SUPERBOY: A RETELLING OF KAL-EL'S PAST
By Robert O' Connor
What can we say about the silver-age 'boy of steel' that hasn't been said already? John Byrne erased a classic character in 1986. I think that this is a good thing. It is a bit far fetched that Superboy would just suddenly become Superman minutes before he graduated from Metropolis University (read 'Superman: The Secret Years), and all in all, the Superboy comic was a bit camp. But still, you have to agree with me when I say that 'Superboy: The Series' was a pretty cool show. Sure, 'Lois and Clark' was okay too, but it was fun seeing Superman somewhere other than the Daily Planet for a change. It's fun seeing Superman as a teenager (being one myself), and of course, it's fun seeing Lex Luthor as an actual criminal scientist (like the guy in the Superman Movies) rather than a jacked up supervillain (with that big-ass suit), or a billionaire businessman, or even a president. Lex Luthor is much cooler this way, because he is much more interesting than the other versions. The businessman Luthor and the President Luthor can only do so many behind-the-scenes crimes, before he is caught. The jacked up supervillain will provide a stereotypical story with nothing original.
So all in all, Superboy was plain fun! It was much more innocent than the Superman comics (especially in the seventies) and much more realistic (for a comic about a boy that can fly!) and in my opinion, Superboy was much more interesting than Superman.
So here's an origin. Call it an elseworlds, call it a pocket universe, call it an Earth Prime for all I care. Just read it.
1989:
Jonathan and Martha Kent were eating dinner together. A dull silence had befallen the room, because Jonathan had just put down the phone after Dr Williams told them that Martha and Jonathan could not have a baby together. It could not be done.
All Martha's life she had wanted a husband. After twenty-five years of waiting, she got one. All Martha's life she had wanted a baby. Now, thirty years later, she found that to be impossibility.
Jonathan looked over sympathetically at Martha. She looked at him, eyes watering, and burst into tears. Jonathan rushed over to her and hugged her tightly.
"It will be all right honey," he said consolingly, "I promise. Hey!" He said, edging away from her, "we'll adopt the best, nicest, sweetest baby in the orphanage. I know we will. Do you know why?"
"Why?" She asked, drying her tears.
"Because you are great at choosing the ones you want to love!" Jonathan smiled.
Martha smiled back at him, and hugged him tightly. She would always have Jonathan. She probably would not always have enough money to buy that lovely coat she saw, she probably would never be the ballerina she wished she could be as a child, but she would always have Jonathan through thick and thin.
Kal-El's star-ship raced through space at unimaginable speeds. Finally, after a matter of months, it broke through to the solar system in which resided its ultimate target destination: the planet earth. The tiny rocket continued zooming toward its target, following the programmed instructions given to it by its creator, Jor-El. It neared further and further toward the shiny blue planet. Straight in front of the star ship was the country known as Russia. It looked a sure bet that it would land there. But alas, Jor-El's coordinates were right. By the time the star-ship entered earth's atmosphere, the planet had spun around slowly so that the ship was facing the relatively new country known as America.
Jonathan was finally starting to cheer Martha up, when suddenly; a huge meteor-like object sailed right over the house. Through the skylight above them, Jonathan saw what seemed to be some sort of fallen satellite. Jonathan glanced over to his desk, where sat a crumpled old issue of Paranormal Phenomena. There was a picture of a small rocket sailing into earth's atmosphere. Inside were tiny green men with laser weapons. Martha (like so many others) had suspended this magazine as trash, but Jonathan always had deeper beliefs about just about everything.
Jonathan reached for his rifle while Martha froze in shock. He opened the door out to the farm that his family had owned for generations. The meteor- object had landed in the cornfield. Smoke was rising from it. Jonathan followed the smoky signal, to a massive crater.
"What is it?" Martha asked behind him.
Jonathan could not answer. He simply stared down at the tiny baby wrapped in fireproof blankets staring up at him. Martha ran up to Jonathan, worried that he might have been zapped by one of the green men. But what Martha saw was quite different.
After several minutes of awe and bewilderment, Martha picked up the baby. Attached underneath the blankets was a small, square, metallic object. Jonathan held it up in front of him and examined it. Nothing happened. The device was pointless. But something told Jonathan that this device would define the young babe's future. This same metallic device would turn the youth into a being so powerful, not even the laws of physics themselves could maintain his power.
2004:
Clark Kent was walking home happily with his two friends Pete Ross and Lex Luthor. Lex, a red haired youth, had just moved to Smallville, and Pete and Clark were trying to see that he fit in. But Lex was very reclusive.
"So Lex," Pete began, "you got any hobbies? Do you play any sports?"
"I used to play basketball with my father-I mean."
Clark raised his eyes to heaven. Lex had moved from Suicide Slum in Metropolis to Smallville Kansas because his step-father (who happened to be his uncle) had been transferred. From what Clark knew, Larry Luthor was constantly bullying Lex, beating him and his sister. Lex had not actually told him this, but Clark got that impression, and he often heard screaming sounds from the Luthor household. Lex's actual father Luke, was a very supposedly a very nice man, and a dark side of Lex had erupted the day he died. As far as Clark could see, the only light in Lex's life was his sister Lena. She was a small, pretty girl, who had massive bruises infecting her arm thanks to her cruel stepfather.
"Okay," Pete said, trying to lighten the mood, "why don't we have a game?"
Lex's face lit up.
"You mean you'd like to play...with me?"
"Sure," Clark said, pushing his coke-bottle glasses up his nose.
"In fact, why don't we-aargh!" Clark fell to the ground in agony.
In his head was a nasty ringing sound that was so raucous; there was no chance that it could have come from earth.
