Warning! Spoilers ahead for Action Comics #1057!The young hero Superboy is tired of being compared to Superman and is ready for the next stage in his life. Conner Kent has a stark reply when the Boy of Steel's future comes into question.

In Action Comics #1057's story "Super is as Super Does" by Magdalene Visaggio and Matthew Clark, Superboy makes a change to his look by dyeing a red streak into his hair. As Ma Kent begins pressing Conner about his recent truancy, the hero jets off to meet his new girlfriend. Superboy and Miss Martian meet up and discuss the stresses of being heroes with big legacies.

Superboy has trouble expressing himself and offers M'gann a chance to read his mind. Miss Martian does so and discovers that Conner has an intense fear of only ever being seen as a lesser Superman. Conner mentions how he was created to be a backup Superman and that he feels redundant with the now-adult Jon Kent around. As Miss Martian asks Conner if he even wants to be Superboy, the mind-reading becomes too much for him and he angrily flies back to Smallville. However, after thinking things over, he texts his girlfriend a simple "No." in response to her question.

Superboy Wants His Own Legacy, Not Superman's

Things have been hard for Superboy ever since he reappeared in the prime DC Comics continuity. The hero has felt a bit aimless since he came back to find an overcrowded Superman Family, even more so when Jon Kent became DC's newest Superman. Conner has felt so redundant that he left the Earth to seek out a place for himself in outer space. Unfortunately, all Conner found was trouble in the form of a rogue geneticist known as Dominator X and a crew of violent antiheroes, the Cosmoteers.

Superboy has faced a lifelong struggle. Not only is he a clone of criminal mastermind Lex Luthor, but a clone of the world's greatest hero. Though Conner has feared an inner darkness thanks to his connection to Luthor, it looks like what scares the young half-Kryptonian more is the idea that he'll never be seen as anything other than a younger, not-as-good Superman. Despite being welcomed into the Superman Family, Conner has always had a large independent streak, and he strongly desires to be his own man. It looks like Conner might be ready to leave his Superboy identity behind for good.

Superboy is Ready to Become a New Hero

Superboy has experimented with alternate identities before, but for most of Conner's career, he's just been Superboy. Now that Conner is older, more experienced and ready to grow, he's preparing to find something that helps him step out of Superman's shadow and help him be seen as an individual. It's a complicated time in Conner's life. All he wants is for the public to look at him and see the unique person he is, not the connection he shares with Superman.

If Conner's serious about making a change in his life, then leaving Superboy behind for a new moniker could go a long way in helping him. Action Comics #1057 is on sale now.