For years, millions of kids figured there couldn't be anything cooler than growing up to have Superman's powers. Then finally someone figured out yes, there could be: you could have them right now. And so began "The Adventures of Superman When He Was A Boy," withe the Boy of Steel debuting in Adventure Comics and soon spinning off into his own title.

By the Silver Age, the adventures of Superboy were a mix of sci-fi adventure and heartwarming Americana, with the young hero loved and cared for his foster parents Ma and Pa Kent, befriended by loyal and true Pete Ross as well as cute if dangerously curious Lana Lang, and best of all accompanied in his adventures by his faithful dog Krypto, a canine with powers to match his master.

Superboy's Smallville was like Andy Griffith's Mayberry; the small town we all wished we lived in, even if in this case it was frequently visited by big-time gangsters, space invaders, mad scientists and other dire threats. In its quaint streets young Clark would have his first encounters with Luthor, Mxyzptlk and Bruce Wayne, to name just a few. And at the end of the day, when the Earth was saved, Ma had a hot dinner waiting, with one of her signature pies. Those were the good old days.