"I've got to go home," Clark stuttered, after the noise subsided.
Clark had been different all of his life. When he was five, he was able to jump a huge fence in Pete's back garden. He could never tell what the big deal was, but everyone else thought that it was astounding. At ten years, Clark could bench-press his father's car with so much ease; he had to be careful not to throw it into the air. And now, Clark was bulletproof. He had found this out when a robber tried to steal money from the till of Clark's adopted father's store. He tried to shoot Clark, but the bullet bounced straight off of him. Clark was determined to test the limits of his abilities now. One day, he headed out to Shuster's Field, and started running as fast as he could. Eventually he heard a massive sonic bang, indicating that he had broken the sound barrier. And before he knew it, he was rising gracefully into the air. Clark could fly. Clark was so excited he let loose the full extent of his lungs and screamed in delight as loud as he could. The abandoned Shuster warehouse's windows broke under the strain of Clark's scream, and Clark decided it best to shut up.
Soon afterward, Clark told his parents about his amazing abilities. He also showed them how he could look through solid objects, and melt objects with heat emitted from his eyes.
Jonathan all in all were stunned. Maybe not as much as Clark was, but stunned none the less. They opted to tell their son that he was just gifted. They could not tell him the truth.
Clark finally returned to his father's store. Jonathan had run this store ever since he had lost the farm because of unpaid bills. Martha hated herself for being glad that Jonathan would no longer have to get up every morning at six am and work tirelessly until nine pm.
"Son?" Jonathan asked. "What's wrong?"
The years had taken Jonathan's handsomeness. He wore glasses now, much like Clark and Martha, and had a receding hairline. Clark had never known why his father had made him wear glasses. Clark could see halfway across Smallville, and he could peer at an object so well that he could see its tiny molecules. Jonathan always told Clark that it was because of eyestrain and that the orphanage had explained that Clark had to wear glasses. But Clark did not believe him. There was another reason. But this was not the time to discuss that.
The ringing started in Clark's head again.
Clark headed toward the 'staff only' door, behind his father (whom Clark was ignoring).
Clark pushed open the door, and the ringing grew stronger. Something was calling Clark. He followed the signal to a filing cabinet. The source of the signal was coming from the third drawer down. Clark opened it. There was a mass of papers, and clutter in the drawer. Clark shuffled around the papers, finally finding the source of the racket. It was a green, glowing disk. After picking it up, the racket stopped. Clark studied it for a second. He placed it in front of his eyes, and suddenly, a strange shape appeared on the disk. A five-sided, upside-down, triangle appeared. In the centre of the triangle was an S. From this magnificent shape, came a blast of knowledge that flew straight into Clark's eyes.
Clark suddenly woke up in an invisible dimension of some sort.
"My son," a voice boomed, "do not be alarmed. There is nothing for you to fear. I am Jor-El, your father. Speak."
"What's going on?" Clark asked finally.
"Because you are now sixteen earth years and two months, it is finally time for you to discover your heritage," Jor-El boomed. "You are not native to the planet earth. You were once my son, Kal-El. Due to an atomic explosion of our home world Krypton, I sent away to the planet earth. Due to their sun's yellow colour, you were given amazing powers of which you have undoubtedly discovered at this point. You must use them for good. You must use them as...a Superboy."
Meanwhile, at the Luthor household, the family were eating dinner. Lex was absent. Larry would no doubt beat him later on. Lena was looking particularly frightened.
"Whasamatter?" Larry asked the trembling girl.
"Nothing," she answered.
Larry went up to her. He grabbed her by the arms and shouted,
"What's the matter?" He shouted.
"Ah leave her alone would ya'?" Lyla's voice shouted lazily at Larry.
Lyla did not hate Larry beating Lena; she just hated having to listen to 'the little brat' cry all the time.
Lex's shadow darkened the doorway.
"Get away from her!" He ordered.
"What?" Larry asked, stunned that Lex was finally standing up to him.
"Lena come here," Lex said in a friendly tone.
She ran over to him.
"Say goodnight," Lex said evilly at his parents.
He threw a small vial on the ground and vicious clouds of gas filled the room. Larry closed his eyes and fell unconscious.
Larry and Lyla woke up several hours later. Lex had tied them each to a chair. Larry saw Lex typing in some commands on a screen attached to a strange box.
"W-what is that thing?" Larry finally asked.
"It's a bomb, Larry." Lex smirked.
Larry's face fell as Lex smiled with a dark edge Larry had never seen before in the usually dull and timid boy.
"Don't do this son," Lyla's pathetic voice whimpered, "please."
"Sorry," Lex said.
He typed in the last commands into the bomb, and walked toward the door.
He opened the door and said,
"I guess I'm finally free!" And he slammed it shut.
The house exploded several minutes later, taking the lives of Larry and Lyla Luthor.
The ambulance and the police came soon afterward, but Lex was gone. Lena was brought to an orphanage for the night.
Clark ran up the stairs to his father. He was panting. He had the disk clenched tightly in his hand.
"Clark, what's wrong?" Jonathan finally asked.
Clark opened his hand, revealing the disk. Jonathan's face fell.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Clark asked.
That night, Clark was up in his room looking out the window. His super-eyes travelled all the way across the road to the Lang household. In her bedroom was Lana Lang, the girl Clark had been in love with all of his life. Sure they were friends, but Clark had always wanted more than that.
Jonathan walked in.
"Son?"
"What is it?" Clark said coldly.
Jonathan handed Clark a box. Clark opened it. Inside was a blue suit. On the front was the S emblem of the El family. There was also a long red cape with a yellow S emblem on the back. Clark did not know what to say.
