Reviewed By Jason Lockard
We all remember where we were when we believed a man could fly thanks to producers executive producers Ilya and Alexander Salkind. They would go on to produce a total of three Superman movies and the 1984 Supergirl movie. But in October 1988. They would begin airing TV episodes of the younger years of Clark Kent in Superboy.
The first season of this super series focused on Superboy/Clark Kent (John Haymes Newton), his childhood friend and crush Lana Lang (Stacy Haiduk) and his college roommate T.J. White (Jim Calvert), son of Daily Planet editor Perry White. As they attend Shuster University. Also at the college is Lex Luthor (Scott James Wells). Superboy not only must fight off the hatred of Lex Luther but many other threats from this world and not of this world as well!
Episode Rating:
****=Don’t Miss it!
***=Worth a look.
**=An Ok way to spend some time.
*=You haven’t missed anything.
Disc One:
1. The Jewel of Techacal: Lana's father, an archaeologist, comes to the university with what he thinks is a cursed relic. Lex Luthor then steals the jewel in order to sell it to the highest bidder. The cursed relic has the same effect as of kryptonite on Superboy. ***
2. A Kind of Princess: Clark falls for Sara Danner, a rich and somewhat spoiled student at Shuster, who happens to be the daughter of crime boss Matt Danner. **
3. Back to Oblivion: Mr. Wagner holds Lana hostage believing that she is his granddaughter Lena. His mind travels back to the days of World War II, when he was in a Nazi concentration camp, as he tries to protect his "granddaughter" from the Nazis, who are actually TJ and Clark. ****
4. The Russian Exchange Student: When a scientist's formula to improve the efficiency of gasoline is nearly destroyed, a Russian exchange student named Natasha is accused of sabotaging the computer that the formula was stored on. ***
5. Countdown to Nowhere: Superboy must intervene when crooks steal a laser weapon and plan to use it to destroy a launching space shuttle. The world first learns of the new hero, Superboy. ***
6. Bringing Down the House: A rock star, Judd Faust, wants the Boardwalk and baseball amusement park and when the owner refuses to sell the park everyone in it is in danger. ***
7. The Beast and Beauty: A Superboy impersonator is robbing banks and jewelry stores to get a million dollars so he can marry Florida's beauty queen. The real Superboy is arrested for his acts. **
8. The Fixer: Lex Luthor is taking bets on Shuster's basketball team who are playing against Florida State University in their next game. He blackmails Shuster's star player into losing the game and Superboy takes over the job of the referee to stop Luthor and save Shuster from his scandal. ***
Disc Two:
9. The Alien Solution: A strange cloud-like alien who can take over others bodies comes to earth hoping to steal Superboy's body so he can add it to his collection of warriors. ***
10. Troubled Waters: A businessman wants to buy all the farms in the Smallville area during an agricultural depression. Mr. Kent wants to find out why. ***
11. The Invisible People. A large group of homeless people are living in front of a beach club on a Florida beach. They were promised jobs by the wealthy beach club owner, who never gave them anything. ***
12. Kryptonite Kills: A kryptonite meteor falls in Addis Ababa and is sent to Shuster for study. It turns up in one of Clark's classes, a class on minerals. There, Clark feels the pain of kryptonite for the first time. ***
13 & 14. Revenge of the Alien: Part 1 & 2: The alien from "The Alien Solution" escapes after a thief steals the canister containing him. He wants revenge on Superboy for destroying his collection of warrior bodies. ***
15. Stand Up and Get Knocked Down: TJ finds his friend Michael dead outside of the Bonkerz comedy club. TJ wants to find out what happened to him, so he goes to the club's amateur night. **
16. Meet Mr. Mxyzptlk: Superboy meets the creature from the 5th dimension and discovers that Mxy's magic can harm him just as it could anyone else. ***
Disc Three:
17. Birdwoman of the Swamps: When a bulldozer is turned over at a construction site TJ and Clark decide to investigate. Clark meets an old Indian woman who believes the birds turned over the bulldozer. ***
18. Terror from the Blue: A group of cops gone bad attempt to kill police lieutenant Zeke Harris and Lana witnesses the shooting. The "dirty" cops chase after her. ***
19. War of the Species: The military has given funding to an artificial intelligence project. TJ, Clark, and Lana visit the project to get a story for the Shuster Herald. They discover a dangerous android and are narrowly saved from death by Superboy. ***
20. Little Hercules: Clark and TJ visit a young high-school genius named Billy Hercules (Joaquin Phoenix, credited as Leaf Phoenix) who has been offered a scholarship by Shuster U. ***
21. Mutant: Clark witnesses the kidnapping of Professor Craig Lipcott, a famous nuclear scientist. ***
22. The Phantom of the Third Division: Jonathan Kent is being stalked by a man who he fought alongside in the Korean War. ***
23. Black Flamingo: An attempted assassination of a senator leads Superboy to a mysterious nightclub. ***
24. Hollywood: Professor Zugar Doug McClure, invents a time machine and sends himself and Superboy back in time to Hollywood in the 1930s. ***
Disc Four:
25. Succubus: A beautiful vampire-like creature seeks to drain Superboy of his life force and seduces TJ as part of her plot. ***
26. Luthor Unleashed: Luthor steals a powerful weapon developed by the army and prepares to sell it to weapon dealers. ***
These episode have been transferred to DVD in their original full screen format and look and sound amazing! Beyond all 26 episodes we also get bonus features. Superboy getting off the ground, a making of featurette, John Haymes Newtons Screen test and excerpt from the documentary, Look up in the sky! The AMazing Story of Superman.
This season had a very light-hearted and kid friendly tone to it. But there is a lot of action that will keep the adults interested as well! I really enjoyed John Haymes Newton's portrayal of Clark Kent/Superboy. It is sad that he was replaced for the rest of the series run.
I really enjoyed this show. It is really a re-watchable series. The spirit of Superman lives in this one. For fans of Superman and good superhero shows. I highly suggest checking out Superboy Season 1. You can get a copy on Amazon.com.
Out of 4 TV Sets (4 being the best) Superboy Season 1 on DVD set receives....
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