Super Boy

Writer: Robert Bagage (?-2002)
Artist: Félix Molinari (1931- )

This character, which owes nothing to DC Comics' adventures of Superman as a boy, is the son of a scientist who protects Earth against super-villains and various extra-terrestrial threats.

Super Boy wears a rocket belt which enables him to fly, and a radio helmet with a transparent visor à la Judge Dredd. For all other intents and purposes, he fights like Adam Strange, except that his battle field was a slightly futuristic Earth rather than Rann.

Super Boy wore two different chest logos: first a yellow triangular "SB", then the letters SB in white against a black circle.

Publishing History

After starting as a sports illustrator, Robert Bagage went to work for the Lyons-based comic book publisher S.A.G.E. during World War II, starting in 1942 on "Jumbo" and using the pseudonym of "Robba".   His first comic book series was Yvon & Toni, a jungle adventure. In 1943, Bagage worked for "Pic & Nic", "Cendrillon" and "Coeurs Vaillants".

It was at that time that Bagage met Marcel Navarro (the future co-founder of Editions Lug), and Pierre Mouchotte (the publisher of "Fantax").   These three men eventually became almost single-handedly responsible for the "small format" publishing phenomenon of the 1950s and 1960s.

After the war, Bagage drew the character of Secret Agent Z.302 (written by Navarro) for Éditions Sprint. Then, in 1946, Bagage left Sprint to create his own publishing company, the Éditions du Siècle, which were renamed Imperia in 1952.

Also based in Lyons, Imperia published a mix of colorful adventure titles (most contained Italian and Spanish imports, with a few French series thrown in):

-- "Tom X" (1946-48) (Doc Savage-type hero),
-- "Radar" (1947-48) (science fiction),
-- "Targa" (1947-51) (Tarzan-like hero),
-- "Garry" (1948-64) (WWII adventures),
-- "Captain Horn" (1948-49) (pirates)
-- "Youpi" (1948-49) (western),
-- "Super Boy" (1949-86) (super hero),
-- "Cassidy" (1951-64) (western),
-- "Buck John" (1953-86) (western),
-- "Kit Carson" (1956-86) (western),
-- "Indians" (1957-60) (western),
-- "X-13" (1960-86) (espionage),
-- "Rapaces" (1961-86) (war stories),
-- "Kalar" (1963-86) (jungle stories)
-- "Jim Canada" (1968-86), and more.

SUPERBOY, HIS UNCLE MATT & SISTER ROCHELLE

The most notable French genre series published by Imperia was, without a doubt, Super Boy. Curiously, the "Super Boy" magazine was started in October 1949, without a feature entitled Super Boy in it. The eponymous character only made its first appearance in No. 112 in 1958.

Super Boy was the creation of writer "Schwarz" (Bagage's first wife) and of artist Félix Molinari. New stories drawn by Molinari appeared without any interruption until No. 247 in 1970, then the magazine began to print a mix of reprints and new stories, drawn by Spanish artists Rafael Mendez, José Maria Ortiz and Jaime Forns.

Sometime during this period, the original triagular chest logo worn by Super Boy was replaced by a circular one.

Imperia led an uneventful life throughout the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, and eventually went out of business in 1986 after Bagage retired. Rober Bagage passed away on 3rd October 2002.

The Artist

Felix Molinari (1931- ) began his career as a comics artist with L'Aigle des Mers [The Sea Eagle] in the late 1940s, before creating the popular World War II adventure series, Garry in 1948, and the equally popular Super Boy in 1958. He also created Ben Leonard, Rex, and La Patrouille des Profondeurs (The Cave Patrol) for Lug. Molinari recently came out of retirement to work on Les Héritiers d'Orphée [Orpheus' Heirs] in 1992.

A spaceship whose design likely influenced Valerian's spaceship.