"After we brought you inside, we find this suit strapped to the blankets you were in. I think Jor-El wants you to wear it."
Clark looked up at his father and smiled.
The next day, Clark and Pete were walking home from school. Lex was absent, as he had been the last few days. Lana Lang was with them, talking about the upcoming bake sale there was going to be at Smallville High. She, being class president, was in charge of it.
As they were passing through the village, they noticed a crowd of people gathered outside Smallville Savings and Loan. Pete rushed up to a police officer.
"What's going on?" He asked.
"The bank's being robbed," the police chief answered. "They've asked for a helicopter; it's just arrived on top of the building." He said pointing at a helicopter sitting on top of the bank.
"C'mon, let's get a closer look!" Lana exclaimed to Clark, who had gone into his act of being timid and mild-mannered.
"I-I don't think that's such a good idea, Lana!" Clark said.
"Fine, I'll go!" Lana said, pushing through the crowd.
Suddenly, one of the robbers ran out of the bank and grabbed Lana. He pointed a gun to her head. He ran back into the building with her, and Clark watched as he brought her up into the helicopter, aided by some of his fellow robbers.
"It's time, my son," Jor-El's voice echoed through Clark's head.
He was not sure whether he was imagining it or if it had really happened, but he knew that he had to do something.
The helicopter rose gracefully into the air, and Clark decided that he needed to do something fast. He pulled off his glasses and ran behind the bank building. He ripped open his shirt, revealing the S logo, on the suit that Jor-El had sent him.
"Easy money!" One of the robbers said, several minutes later, high above the air.
"Yeah," another robber agreed, "and this laser weapon was a great help breaking open that vault!" He patted a strange object that looked a lot like a camcorder.
Lana sat in the corner, too frightened, to be irritated by the loud sounds of the helicopter.
The third robber noticed something on the radar.
"Uh boss?" He asked.
His leader looked on the radar and saw a small blip, moving closer and closer.
"It's probably a police chopper!" The leader shouted. "I'll take care of it!"
He grabbed Lana, and brought her over to the hatch.
"You won't get away with this!" She frowned at the leader.
He laughed at her.
He opened it, and looked around for the police chopper. But there was nothing there. He threw Lana off anyway. She was no use anymore. Lana screamed her lungs out as loud as she could. She knew that destiny had finally caught up with her.
Suddenly, she was caught by something. She looked and saw a young, handsome boy, about her age.
"Hi!" He said.
"But- that's... I mean you're..." She said pointing frantically, pointing down at the ground and up at the sky.
He laughed and flew her back down to the ground.
From a distance, Superboy could hear someone say,
"Look! It's some kind of bird!"
He heard someone else say,
"No, it's a plane!"
He landed and set Lana down. The police chief was stunned.
"I'm Superboy," He smiled.
He leaped back into the sky, after the criminals.
"Uh, Dex?" the pilot asked his leader again. "They must have sent another one up, look!"
He pointed at the radar. The blip was moving toward the helicopter again.
Dex moved angrily toward the hatch again, with the laser weapon this time. He looked around in the sky, seeing nothing. Suddenly, he saw something rise gracefully higher into his line of vision. It was a blue blur. As it got closer, Dex saw that it was a young man, a boy. Flying toward him.
Dex got rid of his amazement, and opted to fire the laser at his follower. A massive blue laser bolt nearly hit the youth, but he dodged it with ease. Dex continued firing at the boy of steel, but he was too fast.
Superboy zoomed toward the helicopter, and grabbed from the bottom. He then flew it gently back down to Smallville. These men would go to jail now.
Superboy brought the helicopter down, and all around him, people cheered in bewilderment.
Superboy leaped back into the sky again, leaving three guilty criminals, an amazed crowd, and a love struck teenage girl.
Lex Luthor was looking at a television screen. 'Superboy' as he called himself, was attending a press conference as to who he was and what he was doing here on earth. Superboy explained that his native planet Krypton exploded in 1987 and his father sent him to earth.
At the end of the press conference, Superboy explained that he was here to fight for 'truth, justice and the American Way'. This made Lex sick. How was he supposed to commit the crimes of generations, if this do-gooder got in the way?
"Boss?" Lex's acquaintance Mike was at the top of the stairs.
"What is it?" Luthor asked coldly.
"I got those chemicals you wanted,"
"Did the laser work?"
"Like a charm!"
Mike ran down to Lex and handed him a camcorder-like device. He then handed Lex a canister chemical Mike had stolen.
"Good," Lex said.
He walked over to a table, where sat some tubes of chemicals and containers. Lex poured some of the stolen purple chemical into a tube and mixed it with another chemical. Suddenly, smoke rose from the mixture, and it caught fire.
"You idiot!" Lex shouted at Mike. "This is the wrong chemical!"
"I-I'm sorry!" Mike pleaded.
Lex was running over to him, so he could throttle him, when Mike tripped over another table of chemical mixtures. He knocked over the table, and the contents spilled to the floor. Behind Lex, the mixture had caught fire, and it was spreading everywhere.
Lex was terrified that this might be the end.
Meanwhile, Superboy was flying through the skies of Smallville. After a few loop-de-loops in the air, Superboy dove down back toward Smallville. He cancelled out his flying ability, and fell gracefully with his back facing the imminently approaching ground. He held his arms out and listened to the sounds of the town. In the distance, he heard the sound of someone screaming. After getting closer and closer, he could make out Lex Luthor's voice. Clark Kent and Lex Luthor were great friends, and Superboy would hate it if Lex were hurt.
