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  1. #16
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    Quote Originally Posted by JackDaw View Post
    (Usually by the method of Superboy flying round the Earth at faster than light speed. Think it was clockwise to go into the future, anti-clockwise to go into the past.)
    I don't know if he had to fly around the Earth (could probably help to build up his speed) but I think you're right about the directions. I've been re-reading many of those 1970s Superboy and the Legion stories in the last few months and I recall one story where this explanation was given--but at the moment I can't find which one that was.

    In "Autograph, Please," Superman has to follow a weird mathematical design, going madly off in all directions to enter the time dimension. He says it's a brand new stunt.

    In "George Washington's Drum," the Boy of Steel has a theory that if he races fast enough he can break through the dimensions of space and time to hurl himself into the past. His theory pans out. Which suggests this was his first attempt at the feat.

  2. #17
    Incredible Member Jeffrey2's Avatar
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    Wow! So great to read this summary of Superboy from the day. I read/purchased comics in the 90s and 2000s. Mostly Superman but I'd often check out the used comics bin and purchased many Superboy comics which I thoroughly enjoyed. So much of the lore is from these comics. By the time I purchased Superboy DC had "erased" him which was a mistake IMO.

    Arguably the best live action Superman TV series is a Superboy TV series. The Adventures of Superboy. Many eps were written by artists who had grown up reading Superboy. The series featured, besides Clark/Superboy, Lana Lang and Ma and Pa Kent. Set in Capitol City it often visited Smallville. The lore was changed to have Clark debut as Superboy in his first year of college. Freshman student Lex Luthor was saved from a dorm fire by Superboy but subsequently lost his hair and so an enemy was born. Villains included Metallo, Bizzarro, Myx, Yellow Peri, Kryptonite Kid, Lex Luthor, Time travel, parallel worlds, red kryptonite and lots more. If you don't know about it - most people don't - check it out.

    https://superboylegacy.com/video/why...atch-superboy/
    Last edited by Jeffrey2; 09-23-2022 at 05:54 PM.

  3. #18
    Extraordinary Member superduperman's Avatar
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    What's interesting is that a Superman origin was published in 1949 that completely ignored Superboy. It's also the one that the popular 1973 origin by Swan was based on. There was a World of Krypton mini published in 1979 that seemed to establish that he was around 2 when he came to Earth. They gave a specific Kryptonian year that was born and when Krypton exploded.
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  4. #19
    Incredible Member magha_regulus's Avatar
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    Thank you! Superman having a career as Superboy is absolutely INTEGRAL to the mythos! Besides the fact that this addition to the overall story of Superman was developed by his original creators, in-story it adds credence to the fact that Superman is one of the most experienced of heroes and contributes to the reason why he'd be such an inspiration. He's literally been at it since he was a child and hasn't given up yet! This would make everyone from the Titans to the Justice league including Bat-God versions of Batman respect him in a way that shows that he's more than earned it!

  5. #20
    Incredible Member magha_regulus's Avatar
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    I like to think that part of the reason Superman has a special relationship with Dick Grayson (to the point Dick names himself Nightwing to partially honor the Superman side of his experience) is because he sees a bit of himself from his Superboy years in Robin. They both started crime fighting at around 8 years old and haven't ever stopped. They both got on the job training, and have a similar dispostion. I really want a Superboy series that gets into these aspects of the character. No wonder the world trusts Superman so much. They've literally been watching him save the world since he was in the 3rd grade.

  6. #21
    Astonishing Member JackDaw's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by magha_regulus View Post
    Thank you! Superman having a career as Superboy is absolutely INTEGRAL to the mythos! Besides the fact that this addition to the overall story of Superman was developed by his original creators, in-story it adds credence to the fact that Superman is one of the most experienced of heroes and contributes to the reason why he'd be such an inspiration. He's literally been at it since he was a child and hasn't given up yet! This would make everyone from the Titans to the Justice league including Bat-God versions of Batman respect him in a way that shows that he's more than earned it!
    It also allows a different sort of story to be told…because if he debuts as a kid he’s operating in a world less cluttered with other super heroes.

    It’s a very subjective view I know, but it certainly feels that way with me.

    I can see why DC have changed it in current cannon, but without it you do sort of wonder why the other heroes regard him as first among equals.

  7. #22
    Uncanny Member Digifiend's Avatar
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    Your Krypto the Superdog summary doesn't mention that he had his own cartoon series.

    Also, Saturn Girl, Chameleon Boy and Phantom Girl of the Legion of Super Heroes were part of the cast of the fourth season of Young Justice: Phantoms.
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  8. #23
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    While I enjoy reading about Clark's life in Metropolis, I get just as much pleasure reading about Clark growing up in Smallville. And I believe I'm not alone in liking tales of young people discovering who they are, what they can do and that "with great power comes great responsibility."

    As others have said, the Superboy adventures allow him to exist in a world before all those other super-heroes arrived on the scene. It puts the spotlight on him and gives him the proper importance in the comic book universe.

    Also, if the creators were already imagining Clark as Superboy in 1938, that undermines the argument that the Boy of Steel wasn't supposed to exist.

