Superboy and the adventures of teenage Clark Kent in modern times

[The Overlord]

Superboy (a teenage Clark Kent fighting crime in costume in Smallville not the clone), is concept that was wiped away in Crisis on Infinite Earth's. But even 1978, the movies didn't have Clark don the costume until he was in Metropolis.

I do think it works better if Clark is not a costumed hero until adulthood, but that doesn't mean the basic Superboy concept has to go away.

This concept still has some life in it after 1986. There was a Superboy show where Superboy was fighting crime while attending college in Florida.

The biggest example of a modern take on Superboy is Smallville, where teen Clark Kent fights crime subtlety, without a costume. It lasted for 10 years. Clark still wants to help people, but has not put everything together yet in terms of being Superman.

More recently there are have been DC YA novels that featured a teen Clark doing heroics. There was a trilogy of Lois Lane novels where a teen Clark gets to do some heroics at the end, but is mostly Lois' series and Clark is mostly an on online boyfriend for that series. There was the DC Icon novel Dawnbreaker that featured an evil corporation that kidnaps and experiments on immigrants in order to turn them into super soldier slaves and Clark has to stop them to without revealing his powers. All these novels feature a teen Lex Luthor as a sketchy side character, where he is not villain but not heroic either.

What do you think, would you want a return of a costumed Superboy or a Mini-series where a not costumed teen Clark fights crime and saves people in Smallville.

[Adekis]

I'm pretty burnt out on Smallville as a setting generally, and on the idea of a teen Clark surreptitiously performing rescues with no costume. It's not that I think such things should never have happened in Superman's backstory, it's just that I don't think it's particularly interesting, and seeing variations on the concept over and over, every time Superman gets his origin retold - which has to happen more than any other super-hero- gets pretty tiring for me!

However, a proper Superboy, with costume and all, is a very different story! To me, Superboy is pure charm. The Kent general store, the secret entrance to their basement, Pete Ross knowing Clark's secret identity, teenage "Lex" Luthor, all are very fun!
I do wish they'd come back more - if not as a part of the Mainline Superman's backstory, then at least making return appearances more often than the do!

To say nothing of the Legion of Super-Heroes, who imo, never really 100% recovered from Superboy's excision from their history.

[DABellWrites]

I think the best solution is to make Clark as Superboy a time anomaly. One minute he was Superboy, the next he wasn't Superboy. Don't overuse the concept either. So every four or five years you can do a Superboy limited series for Clark.

I'm pretty burnt out on Smallville as a setting generally, and on the idea of a teen Clark surreptitiously performing rescues with no costume. It's not that I think such things should never have happened in Superman's backstory, it's just that I don't think it's particularly interesting, and seeing variations on the concept over and over, every time Superman gets his origin retold - which has to happen more than any other super-hero- gets pretty tiring for me!

However, a proper Superboy, with costume and all, is a very different story! To me, Superboy is pure charm. The Kent general store, the secret entrance to their basement, Pete Ross knowing Clark's secret identity, teenage "Lex" Luthor, all are very fun!
I do wish they'd come back more - if not as a part of the Mainline Superman's backstory, then at least making return appearances more often than the do!

To say nothing of the Legion of Super-Heroes, who imo, never really 100% recovered from Superboy's excision from their history.

You know, I don't get why Superman just can't be the inspiration for the Legion. I'd like to know why. Is the Legion a teen comic still?

As for the other stuff, you kinda hit it on the why I see Superboy as a relic of a bygone era. It worked for its time, in my opinion.

[Jon Clark]

I think the best solution is to make Clark as Superboy a time anomaly. One minute he was Superboy, the next he wasn't Superboy. Don't overuse the concept either. So every four or five years you can do a Superboy limited series for Clark.



You know, I don't get why Superman just can't be the inspiration for the Legion. I'd like to know why. Is the Legion a teen comic still?

As for the other stuff, you kinda hit it on the why I see Superboy as a relic of a bygone era. It worked for its time, in my opinion.

I think the Legion has made it pretty clear by who they recruited how adult they are. The original recruited ONLY SuperBOY and Supergirl from the 20th century. The Reboot version recruited Conner, The Threboot recruited a teen Kara. And the most recent recruited Jon not adult Clark. They had Barry's granddaughter as a member but never attempted to recruit Barry (or even teen Wally). Even when they tried that tack with the inspiration being the whole 20th Century heroes/JLA.

As for Superboy, I don't see Clark as a teen being any more of an issue than a dozen Robins, three Kid Flashes, the Super Twins ...