Superboy raced forward, toward the scene of danger. When at last he reached the point where he expected a house on fire, he saw only flat ground. He looked below him and activated his x-ray vision. Through the ground, he saw a secret laboratory going up in flames. What was Lex up to? But Superboy had no time to question Lex's motives. He started spinning at superhuman speed, and lowered down into the source of the screaming. Like a human drill, he tore through the earth, eventually breaking through to the fiery lab. Lex was pinned on the ground thanks to a heavy table that someone had knocked over. He took a deep breath and unleashed the full extent of his super-breath upon the lab. Chemical gases of every colour flew in every direction. Knowing the danger of these gases to Lex's well being, Superboy sucked in the gases and flew high up into the air. He blew out all of the gases into the air, before flying over, and through them several times, filtering them so that that they were harmless.
Superboy flew back into the lab and lifted the table that had Lex pinned to the ground.
"Are you alright?" Superboy asked his friend.
"I didn't need your help!" Lex said vainly. "I could have escaped anytime I wanted!"
Superboy had never seen this side of Lex before.
"Just who do you think you are anyway?" He exclaimed, jabbing his finger into Superboy's chest.
As Lex jabbed his finger at Superboy, Superboy watched as a small piece of Lex's ginger hair fell out.
"What?" Lex said in shock.
He shook his hair around. Lex pulled at his hair to make sure that it was still connected to his head. With ease, the hairs slid straight out of Lex's head painlessly.
"My hair!" He shouted at Superboy.
He pulled at it again, pulling more out. He shook his head, and the remaining hairs left his head, forever.
"I'll kill you!" Luthor said, with vengeance in his voice, "I'll kill you, and everything you stand for!" He tried to punch the boy of steel.
Superboy rolled lightly away from the punch. Lex still managed to hit a tiny part of Superboy's chin however. Lex's fist ached with pain. He felt as if all of his fingers were broken.
"Don't worry," Superboy said, looking at Lex's hand with his x-ray vision, "nothing's broken. Let me have a look at it,"
Lex took his hand away from Superboy's grasp.
"Just get out," Lex ordered.
"I can help you, let me have a look at-"
"Get out!" Lex shouted.
Superboy flew away, ashamed and embarrassed.
Lex stood, watching as Superboy left. Originally, Superboy was nothing but a potential obstacle to Lex. He was not necessarily a problem. But now, Lex was going to do everything in his power to stop him. No matter what happened; no matter how many people Lex had to kill, Superboy would die.
The following day in Smallville High, Lex was absent from class yet again. Pete and Lana were getting worried, but Clark just felt guilty.
Later that day, the bell rang, and Clark, Lana and Pete headed to civics class. There they found Mr Peterson fumbling around with a television set.
"What are you doing sir?" Pete asked.
"There's a discussion on, about the after-effects of Nuclear Power," Peterson answered, enthusiastically, "I want the class to watch it."
"Uh, t-that's a very good idea sir!" Clark stuttered clumsily, pushing his glasses up his nose.
During the course of the class, Pete and Lana were very bored, along with a lot of the class. Clark however, was very interested and listened very carefully to the programme.
Suddenly, the signal fizzled out. The words, 'DO NOT ADJUST YOUR SET' appeared on the television screen. What was going on?
As quickly as the signal left, a new signal came on. Lex Luthor was smiling sinisterly at the world watching him.
"Attention," he said coldly, "this is Lex Luthor. Unless I am paid twenty million dollars by the end of this day, two nuclear bombs planted in the Smallville area will explode, wiping out most of the west coast. That is all."
Everyone was dumbstruck. Luthor? The timid little red head? For a start, he was bald, and now he was threatening nuclear insurrection?
Clark was going to have to do something.
He threw a quick blast of heat at the television set, unbeknownst to anyone. Everyone's attention was drawn to the set, which had just blown up. This gave Clark the quick chance to slip out unnoticed.
Outside, Clark whipped off his glasses, and ripped open his shirt revealing the S logo of his Kryptonian birth parents. Clark threw off the rest of his clothes with such speed, that it looked like his Superboy suit simply zapped onto him. Superboy leapt into the air at an amazing speed.
Superboy flew faster and faster, hoping to reach the same frequency as the television signals floating in the air. Faster and faster he flew, until finally, all around him were colourful beams of energy flying in all directions. He flew in front to of one, still remaining at the amazing speed. Luthor's threat flew past his ears, and he knew he had found the right signal. He followed the signal toward a massive television station. He used his x-ray vision on the station. There he saw everyone in the building, dead, except for two. Luthor, and an unknown teenage girl. He was sitting in a chair, as though he was waiting for something. He wore a black short-sleeved shirt, and jeans. His cohort was wearing a leather jacket, a belly top and jeans.
Superboy crashed through the windows, where Luthor waited.
"Superboy!" Luthor drummed his fingers against the chair he was sitting on. "Nice of you to join us!"
"Why are you doing this Lex?" Superboy asked compassionately.
"Because it's what has to be done!" Lex answered as though Superboy had just asked something really stupid. "I deserve fame and glory! I am the greatest mind the world will ever know! People like me don't get anywhere in life by doing the things the right way!"
"You're wrong Lex." Superboy frowned, crossing his arms.
"Oh!" Lex said, "Forgive me! Superboy," he said pointing at Superboy, "this is Darla, my assistant. I met her at some club last week."
"Nice to meet you," Darla said in a ditzy voice.
"Where's the bomb Luthor?" Superboy finally asked, forgetting about his friendship with Lex.
"Do you really think if I had planted a bomb that I would still be in the country?" Lex smiled at the idiot Superboy. "Darla!" Lex shouted, "The box!"
"What box?" Superboy asked angrily, grabbing Lex by the scruff of his neck. Darla walked back in.
"Well what are you waiting for?" Lex shouted, "open it!"
