Superman Through the Ages! Forum

The Superman Family! => Superboy => Topic started by: Boogiebear64 on November 23, 2006, 05:01:56 PM



Title: Question about Training from the experts
Post by: Boogiebear64 on November 23, 2006, 05:01:56 PM
I have been coming here for a long time, and just registered because I knew the people on here would have the answer. We are having an argument here.

When did Clark "train", was it over time while he was doing other things or did  he have to go into seclusion? I know this had to be covered sometime in the comics.
Any answer will do, from any era. Thank you so much for your help. I really appreciate the boards, the website, and the information. :)


Title: Re: Question about Training from the experts
Post by: Aldous on December 03, 2006, 12:21:44 AM
I have been coming here for a long time, and just registered because I knew the people on here would have the answer. We are having an argument here.

When did Clark "train", was it over time while he was doing other things or did  he have to go into seclusion? I know this had to be covered sometime in the comics.
Any answer will do, from any era. Thank you so much for your help. I really appreciate the boards, the website, and the information. :)

Are you asking about young Clark being trained in the use of his super-powers?

I recently came across an old comic in my collection, "How Superboy Learned To Fly" (1958) by Otto Binder & John Sikela.

In flashback, Superboy remembers when he was on the brink of going public as a super-hero, and Ma Kent presents him with the finished super-suit which she has made from the Kryptonian blankets. Pa Kent has a written list of all the powers demonstrated by young Clark, but there is a question mark beside "flying". Pa shows Clark a photograph he took of crayon drawings that had been done years ago on the ceiling. "How could you get up there," asks Pa, "unless you flew?"

Clark has a scientific theory about how he may be able to fly, and the next day Ma and Pa accompany Clark (dressed in his new super-suit as Superboy) to an isolated area as he attempts to find out whether or not he can actually fly. After a running start he takes off and discovers he can indeed fly, although he is a little unstable in the air and crashes into a derrick.

The next day Pa helps train Superboy in flight by playing out steel cable attached to a box kite device inside which is Superboy as he learns to handle air currents properly. A couple of days later Superboy is ready for his first solo flight under his own power and soars hundreds of miles from the Earth's surface, and, leaving the atmosphere behind, makes another startling discovery about his super-powers: "I just found out I can live without breathing air!"

However, Superboy has yet to get used to his new abilities, for as he looks down at the Earth rotating in the distance beneath him, he feels dizzy and decides he has had enough of flying for today.

Naturally enough, to round out the story, Superboy puts the kibosh on a group of baddies smuggling jewels via jet plane.

So in this early comic, Clark wasn't ready to go public as Superboy until he had discovered and mastered his flying power.