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.