Darla immediately did so, frowning at the bully Lex.
As Darla opened the box, Superboy felt his grip on Lex ease up. His hands went wobbly and uncoordinated. He felt a stifling pain all over his body. It rose up and clenched his throat tightly, it grabbed his brain giving him the greatest of all headaches, and it cancelled out his lungs so that he could not breathe. He looked up clumsily. Now he was lying on the floor, insignificantly. Lex was standing over him with a leaden box. Inside the box was the vilest and most disgusting shade of green Superboy had ever seen.
"It's called Kryptonite Superboy!" Luthor sneered. "Comes from your home planet. Since Krypton was the subject of an atomic explosion, it's radioactive, and although it only affects humans over time, it would easily kill you in ten minutes! Hope you like it!" He said, kicking Superboy in the head.
Outside were police sirens. Somehow, they had caught up to Lex.
"Let's go!" Lex said to Darla. He left the box beside the dying hero, and made his way to the door. "C'est la vie Superboy!" Lex laughed.
Superboy lay on the ground, writhing in agony. He twisted over toward the box. He slammed it shut before his bones would collapse. The pain gradually disappeared, air filling his lungs, his head clearing up, his legs and hands regaining their strength.
Over twenty police officers rushed in.
The police chief went over to Superboy and helped him up.
"What did he do to you son?" He asked, worried of the hero's well being.
"I'm fine now, the sun will heal me," Superboy gasped.
He limped outside, where the awesome sun was gazing down upon the puny earth. Its power filled Superboy with solar energy, healing him of his wounds. He flew into the sky, searching for Luthor.
Luthor and Darla were in a stolen taxi, moving swiftly toward the freeway out of the city.
"Easy money," Lex said to her.
Darla laughed idiotically.
Suddenly, Lex felt the car become sluggish and slower. Suddenly, an unknown force lifted the bumper up. Lex looked at the mirror, and saw Superboy grinning at him.
"Superboy!" He yelled.
"Right!" Superboy said. "You shouldn't have left that rock in that box Lex!" Superboy said even as he picked the car up into the air. "The lead blocks the rays!"
"Dammit!" Lex cursed.
The next day, Superboy attended Lex Luthor's trial in Smallville Court House.
"Lex Luthor," the judge began, "due to your actions of attempted murder, hijacking a television station, grand theft auto and disturbing the peace, and since you are not legally an adult as yet, I am forced to sentence you to three years in the Smallville Juvenile Detention Centre!"
Lex's face fell, as his eyes darted over to the boy of steel.
"I will get you..." Lex muttered to himself. "If it's the last thing I do, I'll get you..."
THE BEGINNING
By Robert O' Connor
What can we say about the silver-age 'boy of steel' that hasn't been said already? John Byrne erased a classic character in 1986. I think that this is a good thing. It is a bit far fetched that Superboy would just suddenly become Superman minutes before he graduated from Metropolis University (read 'Superman: The Secret Years), and all in all, the Superboy comic was a bit camp. But still, you have to agree with me when I say that 'Superboy: The Series' was a pretty cool show. Sure, 'Lois and Clark' was okay too, but it was fun seeing Superman somewhere other than the Daily Planet for a change. It's fun seeing Superman as a teenager (being one myself), and of course, it's fun seeing Lex Luthor as an actual criminal scientist (like the guy in the Superman Movies) rather than a jacked up supervillain (with that big-ass suit), or a billionaire businessman, or even a president. Lex Luthor is much cooler this way, because he is much more interesting than the other versions. The businessman Luthor and the President Luthor can only do so many behind-the-scenes crimes, before he is caught. The jacked up supervillain will provide a stereotypical story with nothing original.
So all in all, Superboy was plain fun! It was much more innocent than the Superman comics (especially in the seventies) and much more realistic (for a comic about a boy that can fly!) and in my opinion, Superboy was much more interesting than Superman.
So here's an origin. Call it an elseworlds, call it a pocket universe, call it an Earth Prime for all I care. Just read it.
1989:
Jonathan and Martha Kent were eating dinner together. A dull silence had befallen the room, because Jonathan had just put down the phone after Dr Williams told them that Martha and Jonathan could not have a baby together. It could not be done.
All Martha's life she had wanted a husband. After twenty-five years of waiting, she got one. All Martha's life she had wanted a baby. Now, thirty years later, she found that to be impossibility.
Jonathan looked over sympathetically at Martha. She looked at him, eyes watering, and burst into tears. Jonathan rushed over to her and hugged her tightly.
"It will be all right honey," he said consolingly, "I promise. Hey!" He said, edging away from her, "we'll adopt the best, nicest, sweetest baby in the orphanage. I know we will. Do you know why?"
"Why?" She asked, drying her tears.
"Because you are great at choosing the ones you want to love!" Jonathan smiled.
Martha smiled back at him, and hugged him tightly. She would always have Jonathan. She probably would not always have enough money to buy that lovely coat she saw, she probably would never be the ballerina she wished she could be as a child, but she would always have Jonathan through thick and thin.
Kal-El's star-ship raced through space at unimaginable speeds. Finally, after a matter of months, it broke through to the solar system in which resided its ultimate target destination: the planet earth. The tiny rocket continued zooming toward its target, following the programmed instructions given to it by its creator, Jor-El. It neared further and further toward the shiny blue planet. Straight in front of the star ship was the country known as Russia. It looked a sure bet that it would land there. But alas, Jor-El's coordinates were right. By the time the star-ship entered earth's atmosphere, the planet had spun around slowly so that the ship was facing the relatively new country known as America.
