Superboy vol.2 #50

Superboy vol.2 #50 (1984)
written by Paul Kupperberg
pencils by Kurt Schaffenberger & Keith Giffen
cover by Keith Giffen

I always forget Superboy still had his own title after the Legion took over his other book.
It lasted 54 issues from 1980 to 1984, and it’s somewhat historically interesting for featuring the last adventures of the pre-Crisis Superboy.

Kurt Schaffenberger was the regular artist: in this story he’s in charge of the scenes set in the 20th century, while Keith Giffen takes care of the 30th century.

We begin with a regular thief visits the “Museum of Heroes and Legends” to steal a particular relic of the 20th century: the H-Dial.

The H-Dial is of course the basis of the “Dial H for H-E-R-O” franchise.
I plan to do a complete retrospective on the absolutely bonkers 1960s series, so this is a bit of an introduction to the concept. Basically, if you use the dial to spell “HERO”, you turn into a random superhero for a brief period. And I do mean RANDOM.

At least the museum has the good sense to keep the dial behind a force field, but the thief has a device to disable that. And mental powers to help him as well.

The guards spot him, but the thief is able to use the dial to give himself superpowers.
That’s how the H-Dial works: not only you get powers, but you immediately know what they are, you know how you can use them, and you immediately know your hero name.

Too bad for him that Chameleon Boy is currently at the museum, and we get a nice showcase of his powers.

The thief might have been captured, but thanks to the H-Dial he’s able to escape. SOMEHOW.

That’s when we move to the 20th century part of the story, with Shaffenberger artwork, which features Superboy dealing with criminals and his secret identity with his rather generic supporting cast.

Well there goes my theory about Superboy being either asexual or exclusively attracted to people with L.L. initials, because his love interest here is Lisa Davis.

Speaking of L.L.s, turns out the thief has gone to meet Lex Luthor: he doesn’t actually know how to get back to the 30th century, and who better than Lex to build him a time machine?

You have to love how all of this is just a regular Tuesday for Lex Luthor, even in his teenage years.

There’s a bit of inconsistency about the H-Dial. In the 30th century scenes it’s drawn like, well, like a palm-sized dial. That’s how it was in the 60s series, but now it’s drawn like a watch, like the 80s version (despite the fact the two devices were not TECHNICALLY the same).

Of note, “H-E-R-O” is not the only thing you can spell on the dial. You can also “Dial V for V-I-L-L-A-I-N”.

Superboy is alerted by the Legion by his action figures, and I have a few questions of the logistics.
Element Lad is shown with his 1984… well I guess 2984 costume. It’s hard to get a clear look at the others, but Chameleon Boy seems to have his Silver Age costume.
Sooo… does Superboy update the figurines every time he has a trip to the 30th century? Do they change form on their own somehow?

It’s a rare chance to have Shaffenberger draw the post-Silver Age Legion, and obviously he doesn’t disappoint.

His Brainiac 5 looks more like the 70s version, though. Must be the hair.

It’s interesting that Superboy knows about the H-Dial. The 60s series was a bit loose with continuity with the rest of the DC Universe, but it definitely took place in the present day… Superman’s time.
So… was somebody else using the H-Dial in Superboy’s time? Did he learn about it in one of his adventures in the future? I’m pretty sure he’s not supposed to remembers details like that whenever he comes back from the 30th century, thanks to the whole deal about mental blocks.

The thief might not be smart enough to build a time machine on his own, but he’s definitely a super-genius by 20th century standards.

Also, nice visual touch with Luthor being ready to knock him out if he turns out to be a threat!

Honestly, this isn’t a bad plan at all!

He’s also smart enough to find a way to use the H-Dial to give superpowers to other heroes.
That’s particularly impressive because something that is pretty consistent about the dial, even across multiple continuities, is that nobody seems to know how that thing works.

Still, the guy is obviously no Lex Luthor.

Wildfire goes to the 20th century VERY rarely, and since he used to be just a regular guy this is a very nice perspective on time travel.

Time for our first real action scene!

One thing about the H-Dial transformations… they tend to suck.

Lex is not doing much better at first.

…but he’s still Lex Luthor.

Too bad Luthor can’t really capitalize on this minor victory, thanks to H-Dial’s other weakness: you have to wait for it to recharge.
(also, we definitely need a story with both the H-Dial and Hourman)

With two supervillains on the loose, this is the perfect opportunity for Superboy to invite his friends to a barbecue. (???)
Also, nice move to exclude Wildfire since HE CAN’T EAT.

Chameleon Boy… YOU’VE MET Krypto before!!!

And that’s how Lex Luthor is captured, again.

Sooo… story over, right?
Nope! It’s a story with the H-Dial, so we have to throw in some ridiculous superhero transformations! Well, supervillains in this case.

Shockingly, a bunch of mind-controlled teenagers who got their powers literally five minutes ago are no match for the Legion.

You would think that in a universe with an entire planet with people who can turn intangible (that’s where Phantom Girl is from), Brainiac 5 would have a better defense against that.

And the day is saved by Krypto!!!

And so we end in the 30th century, with Chameleon Boy bringing the H-Dial back to the museum… or rather what’s left of it.

Not that it matters because, as I mentioned earlier, by the 80s there’s more than one H-Dial.

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Legion significance: 0/10
The H-Dial will have an impact during the Reboot, but that’s about it.

Silver Age-ness: 8/10
Pretty high between the H-Dial randomness, the extremely easy time travel and the humorous resolution.

Does it stand the test of time? 6/10
It’s a fun romp, but a bit of a missed opportunity. Other than one single Wildfire comment, the time travel aspect is mostly an afterthought. Plus you’d think Luthor would be more interested in exploiting the H-Dial, and the thief wasn’t particularly interesting.
Clark’s supporting cast is as blank as possible, and the action isn’t anything spectacular either.
That being said, Shaffenberger is still a master of the craft and Giffen gets the chance to go wild with Chameleon Boy’s powers, which is always a treat.
As an introduction to “Dial H for HERO”… if you thought this was weird and random, just wait until I get around to the retrospective.

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