Except for a small handful of reprints, the vast majority of Superboy stories I have read are from the post-Adventure Comics #347 era. For many years, the DC universe had gotten by without a Superboy (without a Clark Kent Superboy, anyway), but that is no longer the case. Post-Infinite Crisis, Clark Kent is once again said to have had a career as Superboy. From what I’ve been able to gather, though, most of this “new” Superboy’s adventures occurred in the 30th century alongside the Legion of Superheroes, with very few (if any) shown to have happened in the (recent past of the) present day.
The original Superboy first appeared in that “Twilight Age”… not quite Golden and not yet Silver. Suprboy’s first appearance was in More Fun Comics #101 (Jan-Feb 1945), nine years before the dawn of DC’s Silver Age, 13 years before the commonly agreed upon (retroactive) introduction of the Man of Steel of Earth-1, and 16 years before the concept of heroes’ earlier adventures being relegated to a second Earth was introduced. Despite these facts, it’s widely accepted that the character introduced in More Fun Comics #101 is the Silver Age Boy of Steel and the Earth-2 Superman never had a career as Superboy.
Nonsense!
The Golden Age, Earth-2 Superman did have hitherto unknown adventures as Superboy in the 1920s, and the collection released tomorrow is going to present the first of them!
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There's a big difference between the Golden Age Superman and the Earth-Two Superman. The E-2 Sup was an alternate version of the "real" Superman. The GA Sup was THE Superman when his stories were published so he could have been Superboy, something the E-2 Sup was denied to differentiate him from the E-1 Superman.
Kinda, when I'm reading stories from the 40s, but remember that the Earth-Two and Earth-One Flashes and Green Lanterns are distinct and seperate from each other with different origins, backgrounds, settings and supporting cast. The creative teams from the Silver Age weren't continuing from the Golden, they were re-inventing. The Superman writers and artists (as with Batman and Wonder Woman) did not chronicle the E-2 Superman, then the E-1 Superman. They wrote and drew SUPERMAN, the one and only. The original stories from the 40s weren't designed as E-2 Superman stories, they were Superman stories. Only in the Silver Age did we make that ruling. If you noticed, when Superman stories were reprinted from the 40s in the 60s and 70s, they were NOT designated as E-2 Superman adventures, they were treated as early adventures of Superman.
Granted it's easy to go either way with each interpretation and Superman's, Lois', Luthor's and even the Kents' origins, appearances, motivations and histories all were changed, revised and rethought. New characters were introduced, like Brainiac and Krypto so you can feel when E-1 superceded E-2 but the basic elements remained the same.
It would be like saying the Silver Age of Marvel happened on a different, parallel world. There can be arguements for both sides. Did Reed and Ben fought in WWII? Did Cap spend FIFTY years on ice? Was Spidey a teenager in 1963? You can see the problems immediately. It's the same with putting Superboy on E-2. Yes it works one way but goes against the grain in another!
Phillip, here is a rhetorical question you may answer if you wish: “On which Earth did the adventures of the Golden Age Superman occur?” I’m not trying to be argumentative (really, I’m not), I’m just taking a position contrary to yours and sinking my teeth in to a spirited debate. Our respective positions are not really that far apart. Consider this (slightly edited) post I used to spark the How Many Supermans Are There? discussion back in October 2005:
Volume XXII of Who’s Who in the DC Universe has an entry for both the Golden Age (i.e., pre-Crisis Earth-2) and Modern Day (i.e., post-Crisis) versions of Superman. The first appearance for each is given as Action Comics #1. I might say the first appearances for each are Justice League of America #73 and The Man of Steel #1, respectively. For Warner Communications, as well as for the average man-in-the-street, certainly, there is only one Superman. Myself, I like to recognize three: pre-Crisis Earth-1, pre-Crisis Earth-2 and post-Crisis… Sometimes, though, depending on a particular point I may be trying to make, I re-divide them into Golden/Silver Age (counts as one), pre-Crisis Earth-2 and post-Crisis.
Consider the following “Editor’s Note” from Superboy #171 (Jan 1971): “[W]hen was this ‘beginning’ in Superman’s youth? Perhaps some sharp-eyed readers have already caught the sneaky ‘boo-boo’ we planted in our last issue when Superboy returned to his own time… in 1955! and the updated technology of this latest story.
“Well… if Superman is now 29 years old, SuperBOY had to be in his ‘teens’ between 1951 and 1957! But… since Superman was created full-grown in 1938, his youth had to take place earlier! But, as time went on, Superman stayed the same… 29… while Superboy remained stuck in a time slot not of his own making! “So… we decided to rescue him! And, from now on, he’ll tag along behind the eternally 29-year old Superman… and ‘stay with it’ as the years roll on!
“That’s it! Superboy has come of age… and it’s all yours! Positively the ‘living end’… till next ussue!”
My point [today] is that all of the stories from the collection released will be set in the late teens/early twenties and are the “adventures of the Earth-2 (or “Golden Age,” if you prefer) Superman when he was a boy.”
Another difference between the “Golden Age” and “Earth-2” Superman (in addition to the supposition that the earth-2 Superman was never Superboy), is that the Earth-2 Superman continued to work at The Daily Star throughout his career, eventually succeeding George Taylor as editor. If Action Comics #241 (1958) marks the change from Earth-2 to Earth-1 (or is that Golden Age to Silver Age?), when did the change from Golden Age to Silver Age (or is that Earth-2 to Earth-1?) occur?
