I would venture to say that Mort would not have allowed this story to slip through a few years earlier, but by 1968 seemed more lackadaisical about changes to the canon.
There was at least one other serious lapse of editorial judgement that I can recall around this time.
There's a story in Superboy 158 (July 1969) that even more flagrantly flouts the accepted origin -- "Superboy's Darkest Secret" by Frank Robbins, Bob Brown and Wally Wood. In this one, I believe Superboy stumbles across Jor-El and Lara's bodies floating in space in suspended animation. I don't remember all the details, but there was some convoluted explanation as to how they were preserved, and why they couldn't be revived, and Superboy must leave their bodies to roam space through eternity.
Needless to say, this was another tale wisely and quickly forgotten.
Well - I was curious, so I found a copy of this story and reread it. Imagine my surprise when I read the indicia and see "Murray Boltinoff, Editor" in the fine print! This certainly explains a lot. I owe a big apology to Mort. I didn't realize he had handed Superboy off as early as mid-1968.
I have to say though, Aldous, my appraisal of the story did not change much. When I have some more time I'll go into more detail as to why. But one thing about this story still bugs me. Why would Boltinoff blatantly disregard one of the central tenets of the origin story, while
at the same time create a tale that revolves around events and characters that appeared only in one obscure Superman story from 1956?