Jonathan was finally starting to cheer Martha up, when suddenly; a huge meteor-like object sailed right over the house. Through the skylight above them, Jonathan saw what seemed to be some sort of fallen satellite. Jonathan glanced over to his desk, where sat a crumpled old issue of Paranormal Phenomena. There was a picture of a small rocket sailing into earth's atmosphere. Inside were tiny green men with laser weapons. Martha (like so many others) had suspended this magazine as trash, but Jonathan always had deeper beliefs about just about everything.
Jonathan reached for his rifle while Martha froze in shock. He opened the door out to the farm that his family had owned for generations. The meteor- object had landed in the cornfield. Smoke was rising from it. Jonathan followed the smoky signal, to a massive crater.
"What is it?" Martha asked behind him.
Jonathan could not answer. He simply stared down at the tiny baby wrapped in fireproof blankets staring up at him. Martha ran up to Jonathan, worried that he might have been zapped by one of the green men. But what Martha saw was quite different.
After several minutes of awe and bewilderment, Martha picked up the baby. Attached underneath the blankets was a small, square, metallic object. Jonathan held it up in front of him and examined it. Nothing happened. The device was pointless. But something told Jonathan that this device would define the young babe's future. This same metallic device would turn the youth into a being so powerful, not even the laws of physics themselves could maintain his power.
2004:
Clark Kent was walking home happily with his two friends Pete Ross and Lex Luthor. Lex, a red haired youth, had just moved to Smallville, and Pete and Clark were trying to see that he fit in. But Lex was very reclusive.
"So Lex," Pete began, "you got any hobbies? Do you play any sports?"
"I used to play basketball with my father-I mean."
Clark raised his eyes to heaven. Lex had moved from Suicide Slum in Metropolis to Smallville Kansas because his step-father (who happened to be his uncle) had been transferred. From what Clark knew, Larry Luthor was constantly bullying Lex, beating him and his sister. Lex had not actually told him this, but Clark got that impression, and he often heard screaming sounds from the Luthor household. Lex's actual father Luke, was a very supposedly a very nice man, and a dark side of Lex had erupted the day he died. As far as Clark could see, the only light in Lex's life was his sister Lena. She was a small, pretty girl, who had massive bruises infecting her arm thanks to her cruel stepfather.
"Okay," Pete said, trying to lighten the mood, "why don't we have a game?"
Lex's face lit up.
"You mean you'd like to play...with me?"
"Sure," Clark said, pushing his coke-bottle glasses up his nose.
"In fact, why don't we-aargh!" Clark fell to the ground in agony.
In his head was a nasty ringing sound that was so raucous; there was no chance that it could have come from earth.
"I've got to go home," Clark stuttered, after the noise subsided.
Clark had been different all of his life. When he was five, he was able to jump a huge fence in Pete's back garden. He could never tell what the big deal was, but everyone else thought that it was astounding. At ten years, Clark could bench-press his father's car with so much ease; he had to be careful not to throw it into the air. And now, Clark was bulletproof. He had found this out when a robber tried to steal money from the till of Clark's adopted father's store. He tried to shoot Clark, but the bullet bounced straight off of him. Clark was determined to test the limits of his abilities now. One day, he headed out to Shuster's Field, and started running as fast as he could. Eventually he heard a massive sonic bang, indicating that he had broken the sound barrier. And before he knew it, he was rising gracefully into the air. Clark could fly. Clark was so excited he let loose the full extent of his lungs and screamed in delight as loud as he could. The abandoned Shuster warehouse's windows broke under the strain of Clark's scream, and Clark decided it best to shut up.
Soon afterward, Clark told his parents about his amazing abilities. He also showed them how he could look through solid objects, and melt objects with heat emitted from his eyes.
Jonathan all in all were stunned. Maybe not as much as Clark was, but stunned none the less. They opted to tell their son that he was just gifted. They could not tell him the truth.
Clark finally returned to his father's store. Jonathan had run this store ever since he had lost the farm because of unpaid bills. Martha hated herself for being glad that Jonathan would no longer have to get up every morning at six am and work tirelessly until nine pm.
"Son?" Jonathan asked. "What's wrong?"
The years had taken Jonathan's handsomeness. He wore glasses now, much like Clark and Martha, and had a receding hairline. Clark had never known why his father had made him wear glasses. Clark could see halfway across Smallville, and he could peer at an object so well that he could see its tiny molecules. Jonathan always told Clark that it was because of eyestrain and that the orphanage had explained that Clark had to wear glasses. But Clark did not believe him. There was another reason. But this was not the time to discuss that.
The ringing started in Clark's head again.
Clark headed toward the 'staff only' door, behind his father (whom Clark was ignoring).
Clark pushed open the door, and the ringing grew stronger. Something was calling Clark. He followed the signal to a filing cabinet. The source of the signal was coming from the third drawer down. Clark opened it. There was a mass of papers, and clutter in the drawer. Clark shuffled around the papers, finally finding the source of the racket. It was a green, glowing disk. After picking it up, the racket stopped. Clark studied it for a second. He placed it in front of his eyes, and suddenly, a strange shape appeared on the disk. A five-sided, upside-down, triangle appeared. In the centre of the triangle was an S. From this magnificent shape, came a blast of knowledge that flew straight into Clark's eyes.
Clark suddenly woke up in an invisible dimension of some sort.
"My son," a voice boomed, "do not be alarmed. There is nothing for you to fear. I am Jor-El, your father. Speak."
"What's going on?" Clark asked finally.
"Because you are now sixteen earth years and two months, it is finally time for you to discover your heritage," Jor-El boomed. "You are not native to the planet earth. You were once my son, Kal-El. Due to an atomic explosion of our home world Krypton, I sent away to the planet earth. Due to their sun's yellow colour, you were given amazing powers of which you have undoubtedly discovered at this point. You must use them for good. You must use them as...a Superboy."
