Siegel Heirs sell Superboy rights to Marvel Comics

The First Official Image of Marvel's Revamped Superboy

The heirs of Jerry Siegel shocked the comic book industry this week with the revelation that they were planning on selling the rights to DC comic book character Superboy to Marvel Comics.

Over the last fifty years, the issue of the ownership of iconic comic book character Superman has turned into a bloody court battle that culminated in the court awarding the heirs of Superman creator Jerry Siegel the rights to Superman spin-off Superboy.

And now the ongoing saga has a brand new chapter: Joe Quesada revealed this week that he was in the final stages of a deal with the Heirs of Siegel that would allow Marvel Comics to publish the adventures of Superboy for the next fifty years.

“We are very excited about this joint venture with the Heirs of Siegel,” Quesada said in Monday’s company press release. “We look forward to providing a respectable, high quality comic book platform for this character. Also this is totally our biggest burn to DC since X3 p@wned Superman Returns at the box office!”

Traditionally, the Superboy comic books followed the adventures of Superman when he was just a small town teenager, learning the ropes of being a superhero. But with the character’s relocation to the Marvel Universe, a few changes have had to be made to fit with the company’s house style.

“The first thing we decided to change was the character’s origin,” said Quesada. “I mean his original origin, rocketed from a dying planet and all that, was alright…for DC. But here at Marvel we do things a little bit differently. When Superboy makes his return to the world of comics, he’ll be a mutant whose powers are kick started after being bitten by a gamma radiated scorpion.”

Also gone is the bucolic, farming community that Superboy originally called home. “Superboy will be moving to Manhattan because all of our comic books take place in New York,” Joe Quesada explained. “Except Runaways and Alpha Flight but they never sell well anyway so who cares.”

But the changes don’t end there. “The original Superboy was pretty happy and well adjusted so we’ll naturally be laying on a bunch of angst and crippling anxiety once he joins Marvel U. For example, in his first issue he’ll discover that his making physical contact with anyone will give them cancer. This of course will also stop him from ever revealing his feelings to love interest Sally Sullivan who is also loved by his best friend Peppy McGuire.

“We also plan on making Superboy a little more topical,” Joe Quesada continued. “Shortly after his reintroduction it will be established that the white “Live 8 make poverty history” bracelet Superboy was wearing at the time he got his powers can never be removed otherwise he will die. We’re looking to get Judd Winick to write that one."

Joe Quesada hopes that this is only the start of a larger scheme to buy out DC’s more popular superhero properties. “We’re currently in talks with the Heirs of Bob Kane to see if they can get us Robin the Boy Wonder. We already have a new origin involving the Vietnam War and a gamma radiated sledgehammer all worked out.”