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  1. #31
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    The SUPERBOY comics were part of my growing up and some of my favourite comics of all time. And I like to think that Kal-El is super from the time he arrives on Earth. And as Bill says in KILL BILL: VOLUME 2, he's always Superman. So even if he doesn't have an official codename, when he's two or when he's twenty-two, he's a Superman. And the Kents being aware of this do things to help Clark, from the day he comes into their arms, so he will be able to function on Earth as a Superman. They don't have to see the future to envision the road ahead for their son.

    I also take the view that the Superboy stories don't have to be canon, they can be apocrypha. There are several apocryphal gospels about Jesus as a little boy. There are tall tales told about Hercules and Davey Crockett and Laura Ingalls Wilder and Thomas Edison when they were children. So maybe the Adventures of Superman when he was a boy are legends. Perhaps DC should do those comics as a Johnny DC on the level of a SUPERGIRL: COSMIC ADVENTURES IN THE 8TH GRADE. But if they did that, I'd prefer it to be about him as Superbaby--or at least a much younger Clark (eight years old or younger).

  2. #32
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jim Kelly View Post
    The SUPERBOY comics were part of my growing up and some of my favourite comics of all time. And I like to think that Kal-El is super from the time he arrives on Earth. And as Bill says in KILL BILL: VOLUME 2, he's always Superman. So even if he doesn't have an official codename, when he's two or when he's twenty-two, he's a Superman. And the Kents being aware of this do things to help Clark, from the day he comes into their arms, so he will be able to function on Earth as a Superman. They don't have to see the future to envision the road ahead for their son.

    I also take the view that the Superboy stories don't have to be canon, they can be apocrypha. There are several apocryphal gospels about Jesus as a little boy. There are tall tales told about Hercules and Davey Crockett and Laura Ingalls Wilder and Thomas Edison when they were children. So maybe the Adventures of Superman when he was a boy are legends. Perhaps DC should do those comics as a Johnny DC on the level of a SUPERGIRL: COSMIC ADVENTURES IN THE 8TH GRADE. But if they did that, I'd prefer it to be about him as Superbaby--or at least a much younger Clark (eight years old or younger).
    This is where I am. He has powers from day one but "Superboy" is more a legend than an actual reality. People find out Superman grew up on Earth and the first thing they assume is "Oh, he must have been a Superboy then!" And so all these stories start up about Superman as a boy flying around in his costume saving people. Whether they are true or not.
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  3. #33
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    Quote Originally Posted by Bored at 3:00AM View Post
    I'd prefer his first public appearance be in Metropolis as Superman, so I would stick to him being Superboy in the far future with the Legion of Super-Heroes while operating secretly in Smallville.
    I agree with this.

    Being with the Legion was the best on-the-job-training for Kal before becoming Superman. While Kal was with the Legion, Bruce Wayne was traveling the world, learning various techniques he would use in Gotham.

    Being with the Legion would also expand Kal's interpersonal skills, especially given the unique personalities of various Legionaries. I love the fact that Kal was a time traveler before Doctor Who.

    Superboy (with the Legion) is actually my favorite incarnation of Kal-El.

  4. #34
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    He can't be publicly known as Superboy based in Smallville and then be Superman based in Metropolis. It would be so easy to deduce his secret identity.

  5. #35
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    Quote Originally Posted by raidensix View Post
    He can't be publicly known as Superboy based in Smallville and then be Superman based in Metropolis. It would be so easy to deduce his secret identity.
    That's why I prefer Smallville be a regular town rather than a place where there are adventures for Superboy. Smallville police can deal with local crimes while Clark is dealing with a hostage standoff in Topeka or a flood in Omaha. You'd be more likely to see Superboy in Chicago, Dallas, New York or LA than in Smallville, because "Nothing interesting ever happens in Smallville".

  6. #36
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    My introduction to Superman was in the Pre-Crisis era, and that incarnation had a career as Superboy as a teenager. That's the version I've always preferred, and thay was cemented both by the Filmation DC cartoons thay were still in syndication at the time, and also by his adventures as a member of the Legion Of Super-Heroes.

    I think both Superman and the Legion lose something when Superboy is taken out of the equation, and that connection isn't there. I always viewed the time as Superboy to be essential to Clark becoming the hero he did, and even though you can make the Legion work with no Superboy, it doesn't quite come together, and the stopgap measures (Valor, Kon-El Superboy) just don't hold it together, and I think that's partly why the Legion has been rebooted so many times.

    I was overjoyed when Clark's Superboy career was restored. It felt like DC was correcting a long-upheld mistake. Then the New 52 happened, and it was gone again, and both Superman and the Legion lost something important....again. Especially the Legion, who haven't had a book in several years, because DC clearly has no idea what to do with them. It's time to correct this again, and make it stick.

  7. #37
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    Superboy produced too much content to be dismissed imo.
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  8. #38
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    I love classic Superboy. I consider it essential to the Superman mythos. Clark NEEDS those teen years perfecting his disguise.

