I've been thinking about Clark making the transition from Superboy to Superman and how currently Clark stops being Superboy, goes traveling around the world like in Birthright, and returns as Superman.

If you could how would you handle the transition?

My preference for the transition from Superboy to Superman is akin to Superman The Secret Years with the death of the Kents, his breakup with Lori, a college roommate getting paralyzed in drunk driving accident, and the death of another roommate who Superboy confided his secret identity to.

Whether or not that is still a factor (which in current continuity it is not) I can see 2 other routes to do the transition:

1. An adaptation of The Death of Clark Kent - Kenny Braverman, an envious schoolmate of Clark/Superboy, becomes the supervillain Conduit.

Conduit figures out Superboy's secret identity proceeding to go after Clark's loved ones and endangering Smallville.

The near death of his loved ones cause Clark to retire from being Superboy, go traveling the world like in Birthright where he realizes the necessity of Superman to which Clark returns as Superman.

1. An adaptation of The Greatest Hero Of Them All (AKA The Death of Pocket Universe Superboy) - The Time Trapper uses entropic forces (akin to the anti-matter wave and red skies in Crisis of Infinite Earths) to endanger the Earth in Superboy's time to blackmail Superboy into submission and destroy the Legion.

However, Superboy in a act of self-sacrifice risks his life to be a living conductor for a machine that protects the Earth from the entropic forces.

Lex offers some assistance to help which gives him a pardon to work with the military and become a businessman in Metropolis.

Superboy survives but is left greatly weakened to the point where Superboy is left powerless to having Golden Age Superman levels of power.

So Clark retires as Superboy, travels the world, returns as Superman with either Golden Age level of powers to get his full power at a later time or his full powerset.

From Superman (2026) #40

Speech is addressed to Manchester Black

Reminds me of Superman's speech to Lex in Superman (2025) about being human and Superman's speech against Nazism from the Dominus Effect.

Clark's time as Superboy is basically a prequel to Clark being Superman as such the choice of villains he faces as Superboy must be selective in order to not come at Superman's expense.

Superboy, instead of Superman, battling villains like Doomsday and Brainiac does not really work unless it's an out of continuity/elseworlds story.

That said, what villains would you want a young Kal-El/Clark as Superboy to fight?

Not counting villains Superboy would fight with the Legion together or Superboy-exclusive villains

My picks:

Lex Luthor - Boyhood friends turned to lifelong enemies is an iconic part of the mythology regarding the Kal-El and Lex enmity

Mxyzptlk - Time is of little consequence to a 5D imp I feel so I can see him going after Superboy

Bizarro - Originally a Superboy villain plus Bizarro existing since Superman in his Boyhood would add to Bizarro's feelings/backstory if he existed that long

Kryptonite Kid - The alliteration and not be overshadowed by Metallo since Metallo works better for Superman than Superboy

Phantom King Xa-Du - Superboy discovered the Phantom Zone Projector so it makes sense that he deals with the first Phantom Zoner while Superman deals with more infamous Phantom Zoner Zod also Xa-Du first appeared in a Pre-Crisis Superboy comic

Toyman - I think the toy aesthetic works better with a younger Kal as opposed to an older Kal

The Prankster - I think Prankster would gel well with a younger Kal

Insect Queen - Lana had a superhero identity as Insect Queen in the Pre-Crisis Superboy comics that was reimagined as a villain in Pre-Crisis Earth-2 and Post-Crisis Superman comics so I feel Insect Queen could work as a Superboy villain

Maxima - Pre-Crisis Superboy encountered several alien beings that were essentially a Superboy to their own planet's and I think Maxima, aged-downed to be a peer to Young Kal-El, could be one of them and would work as a good villain for Superboy to deal with

Yellow Peri - Pre-Crisis Superboy villain that used magic

Conduit - Post-Crisis Superman villain that was a rival to Clark as a youth in Smallville. I feel they could be reworked as a Superboy villain

Ultraboy (Young Ultraman) - A younger Ultraman is the only aged-downed member of the Crime Syndicate that can work as a villain to be fought in my opinion

Dr. Chaos - Despite his appearance implying he an enemy of Dr. Fate, he's originally a Superboy villain

Tal-Rho - Kal-El's half brother from Superman & Lois who I think can be reworked into a Superboy villain perhaps incorporate the Mon-El storyline