    I always knew some Superman mythology came from Superboy stories. But it wasn't until I started looking into it that I discovered just how much there was. Even up until the day before I posted this topic, I was finding concepts I hadn't realized were in the Superboy comics first. And it's likely there's more I've missed.

    To wit--

    Quote Originally Posted by Digifiend View Post
    Your Krypto the Superdog summary doesn't mention that he had his own cartoon series.

    Also, Saturn Girl, Chameleon Boy and Phantom Girl of the Legion of Super Heroes were part of the cast of the fourth season of Young Justice: Phantoms.
    Thanks. I remembered that Krypto had his own animated series, but when I went looking for that information online, I couldn't find it. So I wondered if it was all a dream. As soon as I can get the details I will add it. [Edit: Additions now made to that section.]

    Not sure how much information on the Legion I should include--at some point I had to stop.
    Last edited by Jim Kelly; 09-24-2022 at 08:01 AM.

  9. #24

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    Jim, this is fantastic work. Thank you so much for compiling this. Given the current state of the comic book medium, I believe it's imperative that comic book history is thoroughly researched, recorded, and maintained for posterity. There's so much that would be forgotten completely if not for work like this. I wonder if you'd be able to publish this material as a book somehow? Perhaps without using "Superboy" in the title or on the cover? I'd even be happy with an ebook version of this for reference.

    Thanks again for doing this. It makes my old Superman fan heart happy.

  10. #25
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    Quote Originally Posted by Digifiend View Post
    Also, Saturn Girl, Chameleon Boy and Phantom Girl of the Legion of Super Heroes were part of the cast of the fourth season of Young Justice: Phantoms.
    Quote Originally Posted by Jim Kelly View Post
    Not sure how much information on the Legion I should include--at some point I had to stop.
    And trying to add more info on Legion adaptations I hit the dreaded 100000 character limit. So I did some fancy footwork with edits, to keep it under the limit. At some point, if I'm going to add more, I will probably need to do it in an addendum.

  11. #26
    Jax City/Kill The FIremen
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    Very interesting stuff seeing how much of the stuff came from Superboy. He still doesn't need Superboy though. :P

  12. #27
    Astonishing Member JackDaw's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by DABellWrites View Post
    Very interesting stuff seeing how much of the stuff came from Superboy. He still doesn't need Superboy though. :P
    “Need” is over-stating it.

    But put it this way instead: It’s the job of fictional characters to be interesting, and many of us think Superman is more interesting if he has a preceding Superboy career.

    Can you explain why absence of such a career makes overall character more interesting?

  13. #28
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    It's like what the Twelfth Doctor said about Clara when he was forced to erase her from his existence. The outline of her was so strong, that even though he did not remember her, he knew her by everything from his experience that described her. If you lift Superboy out of the universe--everything that he generated suggests that such a being must have existed to give that life.

    Suppose that all the things I listed derived their copyright from Superboy and that the publisher lost the Superboy copyright--so when Superboy was taken out of their hands, they lost everything else he created? What would be left?

  14. #29
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    Quote Originally Posted by JackDaw View Post
    I remember reading a lot more time travel stories in Superboy comics than Superman or Action comics. (Usually by the method of Superboy flying round the Earth at faster than light speed. Think it was clockwise to go into the future, anti-clockwise to go into the past.)

    Was it first seen in Superboy?
    I haven't found the Superboy and the Legion story, but Superman does this in "One Hour to Doomsday" by Fox, Sekowsky and Sachs in JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA 11 (May 1962).



    Superman's sense of direction might be different from ours. From the northern hemisphere the Earth appears to rotate anti-clockwise, from the southern hemisphere the Earth appears to rotate clockwise. Maybe he was hanging out with Adam Strange, who spent a lot of time in the southern hemisphere waiting for Zeta beams.

  15. #30
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jim Kelly View Post
    It's like what the Twelfth Doctor said about Clara when he was forced to erase her from his existence. The outline of her was so strong, that even though he did not remember her, he knew her by everything from his experience that described her. If you lift Superboy out of the universe--everything that he generated suggests that such a being must have existed to give that life.

    Suppose that all the things I listed derived their copyright from Superboy and that the publisher lost the Superboy copyright--so when Superboy was taken out of their hands, they lost everything else he created? What would be left?
    Decades of new storytelling opportunities. Quality nowithstanding




    Quote Originally Posted by JackDaw View Post
    “Need” is over-stating it.

    But put it this way instead: It’s the job of fictional characters to be interesting, and many of us think Superman is more interesting if he has a preceding Superboy career.

    Can you explain why absence of such a career makes overall character more interesting?

    Because Superman worked fine without Superboy from 1938-1943. Then again after Superboy was taken out of continuity. Superboy being back is like the attempts to bring back Earth-2, it's a relic of a bygone era. Superboy (just like Earth-2) worked for the time period they were in. Constantly bringing them back makes DC Comics looks like it's being written by fanboys instead of writers. I would love for a reboot that put Dick at twelve again as Robin (Jason, Tim, and Damian comes over time), so I totally understand the want for Superboy. Superman doesn't need Superboy to be interesting. Superboy needs Superman to be interesting.

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