Superman: The Secret Years

(DC, 1985)
™ and ©1985 DC Comics, Inc.

At one point, DC ran both Superman and Superboy comics at the same time. Although it was interesting to read Superboy to see what Clark Kent was like in high school, the stories lacked a certain element of suspense. After all, readers knew what eventually happened to almost every character in the stories, having seen their futures in the Superman series.

Superman: The Secret Years cleverly manages to bring us new insights on Clark Kent, while still keeping us guessing. It does this by concentrating on Clark’s time at college—a previously unexplored time of Clark’s life—and simultaneously introducing an entirely new cast of supporting characters. The result is so interesting that it’s a shame that this was only a four-issue mini-series.

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