Answer: Between Action Comics #22 and 23 (1940). In this two-part story which introduces Lex Luthor (never mind which one!), it is The Daily Star which send Kent to Europe in #22, but it is to The Daily Planet to which he reports in #23 upon his return! (Of course, the “Earth-Prime” reson for the switch is that Superman was a newspaper feature by this time and, The Star being a much more common name than The Planet, the change reduced the risk of Kent reporting for the rival newspapers carrying the strip.
The Golden Age Superman's adventures took place on HIS Earth, which was probably Earth-Two. I'm merely pointing out that there can be some debate as to what was and wasn't kept in the Superman canon after the 40s and if that creates a pair of Supermen. I think many of us are a bit perplexed by the Golden Age Superboy stories and which Superman he grew up to be. It would make sense, chronicology, to be the E-1 Superman, 15 years before they would know they needed one. But it was meant to be the adventures of Superman (the one being published) as a boy, so it must be the Golden Age Superman. However, since it was stated time after time that the E-2 Superman was never Superboy, it can put these tales into another continuity, an E-1.5 if you like.
Actually, as I have said before, I am comfortable with calling the present Superman Superman IV. So I do believe in multiple Supermen. It just makes life easier that way!
I've got mine, I've got mine
The world is as it's meant to be
'Cause I've got mine
When I pictured this volume in my mind's eye, I thought of the cover of Superboy #1, but I was surprised to find this collection adorned by a dustjacket with new cover art by Michael Cho. That's okay by me, though; it's both new yet also nostalgiac. It looks great! I can hardly wait to get home to read the 26 stories within as Clark and his friend "learn lessons of safety, morals and good behavior!"
Replies
Rob Staeger said:
Granted it's easy to go either way with each interpretation and Superman's, Lois', Luthor's and even the Kents' origins, appearances, motivations and histories all were changed, revised and rethought. New characters were introduced, like Brainiac and Krypto so you can feel when E-1 superceded E-2 but the basic elements remained the same.
It would be like saying the Silver Age of Marvel happened on a different, parallel world. There can be arguements for both sides. Did Reed and Ben fought in WWII? Did Cap spend FIFTY years on ice? Was Spidey a teenager in 1963? You can see the problems immediately. It's the same with putting Superboy on E-2. Yes it works one way but goes against the grain in another!
Volume XXII of Who’s Who in the DC Universe has an entry for both the Golden Age (i.e., pre-Crisis Earth-2) and Modern Day (i.e., post-Crisis) versions of Superman. The first appearance for each is given as Action Comics #1. I might say the first appearances for each are Justice League of America #73 and The Man of Steel #1, respectively. For Warner Communications, as well as for the average man-in-the-street, certainly, there is only one Superman. Myself, I like to recognize three: pre-Crisis Earth-1, pre-Crisis Earth-2 and post-Crisis… Sometimes, though, depending on a particular point I may be trying to make, I re-divide them into Golden/Silver Age (counts as one), pre-Crisis Earth-2 and post-Crisis.
Consider the following “Editor’s Note” from Superboy #171 (Jan 1971): “[W]hen was this ‘beginning’ in Superman’s youth? Perhaps some sharp-eyed readers have already caught the sneaky ‘boo-boo’ we planted in our last issue when Superboy returned to his own time… in 1955! and the updated technology of this latest story.
“Well… if Superman is now 29 years old, SuperBOY had to be in his ‘teens’ between 1951 and 1957! But… since Superman was created full-grown in 1938, his youth had to take place earlier! But, as time went on, Superman stayed the same… 29… while Superboy remained stuck in a time slot not of his own making! “So… we decided to rescue him! And, from now on, he’ll tag along behind the eternally 29-year old Superman… and ‘stay with it’ as the years roll on!
“That’s it! Superboy has come of age… and it’s all yours! Positively the ‘living end’… till next ussue!”
My point [today] is that all of the stories from the collection released will be set in the late teens/early twenties and are the “adventures of the Earth-2 (or “Golden Age,” if you prefer) Superman when he was a boy.”
Another difference between the “Golden Age” and “Earth-2” Superman (in addition to the supposition that the earth-2 Superman was never Superboy), is that the Earth-2 Superman continued to work at The Daily Star throughout his career, eventually succeeding George Taylor as editor. If Action Comics #241 (1958) marks the change from Earth-2 to Earth-1 (or is that Golden Age to Silver Age?), when did the change from Golden Age to Silver Age (or is that Earth-2 to Earth-1?) occur?
Answer: Between Action Comics #22 and 23 (1940). In this two-part story which introduces Lex Luthor (never mind which one!), it is The Daily Star which send Kent to Europe in #22, but it is to The Daily Planet to which he reports in #23 upon his return! (Of course, the “Earth-Prime” reson for the switch is that Superman was a newspaper feature by this time and, The Star being a much more common name than The Planet, the change reduced the risk of Kent reporting for the rival newspapers carrying the strip.
Another old discussion apropos this one which you might enjoy reading: Why is Earth-2 Superman not the Golden Age Superman?
Actually, as I have said before, I am comfortable with calling the present Superman Superman IV. So I do believe in multiple Supermen. It just makes life easier that way!
Ah, ha! ;)
However, since it was stated time after time that the E-2 Superman was never Superboy…
“Chronicler’s error”… :P
So I do believe in multiple Supermen. It just makes life easier that way!
Agreed!
The world is as it's meant to be
'Cause I've got mine
When I pictured this volume in my mind's eye, I thought of the cover of Superboy #1, but I was surprised to find this collection adorned by a dustjacket with new cover art by Michael Cho. That's okay by me, though; it's both new yet also nostalgiac. It looks great! I can hardly wait to get home to read the 26 stories within as Clark and his friend "learn lessons of safety, morals and good behavior!"
...and of not using your X-Ray vision to check out girls.
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