The April issue of DC’s Superman/Batman comic features a special story, a Superboy/Robin team-up partially scripted by Sam Loeb before he died of cancer last summer at the age of seventeen. 26 writers and artists have chipped in to finish the script and do the artwork, including some of the hottest names in the industry like Joe Casey, Geoff Johns, Jim Lee, Paul Levitz, Brad Meltzer, and Joss Whedon. All the creative talent will be donating their fees and their royalties to a college scholarship fund set up in Sam’s name at North Hollywood High.
Sam’s father, Jeph Loeb, is also a fan-favorite (the original writer on Superman/Batman, as well as several other titles at both Marvel and DC), and in addition to contributing to the main story, he has created a backup feature for the issue: an original vignette with his frequent collaborator, artist Tim Sale, starring a teenage Clark Kent and a character inspired by Sam. In discussing the project with Newsarama, Loeb offers a preview of “Sam’s Story” from which I’ve excerpted a panel below. “I’ll never do anything that is as important or as personal as this project and that’s as it should be,” Loeb says in the interview. “My wish is that the retailers and the readers and fans who have enjoyed my work (and the work of everyone else) through the years to rally here please.” Superman/Batman #26 is scheduled to ship on April 19.
