Originally
Published September 2013:
These days, team-ups between heroes happen all the time.
Before Marvel made a coherent comics universe a thing, however, they were few
and far between. That’s why Superman and Batman team-ups were so anticipated
back then. DC then had an idea: Sure, Superman has met Batman and Robin before,
but what if Robin, the Boy Wonder, met Superboy and had an adventure? The
result was this little gem: When Superboy met Robin!
Our story opens in the Smallville
of the nebulous past of twenty-or-so years ago, where Superboy is greeted by
Pete Groff, owner of Smallville’s largest stadium. Smallville, you see, is a
midwestern small town that just happens to have multiple stadiums,
because why not? Anyway, Groff has a proposal for the Boy of Steel, a science
fair! Groff will invite three famous scientists to study Superboy and how he
uses his power. Thinking it’ll be great for publicity and therefore helping
Smallville, Superboy agrees.
Now that the setup is out
of the way, Superboy retires to his secret citadel, which houses all of his
super-trophies. Just before he leaves for the science fair, a curious thing
happens…
 |
| “It’s your kids, Clark! Something’s gotta be done about your kids!” |
After that quick introduction,
Robin immediately produces a baseball bat and attempts to destroy a cosmic
clock Superboy has on display. Superboy is kind of freaked. I mean, if a kid
just got beamed inside your secret headquarters and started smashing things, I’d
be a bit taken aback too. Nevertheless, the Boy of Steel is willing to listen
to Robin’s story, after he takes the bat away,
of course!
 |
| “Because Earth hospitals in the 1950s know how to treat Kryptonians!” |
As it is, the hospital does all it can, but Superman is dying. It’s only a matter of time. These words set a spark in the Boy Wonder’s head, and he goes to see Prof. Nichols, who has sent him and Batman into the past before, as seen in The Three Super-Musketeers! Robin’s recap finishes, and we’re brought back to the present, so to speak, where Superboy explains the cosmic clock was built by himself for the Science Fair. He hasn’t received a clock trophy… yet. Superboy accepts Robin’s offer to stay and help him avert his future death. Self-preservation is a superpower too!
Later, at the science
fair, the newly formed duo meets the aforementioned scientists. They all have presentations
that predict future events, which in Robin’s time (1958) have already happened.
As the scientists set up their apparatus for observing Superboy’s powers in
action, there is coincidentally a giant vacuum that’s swallowing a bank truck.
Jumping into action, the Superboy-Robin team uses a move that the X-Men will
rip off in about 20 years, the Fastball Special!
 |
| “Wolverine, eat your heart out!” |
Even after this valiant effort, Superboy gets sucked into the giant vacuum. With a great burst of super-strength, he destroys it utterly. However, as he’s rounding up thugs, he notices Robin doing something strange…
 |
| Maybe because no one should know too much about their own future, Superboy! |
Superboy shrugs his suspicions off for the time being, and the two heroes return to the fair. On arrival, the scientists present the youths with a trophy, which turns out to be a bust and not the fated clock. Hey, we still have 5 pages of story to go, we can’t be resolving things that quickly! We’re then treated to a little vignette of Clark’s home life, performing errands for his parents. It’s totally unnecessary to the story, but it does contain some fun moments, such as when Dick says Clark is giving him an inferiority complex.
Back to the meat of the
story. Later, the boys encounter an airplane with a battering ram attempting to
break into the bank. Superboy figures he can take out the plane with a single
blow, but Robin fouls things up with his all-too-human failings.
 |
| WTF!? Isn’t Robin a highly trained acrobat? |
Anyway, plot contrivances aside, Superboy does indeed take down the battering ram in one blow. Following the pattern of the story, Robin again picks up a fragment of debris and hides it from Superboy in lead-lined pouches. Superboy can’t let his suspicions go unsaid anymore and he confronts the Boy Wonder…
 |
| “I’m a time-traveler sent here to prevent your death! MUCH more believable!” |
Robin knows the only way to get out of this sticky wicket is to stroke Clark’s super-ego. So, he regales the Boy of Steel with stories about his future super feats, like melting an iceberg to help a farm overcome their drought, sewing a ripped blimp with a wire cable and steel girder, and using his x-ray vision when an actual x-ray machine is broken. Suitably impressed with himself, Superboy allows Robin to explain what the fingerprints are for: trophies, because if there is one thing Silver Age Superman loves, it’s trophies!
Speaking of which, when
the two return to the fair, they are presented with another trophy, but this
time it’s a statuette of Superboy, not the dreaded clock. Before the guys can
catch their breath, yet another crime breaks out, this time a robot is robbing
a jewelry store. This time, Robin gets to shine as he catches the creator of
the robot while Superboy stops the robot itself.
 |
| Because you’re a little arrogant and totally full of yourself, Superboy, why else? |
And of course, the scientists, having monitored this, present the two young heroes with yet another trophy, this time it finally is the clock! Robin orders Superboy to get rid of it at once, and so Superboy does what he does best when confronted with a problem with no apparent solution: He throws it into space!
 |
| “I must have my Bat Robot Repellent in my utility belt somewhere!” |
The fray is on! Robin’s
efforts are incredibly futile, as he is immediately knocked out by the giant
metal arms of the robot. Superboy takes point, hoping to make short work of
things, but his overconfidence gets the better of him as the robot has kryptonite
on hand to take him down! With the last ounces of his strength, Superboy
removes a mirror from Robin’s utility belt and blinds Groff, who has
inexplicably left the safety of his robot body. Superboy manages to blind the
villain long enough for Robin to recover and remove the kryptonite. Now all
that’s left is to wrap things up!
 |
| “And I would have gotten away with it, too, if not for you meddling superheroes!” |
And so, things wrap up pretty
nicely, even though now Superboy will grow up knowing Robin’s secret
identity and how his parents died, and doesn’t do a thing
about it. So, what’s the moral of the story? Even as a boy, Superman is a dick.
This story originally appeared
in Adventure Comics #253, October 1958. It was reprinted in the Greatest Team Up Stories Ever Told, as well
as Superboy: The Greatest Team-Up Stories Ever Told (see
the pattern?)
