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Krypto, the Superdog. |
In the comic books before the mid-1940s,
in the films, serials, the two Superman TV series, and the comics after 1986,
there is no Superboy version of Clark Kent. The adventures of Superman as
a boy begin in 1945, as a feature in Adventure
Comics. In his stories, many new characters and settings enter
the Superman mythos: Lana Lang, Ma and Pa Kent, their farm
and later their general store, and Krypto, the Superdog (sent into space from
Krypton by Jor-El as part of an experiment before the planet explodes). Most,
with variations, have remained in the current Superman universe. Superboy
has all of Superman's powers and they are at full strength.
By 1949 he gets his own self-titled comic book
with a 37-year run. Some of his stories show young Clark Kent meeting people
who will figure significantly in his adult life, like Lois Lane and Lex Luthor,
characters whom Superman actually meets as an adult. However, one important
figure in the Superman stories who first appears in a Superboy story is Bizarro-the
result of a failed scientific experiment to clone or duplicate Superboy.
The discrepancy between the years of being a Superboy and the current history in which Clark only becomes a super-hero as an adult are explained away as follows: Superboy only exists on Earth 1. Yet some fondly remembered Superman myths are based in his youth, like the story of how teenage Luthor, new in Smallville and an admirer of Superboy, accidentally loses his hair while helping his hero and then becomes the life-long enemy of the Boy of Steel.