Meanwhile, at the Luthor household, the family were eating dinner. Lex was absent. Larry would no doubt beat him later on. Lena was looking particularly frightened.
"Whasamatter?" Larry asked the trembling girl.
"Nothing," she answered.
Larry went up to her. He grabbed her by the arms and shouted,
"What's the matter?" He shouted.
"Ah leave her alone would ya'?" Lyla's voice shouted lazily at Larry.
Lyla did not hate Larry beating Lena; she just hated having to listen to 'the little brat' cry all the time.
Lex's shadow darkened the doorway.
"Get away from her!" He ordered.
"What?" Larry asked, stunned that Lex was finally standing up to him.
"Lena come here," Lex said in a friendly tone.
She ran over to him.
"Say goodnight," Lex said evilly at his parents.
He threw a small vial on the ground and vicious clouds of gas filled the room. Larry closed his eyes and fell unconscious.
Larry and Lyla woke up several hours later. Lex had tied them each to a chair. Larry saw Lex typing in some commands on a screen attached to a strange box.
"W-what is that thing?" Larry finally asked.
"It's a bomb, Larry." Lex smirked.
Larry's face fell as Lex smiled with a dark edge Larry had never seen before in the usually dull and timid boy.
"Don't do this son," Lyla's pathetic voice whimpered, "please."
"Sorry," Lex said.
He typed in the last commands into the bomb, and walked toward the door.
He opened the door and said,
"I guess I'm finally free!" And he slammed it shut.
The house exploded several minutes later, taking the lives of Larry and Lyla Luthor.
The ambulance and the police came soon afterward, but Lex was gone. Lena was brought to an orphanage for the night.
Clark ran up the stairs to his father. He was panting. He had the disk clenched tightly in his hand.
"Clark, what's wrong?" Jonathan finally asked.
Clark opened his hand, revealing the disk. Jonathan's face fell.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Clark asked.
That night, Clark was up in his room looking out the window. His super-eyes travelled all the way across the road to the Lang household. In her bedroom was Lana Lang, the girl Clark had been in love with all of his life. Sure they were friends, but Clark had always wanted more than that.
Jonathan walked in.
"Son?"
"What is it?" Clark said coldly.
Jonathan handed Clark a box. Clark opened it. Inside was a blue suit. On the front was the S emblem of the El family. There was also a long red cape with a yellow S emblem on the back. Clark did not know what to say.
"After we brought you inside, we find this suit strapped to the blankets you were in. I think Jor-El wants you to wear it."
Clark looked up at his father and smiled.
The next day, Clark and Pete were walking home from school. Lex was absent, as he had been the last few days. Lana Lang was with them, talking about the upcoming bake sale there was going to be at Smallville High. She, being class president, was in charge of it.
As they were passing through the village, they noticed a crowd of people gathered outside Smallville Savings and Loan. Pete rushed up to a police officer.
"What's going on?" He asked.
"The bank's being robbed," the police chief answered. "They've asked for a helicopter; it's just arrived on top of the building." He said pointing at a helicopter sitting on top of the bank.
"C'mon, let's get a closer look!" Lana exclaimed to Clark, who had gone into his act of being timid and mild-mannered.
"I-I don't think that's such a good idea, Lana!" Clark said.
"Fine, I'll go!" Lana said, pushing through the crowd.
Suddenly, one of the robbers ran out of the bank and grabbed Lana. He pointed a gun to her head. He ran back into the building with her, and Clark watched as he brought her up into the helicopter, aided by some of his fellow robbers.
"It's time, my son," Jor-El's voice echoed through Clark's head.
He was not sure whether he was imagining it or if it had really happened, but he knew that he had to do something.
The helicopter rose gracefully into the air, and Clark decided that he needed to do something fast. He pulled off his glasses and ran behind the bank building. He ripped open his shirt, revealing the S logo, on the suit that Jor-El had sent him.
"Easy money!" One of the robbers said, several minutes later, high above the air.
"Yeah," another robber agreed, "and this laser weapon was a great help breaking open that vault!" He patted a strange object that looked a lot like a camcorder.
Lana sat in the corner, too frightened, to be irritated by the loud sounds of the helicopter.
The third robber noticed something on the radar.
"Uh boss?" He asked.
His leader looked on the radar and saw a small blip, moving closer and closer.
"It's probably a police chopper!" The leader shouted. "I'll take care of it!"
He grabbed Lana, and brought her over to the hatch.
"You won't get away with this!" She frowned at the leader.
He laughed at her.
He opened it, and looked around for the police chopper. But there was nothing there. He threw Lana off anyway. She was no use anymore. Lana screamed her lungs out as loud as she could. She knew that destiny had finally caught up with her.
Suddenly, she was caught by something. She looked and saw a young, handsome boy, about her age.
"Hi!" He said.
"But- that's... I mean you're..." She said pointing frantically, pointing down at the ground and up at the sky.
He laughed and flew her back down to the ground.
From a distance, Superboy could hear someone say,
"Look! It's some kind of bird!"
He heard someone else say,
"No, it's a plane!"
He landed and set Lana down. The police chief was stunned.
"I'm Superboy," He smiled.
He leaped back into the sky, after the criminals.
"Uh, Dex?" the pilot asked his leader again. "They must have sent another one up, look!"
He pointed at the radar. The blip was moving toward the helicopter again.
Dex moved angrily toward the hatch again, with the laser weapon this time. He looked around in the sky, seeing nothing. Suddenly, he saw something rise gracefully higher into his line of vision. It was a blue blur. As it got closer, Dex saw that it was a young man, a boy. Flying toward him.