    With all the talk about how bad his disguise is and how people from home would recognize him instantly... he NEEDS to have that disguise in place early on. Wimpy Clark who's afraid of breaking his glasses would never look Superman. High School All Star Quarterback who didn't realize he was using powers... He's obviously Superman. School nerd? Not so much.

    And that's the key, People need to look at Clark and as far back as they can remember he wore the glasses and skipped gym class. Not 'when he gets to metropolis.' That's too late. All those year books and memories of Clark being awesome are cemented.

  9. #39
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    That's what I didn't understand with the MAN OF STEEL movie. When I was watching it, I assumed that he would never become bespectacled reporter Clark Kent and they were going to establish a different continuity for him in the movies, where he's just always Clark/Superman and it's Lois Lane who is the reporter. But then at the very end he shows up with glasses on and he's reporter Clark Kent. But wait, he's been seen by loads of people without glasses all his life up to that point and how does he suddenly qualify as a reporter? I thought that someone had sprinkled fairy dust all over the world to make people forget everything and have false memories of Clark with glasses, who's a reporter. It just didn't make any sense otherwise.

  10. #40
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jim Kelly View Post
    That's what I didn't understand with the MAN OF STEEL movie. When I was watching it, I assumed that he would never become bespectacled reporter Clark Kent and they were going to establish a different continuity for him in the movies, where he's just always Clark/Superman and it's Lois Lane who is the reporter. But then at the very end he shows up with glasses on and he's reporter Clark Kent. But wait, he's been seen by loads of people without glasses all his life up to that point and how does he suddenly qualify as a reporter? I thought that someone had sprinkled fairy dust all over the world to make people forget everything and have false memories of Clark with glasses, who's a reporter. It just didn't make any sense otherwise.
    The very concept of a secret identity doesn't hold up to much scrutiny these days. There's a reason the Marvel movies largely did away with them. With surveillance cameras and facial recognition technology, there's no way any superhero could maintain a secret identity in the modern world.

  11. #41
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    Quote Originally Posted by Bored at 3:00AM View Post
    The very concept of a secret identity doesn't hold up to much scrutiny these days. There's a reason the Marvel movies largely did away with them. With surveillance cameras and facial recognition technology, there's no way any superhero could maintain a secret identity in the modern world.
    People say these things and yet how often do we see someone caught for committing a crime immediately based on this facial recognition tech (outside of fictional TV shows). It's like those CSI shows where people manages to find that one strand of hair, drop of blood, etc in a large room.

    Is it possible? Sure. Likely? YMMV.

  12. #42
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jon Clark View Post
    People say these things and yet how often do we see someone caught for committing a crime immediately based on this facial recognition tech (outside of fictional TV shows). It's like those CSI shows where people manages to find that one strand of hair, drop of blood, etc in a large room.

    Is it possible? Sure. Likely? YMMV.
    You'd be surprised how many criminals are caught these days thanks to surveillance cameras

    Facial recognition tech, on the other hand, is not yet legal to use in criminal cases, but is becoming more and more widespread.

    Here are a few good articles about it if you are interested.

    https://www.wired.com/story/few-rule...on-technology/
    https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...=.cfe855e6e794

  13. #43
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    I think that if Clark and the Kents start out from the time he's a little baby with a project to ensure that he's not discovered as an alien and ultimately to establish this other identity as the Super--and if they have the help of the advanced AI on board the rocket--they coulld pull it off.

    Byrne's idea that there was a big winter storm that kept the Kent farm out of contact from the rest of the world for some months after they found Kal-El also gives the new parents a chance to figure it all out, before anyone else sees their new baby. That's a good addition to the mythology--because it has that mythic quality to it. All of this would have made a great story on its own.

    Pre-Crisis, Clark had robots that he used to take his place, so people never had any reason to think that he had a double identity--they saw Clark and Superboy in different places at the same time.

    Elliot Maggin made the point that the secret identity was like Superman's favourite hobby and he put a lot of time into it. You could think of it as someone who has a fan fiction that they devote all their spare time to creating. Superman gives it loving care. MAN OF STEEL totally missed out on that and made the secret identity seem like an afterthought that he does just for a freak, without any care or forethought.

  14. #44
    Ultimate Member Ascended's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Bored at 3:00AM View Post
    The very concept of a secret identity doesn't hold up to much scrutiny these days. There's a reason the Marvel movies largely did away with them. With surveillance cameras and facial recognition technology, there's no way any superhero could maintain a secret identity in the modern world.
    I'm sure with the resources Clark has, he's more than capable of keeping the cameras off him and the facial recog software confused.

    A slight super-speed vibration to blur his face, emitting low-level radiation from his eyes to scramble any cameras he's facing.......I really don't get why we get so hung up on the secret identity. Of all the things Superman can do and all the things he deals with on a daily basis, this shouldnt be more than a bump in the road.
    "We all know the truth: more connects us than separates us. But in times of crisis the wise build bridges, while the foolish build barriers. We must find a way to look after one another, as if we were one single tribe."

    ~ Black Panther.

  15. #45
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    Remember when Albert Einstein almost ended up being Clark's daddy?

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