Toy Review: McFarlane Toys’ Superboy Takes Us Back

It’s been over thirty years since the seminal Death and Return of Superman was published. Finally, one of the key figures in that story has the figure he deserved. 

Across 1992 and 1993, the massive Death and Return of Superman event took the comics world by storm. After the initial “Doomsday” and “Funeral for a Friend” chapters, the story kicked off its final act in Adventures of Superman #500. That anniversary issue ended with the introduction of four Supermen — two claiming to be the real thing back from the grave, one being an ordinary man inspired to take up Superman’s mantle, and the last was a teenage clone of the Man of Steel.

That last character would eventually become Superboy, would headline a long-running series, serve as a key member of both Young Justice and the Teen Titans, and eventually become almost as iconic as his cousin that served as his inspiration.

Superboy was my first ever DC Comics ongoing series. I picked up every issue of the initial run from Karl Kesel and Tom Grummett, but fell off a bit when my local comic shop closed. The character was one I was frequently drawn to though, picking his series back up on I began reading regularly again, as well as his starring turns in Young Justice, Teen Titans, and Adventure Comics. So with this figure, I knew I had to pick him up.

Now, this incarnation of Superboy (aka Kon-El or Conner Kent) has three distinct main looks. There was his “Reign of the Supermen” look, his late 1990s redesign (debuting in the late 60s of his series), and the black T-shirt and jeans look of Teen Titans. This figure is based on his original look, and it captures that design nearly perfectly. For the most part, this looks like Superboy.

Where the design falls short is the lack of his signature leather jacket and glasses. The jacket is such an iconic part of this look, that it’s glaring to go without it. He also is well known for two different types of glasses in his era — a round pair of shades, and a tech-filled visor that enabled multiple vision powers, that would have rounded out on the design and made for great accessories.

The accessories here are just a pair of alternate hands, as well as a stand. It was fun to have a thumbs up, but there could have been so much more. A regular flat stand instead of a flight stand was a bit disappointing as well.

Where this figure shines is in its posing. There was so much I could do with him, capturing the spirit of the character in how he moved. This figure is the character come to life, easily, and just like the Superman figure earlier this week, I had to stop myself from doing more because he was just plain fun to have in hand.

I’ve been wanting McFarlane to release this figure since I began collecting in earnest, and this was mostly what I hoped it would be. I’m thrilled to finally have it in my collection.