[bat39]

I think the best solution is to make Clark as Superboy a time anomaly. One minute he was Superboy, the next he wasn't Superboy. Don't overuse the concept either. So every four or five years you can do a Superboy limited series for Clark.



You know, I don't get why Superman just can't be the inspiration for the Legion. I'd like to know why. Is the Legion a teen comic still?

As for the other stuff, you kinda hit it on the why I see Superboy as a relic of a bygone era. It worked for its time, in my opinion.

I actually don't see a reason why Superman can't be the inspiration for the LOSH. He's an alien who came to earth and became a superhero - like the vast majority of the LOSH. If you play up the alien on earth angle, rather than the teen hero angle, it fits perfectly. Especially when you consider versions of the LOSH where they are adults.

As far as Superboy goes, while I don't necessarily need him to be part of 'current continuity' (whatever that is), I'm not averse to the concept being explored in 'out of continuity' stories. I think Frank Miller had an interesting, and somewhat bonkers take. American Alien was great. I haven't watched much Smallville, but that was a pretty solid take too. I think reinventing Superboy, with all the trappings of the concept, for the 21st century would be an interesting creative challenge that I'd love for someone to take up.

[magha_regulus]

I asked Joshua Williamson a question on wordbaloon a few months back about whether Superman was Superboy in his youth, and he said yes. Whether that make it to the page remains to be seen, but I really hope it does. I have long preferred the idea of Clark having a career as Superboy, partly because it adds some weight to him being the inspiration for so many Superheroes.

[bat39]

I asked Joshua Williamson a question on wordbaloon a few months back about whether Superman was Superboy in his youth, and he said yes. Whether that make it to the page remains to be seen, but I really hope it does. I have long preferred the idea of Clark having a career as Superboy, partly because it adds some weight to him being the inspiration for so many Superheroes.

With the exception of the New 52 era, it's actually low-key been the case since 2009's Secret Origins (which is the de-facto origin now I believe). And Doomsday Clock (though it's not fully canon) emphasized that Clark was Superboy as well, and in fact tied it to the Kent's being alive.

[the illustrious mr. kenway]

Superboy (a teenage Clark Kent fighting crime in costume in Smallville not the clone), is concept that was wiped away in Crisis on Infinite Earth's. But even 1978, the movies didn't have Clark don the costume until he was in Metropolis.

I do think it works better if Clark is not a costumed hero until adulthood, but that doesn't mean the basic Superboy concept has to go away.

This concept still has some life in it after 1986. There was a Superboy show where Superboy was fighting crime while attending college in Florida.

The biggest example of a modern take on Superboy is Smallville, where teen Clark Kent fights crime subtlety, without a costume. It lasted for 10 years. Clark still wants to help people, but has not put everything together yet in terms of being Superman.

More recently there are have been DC YA novels that featured a teen Clark doing heroics. There was a trilogy of Lois Lane novels where a teen Clark gets to do some heroics at the end, but is mostly Lois' series and Clark is mostly an on online boyfriend for that series. There was the DC Icon novel Dawnbreaker that featured an evil corporation that kidnaps and experiments on immigrants in order to turn them into super soldier slaves and Clark has to stop them to without revealing his powers. All these novels feature a teen Lex Luthor as a sketchy side character, where he is not villain but not heroic either.

What do you think, would you want a return of a costumed Superboy or a Mini-series where a not costumed teen Clark fights crime and saves people in Smallville.

I'm fine with Clark being a former Superboy and you could do a miniseries or updating the concept. Something like Zdarsky's the Knight miniseries for Batman.

A placeholder identity like the Blur could also work. It showcases young Clark as a work in progress unlike his older self but Clark being Superboy would also fill that idea.

[Jon Clark]

I still find the "operates in secret" or "The Blur" stuff harder to take as it makes becoming Superman seem arbitrary. Either you have Clark manage for quite a while to stay under the radar until that one moment when he has to go public (why then and not earlier- only authorial fiat) or Clark has a "name" like Blur or Smallville Angel that (again just authorial fiat) he discards to become Superman.

In my head-cannon Clark is someone who wouldn't be able to stay on the sidelines once he knows his powers could help others and while he might have stuck to the shadows I just can't see him staying undiscovered until sometime in his 20's. If he's active at13 or 16 or 19 then his public debut as Superman/boy might as well be at that point.

[DABellWrites]

I actually don't see a reason why Superman can't be the inspiration for the LOSH. He's an alien who came to earth and became a superhero - like the vast majority of the LOSH. If you play up the alien on earth angle, rather than the teen hero angle, it fits perfectly. Especially when you consider versions of the LOSH where they are adults.

