"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.
The Modern Age Superman was not born on Krypton. He was born on Earth. It took the next 18 years for his body to absorb enough solar energy to have all his powers. During that time they appeared one at a time. Invulnerability and strength was first. After high school Clark traveled the world to learn as much as he could. This took five to ten years. After he made his first appearance saving the plane that Lois was on, he travels home to have Ma and Pa Kent help him figure out how to be both Clark and Superman.
This is all explained in Man of Steel, Issue 1, 1986.
"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.
I'm okay with him not being Superboy in his youth, but he should absolutely be doing a lot of heroic and weird things on the dl. And have adventures with the Legion, even if he isn't officially called "Superboy" while doing so.
Him having a normal childhood until he up and decides he wants to be a superhero as an adult is dumb and the character needs to finally and definitively let that depiction go.
The Levitz Legion lore was that Saturn Girl put a mental block in Superboy's head so he forgot most everything he learned about the 30th century when he got back to the 20th century. Yet Superboy was supposed to have total recall--although some of his memories were patchy about Krypton on account of exposure to Kryptonite.
Suppose that there was a consequence to Imra interfering with Clark's perfect memory. He gets back to Ma and Pa Kent and now he can't remember even having been Superboy, he's forgotten how to use his powers. Each time he returns from a future adventure with the Legion, Martha and Jonathan have to pick up the pieces, as their son desperately tries to remember who he is and who they are.
He's continually re-encountering the Legion of Super-Heroes in Smallville, having completely forgotten that he met them before. The Kents have to keep going through the same scenarios over and over, like the family of someone with dementia.
"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.
I think it's easy to come up with several reasons why tornados and severe storms are so popular with a young or turbulent Superman. One of my favorite gags pre crisis had him literally eat a tornado, but that pretty much ruins the idea of featuring disasters that the reader can understand. Most stories now do the "raining popcorn" idea where it's still harmless to him but each kernel he doesn't catch hurts others enough to hurt him. I thought For All Seasons did it pretty well but Adventure of Superman 573 was a cool complement, where he does take more of the initiative.
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Yeah I do think it's unfortunate that Clark never had that AHA! moment, which is something the character needs. That's one of the things I think Smallville did so well, was at least attempting to give Clark a reason to be a hero. And when you get to the end of the Season 11 comics, everything is nicely set up with the Justice League and him adopting the name Superman.
But what if the Superman isn't the post crisis Superman, but the one in Superman TAS or Silver Age Superman, etc. Byrne Superman is the only Superman that had the ridiculous "born on Earth" concept, that has been ignored and used only in that version.
Most other versions, even if they borrowed from Post Crisis, had Kal-el born on Krypton and handled how he learn about his powers as well as how he become Superman. Rebirth Superman is more Secret Origins/Johns Superman with elements of New 52, Post Crisis and other Superman imbued in his character.
That is why you read the stories that fit the character you know. Not all stories will do that. There are not many stories today that fit the Superman I know.
That seems an odd way to go about things. If you only read stories that reinforce the things you know, then you don't really know the character, just a specific version.
I understand the notion of just reading the stuff that appeals to your sensibilities; I wouldn't bother reading a funny Adam West style Batman book for example, since I prefer my Batman dark and crazy. But only reading the stuff that's similar to what you've already read and never branching out to try other elements just seems very limiting. I mean, what if you spent years only reading books with a more post-Crisis slant, only to learn that the Golden Age is actually much more appealing to you?
"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.
DC has an expensive system for testing what flies and what doesn't with the public. They make a movie and if it bombs, they know that's not the version of Superman that the people recognize.
I remember years ago on HOLLYWOOD SQUARES there was a question about Superman's cousin and I knew exactly what the answer was. Now, a game show couldn't get away with asking these questions about Superman's mythology. The answers keep changing.
I used to pride myself on all my Superman triva knowledge--now I don't know diddly squat.