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The idea of Superboy was developed by Superman writer and co-creator Jerry Siegel back in 1941, but his "proposed series starring Superman 'before he developed a social conscience' didn't go anywhere" (*). There are claims that Siegel had been trying to get Superboy approved but, that his idea was continually getting turned down by Detective Comics, Inc. It wasn't until the company saw the success of Robin, the Boy Wonder and other similar kid superhero characters by the mid-40s, that they finally saw Superboy's potential.
Superboy finally did make his comic debut in 'More Fun Comics #101' (1945) and Superman artist and co-creator, Joe Shuster supplied the artwork for Superboy's first adventure. The short five-page strip was written by Jerry Siegel but, was published while he was away during the war. He therefore wasn't around for approval or to provide any further input into the character he had first conceived. Also, the majority of the subsequent stories were written by Don Cameron so, although Jerry created the character, Cameron actually gave the character his flesh and blood. How much? Well, that is what is in dispute and basically the basis of the legal battles between DC Comics and the estate of Jerry Siegel over the rights to Superboy's character still taking place to this day.
Superboy was essentially a younger version of Superman, complete with his glasses-wearing alter ego, Clark Kent and donning the familiar red, blue, and yellow colors of Superman's costume. They eventually had him live in a town called 'Smallville' and grow up under the protection and guidance of his adoptive parents, Ma and Pa Kent. Due to his growing popularity, the character was given his own title and in just four years after his debut, 'Superboy #1' (March-April 1949) was published. It is during this comic book run where we see Lana Lang make her first comic book appearance in 'Superboy #10' (October 1950), serving as both a close friend and love interest for the young 'Boy-of-Steel'.
By the mid 80s, the DC Comics universe had grown so much that writers and editors couldn't keep up with the amount of history their characters were accumulating. Many new stories contradicted older stories, causing a lot of confusion from their readers. In 1985 Marv Wolfman wrote the 12-issue maxiseries 'Crisis on Infinite Earths' where the various parallel universes, which had been previously created to make sense of the various contradictory stories taking place at that time, would cease to exist. This was done in hopes of solving all of DC's continuity problems. Wolfman used a villain called the Anti-Monitor to destroy all of the alternate Earths leaving only one single Earth from which the comics could forge their own histories from that point on. This series basically divided DC's comic history timeline into two halves – 'Pre-Crisis' (comics that came before 'Crisis on Infinite Earths') and 'Post-Crisis' (comics that came after 'Crisis on Infinite Earths').
At the same time, writer John Byrne was given the task of revamping Superman's origin and with the miniseries titled 'The Man of Steel', he did exactly that. Essentially, Superman's origin was changed to the more familiar story in which Clark grows up in Smallville, but becomes Superman when he moves to Metropolis; never wearing the costume while growing up in Smaillville.
In the 90s a new 'Superboy' emerged completely different and independent from his original predecessor. This new 'Superboy' was a teenage clone made up of both Superman and Lex Luthor's DNA introduced during the 'Death of Superman' story-arc. He was created to replace Superman who was thought dead at the time (Adventures of Superman #500 1993). This new Superboy was also known by his Kryptonian name Kon-El and had his own secret identity as Clark's cousin Conner Kent. He was featured in his own comic book series, 'Superboy (volume 3)', from 1994 until 2002. Lana Lang,  however, was not associated with this Superboy or his origin. She only appears in one issue, Superboy v3 #8 (September 1994), in a stand alone story that was somewhat of an homage to 'Pre-crisis' Superboy.
Over the years, many aspects of Superboy's history have changed, but also some have been restored. For instance, 2009's 'Superman: Secret Origin', writer Geoff Johns had a young Clark Kent wearing the costume in 'Smallville' once again. Now, with DC's 'New 52' Superman reboot and depending on the outcome of the Siegel family legal battle, it should be interesting to see what future changes will take place to young Superboy's origins. However, no matter what happens, there is no doubt that Lana Lang has played an integral part in 'Superboy's' comic history as seen through the many stories written and available for fans to discover and enjoy for generations to come.
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