bizarro No. 1, an adult Bizarro who plagues Superman in Action Comics #254. The two Bizarros are actually separate characters, as opposed to an older version of a single character. Although Bizarro No. 1 is more well-known to the general public, Bizarro Superboy predates Bizarro's first appearance by nearly a year.
- The story of the first Bizarro is re-imagined in John Byrne's, The Man of Steel #5, in which Lucy Lane becomes the blind object of Bizarro's affections.
- First appearance of Professor Dalton's Duplicator Ray. A second Duplicator Ray was developed by the Brain in Superboy #82. And an upgraded version of the ray (developed by Lex Luthor) was introduced in Action Comics #254.
See Also
Recommended Reading
- Superman Family Recommended Reading
- Action Comics (Volume 1)
- Adventure Comics (Volume 1)
- DC Comics Presents (Volume 1)
- Superboy (Volume 1)
- Superboy (Volume 2)
- Supergirl (Volume 1)
- Supergirl (Volume 2)
- Superman (Volume 1)
- Superman Family (Volume 1)
- Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane (Volume 1)
- Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen (Volume 1)
- World's Finest (Volume 1)