As far as Superboy goes, while I don't necessarily need him to be part of 'current continuity' (whatever that is), I'm not averse to the concept being explored in 'out of continuity' stories. I think Frank Miller had an interesting, and somewhat bonkers take. American Alien was great. I haven't watched much Smallville, but that was a pretty solid take too. I think reinventing Superboy, with all the trappings of the concept, for the 21st century would be an interesting creative challenge that I'd love for someone to take up.

Exactly. There's nothing wrong with Superman being the inspiration, especially when DC writers love to tout Superman as moral center of the DC Universe. SO, if Superman is the most important person in the DC Universe, there's nothing wrong with him inspiring LOSH.

If it's an Elseworld, I'm all for it. Probably the best place for Clark as Superboy. Diana as Wonder Girl. Bruce as Robin. And whatever else.

[bat39]

Exactly. There's nothing wrong with Superman being the inspiration, especially when DC writers love to tout Superman as moral center of the DC Universe. SO, if Superman is the most important person in the DC Universe, there's nothing wrong with him inspiring LOSH.

If it's an Elseworld, I'm all for it. Probably the best place for Clark as Superboy. Diana as Wonder Girl. Bruce as Robin. And whatever else.

Oooo...that's an interesting Elseworlds idea.

Why stop there? Why not Barry as Kid Flash, Arthur as Aqualad, and Oliver as Speedy? And they form the Teen Titans? And without any adult superhero mentors, and with no restraints on their youthful vigour, they actually start changing the world...radically.

Clark as Superboy gets the ball rolling. He soon meets Princess Diana from Themyscera who's come to explore Man's World and decides she wants to change things. And Bruce Wayne, the angry teenager still dealing with his parents' death a few years ago, and trying to process it as the costumed vigilante known as Robin. The trio soon runs into Barry Allen, who got struck by lightning while doing experiments in his high school lab. And the young Atlantean Arthur Curry, known as Aqualad. And young rich kid Oliver Queen, who was stranded on an island for a few months after his parents' yacht capsized and he was the sole survivor.

[superduperman]

With the exception of the New 52 era, it's actually low-key been the case since 2009's Secret Origins (which is the de-facto origin now I believe). And Doomsday Clock (though it's not fully canon) emphasized that Clark was Superboy as well, and in fact tied it to the Kent's being alive.

It seems like they are just back to Johns' origin. Which, unless they say otherwise, I assume is what his current origin is. I prefer something along the lines of Smallville. He used his powers in secret to help people around town but didn't wear a costume.

[Thor-Ul]

Oooo...that's an interesting Elseworlds idea.

Why stop there? Why not Barry as Kid Flash, Arthur as Aqualad, and Oliver as Speedy? And they form the Teen Titans? And without any adult superhero mentors, and with no restraints on their youthful vigour, they actually start changing the world...radically.

Clark as Superboy gets the ball rolling. He soon meets Princess Diana from Themyscera who's come to explore Man's World and decides she wants to change things. And Bruce Wayne, the angry teenager still dealing with his parents' death a few years ago, and trying to process it as the costumed vigilante known as Robin. The trio soon runs into Barry Allen, who got struck by lightning while doing experiments in his high school lab. And the young Atlantean Arthur Curry, known as Aqualad. And young rich kid Oliver Queen, who was stranded on an island for a few months after his parents' yacht capsized and he was the sole survivor.

Yes, it would be a nice elseworld to see. But also shows the problem than I see with a publicy and world know Superboy acting in the DCU. Superboy worked in times when the Superman character almost operated in its own pocket of reality, cause the strict control the editor office had over his use. That causes events like why Supergirl never joined the Teen Titans for example. When Superman was more integrated to the DCU, the presence of SUperboy complicates everything. If Superman is the inspiration for many superheroes, then why the public debut of Superboy don'tinspired to all the other metas to also debut too? Even in the Superboy old book it was common to see multitude of alien superheroes appearings every month. In a more connected DCU, why there was no an Aqualad Arthur Curry, a Robin Bruce Wayne and so? And I don't even started withhow people would be surprised than Clark Kent, who lived in Smallville always knew about SUperboy and laater about Superman in Metropolis.

It seems like they are just back to Johns' origin. Which, unless they say otherwise, I assume is what his current origin is. I prefer something along the lines of Smallville. He used his powers in secret to help people around town but didn't wear a costume.

Me too. I must agree with the Johns solution of having Superboy being something more exclusive of the Legion adventures.

[Bored at 3:00AM]

The latest issue of Doom Patrol just confirmed that Clark was indeed active as Superboy in Smallville during his youth.