Superboy #24

Superboy #24 (Vol. 5, #24 of the New 52 era), cover-dated December 2013 and released October 9, 2013, is titled "Secrets & Origins," written by Justin Jordan, penciled by Robson Rocha, inked by Dan Green, with a cover by Brett Booth, Norm Rapmund, and Andrew Dalhouse. The story continues from the previous issue: Superboy, portrayed in New 52 continuity as an artificial "living weapon," encounters the emotion-manipulating Psycho Pirate at McDuffie High School. The Pirate uses his powers to suppress Superboy's rage and reveals that Dr. Psycho, who has appeared all along as an "ally," has secretly been draining his energy. Through psychic projections, the Pirate recounts the origin of Dr. Psycho (born Edgar): a prodigiously gifted boy whose records were erased by H.I.V.E. and who was used as a "psychic battery" until he escaped on his own. The plot then turns to confrontation: Superboy attacks in anger, and Dr. Psycho fights back with a giant psychic entity born of that energy; the Pirate then erases all knowledge of Kon-El's origins from Dr. Psycho's mind, keeping that knowledge for himself and laying the groundwork for future blackmail. After a mutual feedback of energy, Superboy loses consciousness and wakes imprisoned in a red cell, his TTK (tactile telekinesis) drained, with only Krypto at his side. The issue ends with "to be continued," with threads leading into the Teen Titans and Forever Evil tie-ins. The issue has 32 pages (about 20 pages of story) and is rated Teen.