Superboy Vol. 0

In October 1994, DC launched "Zero Month" across its line, publishing #0 issues of its ongoing series alongside the event Zero Hour to fill in the heroes' origins through flashback. Superboy Vol. 4 #0, "Sidearm -- One! Superboy -- Zero!"—written by Karl Kesel with pencils by Tom Grummett—was a product of this "Beginning of Tomorrow" wave and the starting point of Superboy (Kon-El)'s own series. The story takes place in Hawaii. Superboy waits at Honolulu airport for Professor Emil Hamilton, arriving on vacation, and for the returning reporter Tana Moon, only to run into the super-criminal Sidearm hijacking a plane. Superboy subdues him easily, and Tana gets the exclusive footage. Superboy then takes Tana to the local S.T.A.R. Labs, where Hamilton uses diagnostic equipment to replay fragments of his memory: awakening in the cloning pod, escaping the Cadmus Project with the help of the Newsboy Legion, and his first clash with Sidearm. The examination shows everything normal, and Hamilton gives him a pair of X-ray glasses as a gift. Meanwhile, King Shark is broken out of prison by the Silicon Dragons, setting up later stories. The issue uses a "medical checkup" to string together flashbacks, in effect giving new readers a primer on the character: he is a clone of Superman and carries the other half of Lex Luthor's genes; he is flippant, yet always concerned about whether he can live up to the name "Superman."