Warning: contains spoilers for Dark Crisis: Young Justice #2!
Even though Superboy broke onto the scene thirty years ago, even DC Comics knows he has been forgotten time and time again. Conner Kent's Superboy was a major player in the DCU for two decades before being "erased" from history in the New 52, and now he's struggling to find his place. Dark Crisis: Young Justice #2 hones in on Conner's longing for a past in which he is not only remembered, but prioritized.
Superboy (Conner Kent), a combined clone of Superman and Lex Luthor, debuted in 1993 as one of the "Supermen" that appeared after Superman's death. After Superman's return to life and Metropolis, Conner floated around, first spending time in Hawaii and then on the Kent Farm, while also working with his friends on the Young Justice and Teen Titans teams. Superboy then suffered a death of his own, saving the world during Infinite Crisis. Even though he returned to life, his history was then erased during DC's New 52 era. Conner Kent and all of his history recently returned to DC continuity, but he still struggles with just how totally the word - and his loved ones - forgot him and his impact.
Superboy's internal struggle is on full display in Dark Crisis: Young Justice #2 by Meghan Fitzmartin, Laura Braga, Luis Guerrero, and Pat Brosseau. Superboy, Robin, and Impulse are trapped in an alternate world where 90s DC Comics continuity reigns supreme - but things feel wrong to Robin and Impulse, as though these are worse versions of their memories. Superboy, however, is shown having the time of his life, enjoying the world and the fact that he "never died here." In this world, he was never replaced by Jon Kent, Superman's biological son, as Superboy, and Superman tells him, "The world needs you, Conner." In short, Superboy doesn't want to return to the "real" world.
This issue truly highlights how much Conner's character has been brutalized and changed over the years. While Robin and Impulse see this world as a warped, meaner version of their childhood, Superboy sees a world in which he is both remembered and prioritized - a world where he can have fun, like he and his friends used to. Superboy used to be a key DC legacy character, and now he is feeling the emotional effects of being left in the past.
While Conner clearly can't stay on this warped world, hopefully his conflict here will lead into the events of his upcoming mini-series, Superboy: Man of Tomorrow. His friends in Young Justice are always glad to see him, but Superboy can sense that the universe around him - what fans understand to be DC Comics - doesn't know what to do with him, and while that angst is making for great drama during Dark Crisis, it's also a situation that needs to be rectified so the once-beloved Superboy can meet his potential.
Dark Crisis: Young Justice #2 is available now from DC Comics.
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