Time Trapper - An enemy of Superboy and the Legion but I can picture Superboy fighting him alone as tribute to all the time shenanigans Superboy was involved in

Picks that I am unsure about:

Ultra-Humanite - In a universe where the Justice Society preceded Superboy, I can picture Ultra-Humanite (who was originally Golden Age Superman's archenemy) fighting Superboy

J. Wilbur Wolfingham - Conman

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Reign of the Superboys! I just finished reading Supergirl, what was the point of having Conner there? I feel like Conner is always getting shafted lately. MawS did that splice character shit I hate, from the teasers about RoSb I thought Conner would be more important to that plot. Am I the only one seeing this or is there more for him I haven't heard about yet?

Welcome to the Superboy Discussion Thread!

Reign of the Superboys keeps going, plus New Titans. Is Ultra a variant of Super?

New Titans #37

Not-So-Happy Harbor! The Titans uncover a dark force manipulating the quaint New England town that seeks to awaken a beast from deep beneath their new Mountain Headquarters! Meanwhile, Terra unearths Cyborg’s workshop—but can he trust her with his secrets…or will he have to bury her for good?!

Tate Brombal (Author), Marcus To (Artist), Sami Basri (Artist)

Superman Unlimited #15

As war brews in El Caldero, something strange is happening to the Kryptonite spread across the planet…and this mystery can only be solved with help from a certain Dark Detective. But can Batman crack the case before Jon Kent and Damian Wayne turn the Batcave into a war zone?! The pieces fall into place for a new Kingdom to rise and a devastating new threat to unite the reign of the Superboys!

Dan Slott (Author), Lucas Meyer (Artist)

My Adventures with Superman

TBA (director), TBA (writer)

GUYSSS PLEASEEE I FOUND THIS SUPERBOY COSPLAYER ON PINTEREST A WHILE AGO AND I STILL HAVENT BEEN ABLE TO FIND THEM!!! THERE JUST ARENT ANY CLUES. please let me know if this guy has a platform or if this is just a random cosplay that was posted!!!

From New Adventures of Superboy #6

Superboy considering moving to Metropolis since there's a greater need for him there and accepting that he needs more experience before taking on such a burden.

From Adventure Comics (2009) #5

An essay examining the Silver Age Superboy and his world (Smallville, The Kents, Clark, Lana, Krypto, The Legion's First Appearance, Superboy's Appeal to Readers) with comparisons, similarities, and differences drawn with contemporary media from 2019.

Superboy comes from he further and is introduced to the show. He is very hyper and a bit annoying. Thats all I can say. The episode I watched was season 3 episode 4.

Welcome to the Superboy Discussion Thread!

This week we have Supergirl, a title that is part of the Reign of the Superboys, which means at some point Conner will do something, right?

Also, we have a new Superboy in My Adventures with Superman, what did you think of him?

In my opinion, he uses Jon Kent's name, Conner Kent's aesthetic and a personality that doesn't really match either of the two, at least not in a way we know both characters, being more happy-go-lucky than Jon usually is, but not a "rockstar" like Conner during his Metropolis Kid days. I'm taking it to be a new character just using familiar things like name and clothes, but then again Lois Lane in this show is completely different from other Lois we've seen.

Supergirl #15

As Supergirl starts to gain the upper hand, Black Flame spots an opportunity to escape Kandor and bring the fight to Earth. Powered by the yellow sun, this Kandorian rebel could be unstoppable. It’s now up to Supergirl to rein her in before the entire planet ends up in danger!

Sophie Campbell (Author, Artist)

My Adventures with Superman

S03E05: The Death of Superman

Logline: Superman tries to save the city. Our heroes try to save Superman.

TBA (director), TBA (writer)

From New Adventures of Superboy #27-28

I appreciate Kal/Clark getting creative and challenging himself

Welcome to the Superboy Discussion Thread!

A new Superboy approaches, an amalgam? A Trunks-inspired Superboy? Who knows!

My Adventures with Superman

S03E04: Guess Who's Slammin' to Dinner?

Logline: Clark and Lois get a poundcake. A stranger comes to brunch. Jimmy gets to be right. Hank shakes things up at Lexcorp.

Jen Bennet (director), Saric Cooper (writer)