Dex got rid of his amazement, and opted to fire the laser at his follower. A massive blue laser bolt nearly hit the youth, but he dodged it with ease. Dex continued firing at the boy of steel, but he was too fast.
Superboy zoomed toward the helicopter, and grabbed from the bottom. He then flew it gently back down to Smallville. These men would go to jail now.
Superboy brought the helicopter down, and all around him, people cheered in bewilderment.
Superboy leaped back into the sky again, leaving three guilty criminals, an amazed crowd, and a love struck teenage girl.
Lex Luthor was looking at a television screen. 'Superboy' as he called himself, was attending a press conference as to who he was and what he was doing here on earth. Superboy explained that his native planet Krypton exploded in 1987 and his father sent him to earth.
At the end of the press conference, Superboy explained that he was here to fight for 'truth, justice and the American Way'. This made Lex sick. How was he supposed to commit the crimes of generations, if this do-gooder got in the way?
"Boss?" Lex's acquaintance Mike was at the top of the stairs.
"What is it?" Luthor asked coldly.
"I got those chemicals you wanted,"
"Did the laser work?"
"Like a charm!"
Mike ran down to Lex and handed him a camcorder-like device. He then handed Lex a canister chemical Mike had stolen.
"Good," Lex said.
He walked over to a table, where sat some tubes of chemicals and containers. Lex poured some of the stolen purple chemical into a tube and mixed it with another chemical. Suddenly, smoke rose from the mixture, and it caught fire.
"You idiot!" Lex shouted at Mike. "This is the wrong chemical!"
"I-I'm sorry!" Mike pleaded.
Lex was running over to him, so he could throttle him, when Mike tripped over another table of chemical mixtures. He knocked over the table, and the contents spilled to the floor. Behind Lex, the mixture had caught fire, and it was spreading everywhere.
Lex was terrified that this might be the end.
Meanwhile, Superboy was flying through the skies of Smallville. After a few loop-de-loops in the air, Superboy dove down back toward Smallville. He cancelled out his flying ability, and fell gracefully with his back facing the imminently approaching ground. He held his arms out and listened to the sounds of the town. In the distance, he heard the sound of someone screaming. After getting closer and closer, he could make out Lex Luthor's voice. Clark Kent and Lex Luthor were great friends, and Superboy would hate it if Lex were hurt.
Superboy raced forward, toward the scene of danger. When at last he reached the point where he expected a house on fire, he saw only flat ground. He looked below him and activated his x-ray vision. Through the ground, he saw a secret laboratory going up in flames. What was Lex up to? But Superboy had no time to question Lex's motives. He started spinning at superhuman speed, and lowered down into the source of the screaming. Like a human drill, he tore through the earth, eventually breaking through to the fiery lab. Lex was pinned on the ground thanks to a heavy table that someone had knocked over. He took a deep breath and unleashed the full extent of his super-breath upon the lab. Chemical gases of every colour flew in every direction. Knowing the danger of these gases to Lex's well being, Superboy sucked in the gases and flew high up into the air. He blew out all of the gases into the air, before flying over, and through them several times, filtering them so that that they were harmless.
Superboy flew back into the lab and lifted the table that had Lex pinned to the ground.
"Are you alright?" Superboy asked his friend.
"I didn't need your help!" Lex said vainly. "I could have escaped anytime I wanted!"
Superboy had never seen this side of Lex before.
"Just who do you think you are anyway?" He exclaimed, jabbing his finger into Superboy's chest.
As Lex jabbed his finger at Superboy, Superboy watched as a small piece of Lex's ginger hair fell out.
"What?" Lex said in shock.
He shook his hair around. Lex pulled at his hair to make sure that it was still connected to his head. With ease, the hairs slid straight out of Lex's head painlessly.
"My hair!" He shouted at Superboy.
He pulled at it again, pulling more out. He shook his head, and the remaining hairs left his head, forever.
"I'll kill you!" Luthor said, with vengeance in his voice, "I'll kill you, and everything you stand for!" He tried to punch the boy of steel.
Superboy rolled lightly away from the punch. Lex still managed to hit a tiny part of Superboy's chin however. Lex's fist ached with pain. He felt as if all of his fingers were broken.
"Don't worry," Superboy said, looking at Lex's hand with his x-ray vision, "nothing's broken. Let me have a look at it,"
Lex took his hand away from Superboy's grasp.
"Just get out," Lex ordered.
"I can help you, let me have a look at-"
"Get out!" Lex shouted.
Superboy flew away, ashamed and embarrassed.
Lex stood, watching as Superboy left. Originally, Superboy was nothing but a potential obstacle to Lex. He was not necessarily a problem. But now, Lex was going to do everything in his power to stop him. No matter what happened; no matter how many people Lex had to kill, Superboy would die.
The following day in Smallville High, Lex was absent from class yet again. Pete and Lana were getting worried, but Clark just felt guilty.
Later that day, the bell rang, and Clark, Lana and Pete headed to civics class. There they found Mr Peterson fumbling around with a television set.
"What are you doing sir?" Pete asked.
"There's a discussion on, about the after-effects of Nuclear Power," Peterson answered, enthusiastically, "I want the class to watch it."
"Uh, t-that's a very good idea sir!" Clark stuttered clumsily, pushing his glasses up his nose.
During the course of the class, Pete and Lana were very bored, along with a lot of the class. Clark however, was very interested and listened very carefully to the programme.
Suddenly, the signal fizzled out. The words, 'DO NOT ADJUST YOUR SET' appeared on the television screen. What was going on?
As quickly as the signal left, a new signal came on. Lex Luthor was smiling sinisterly at the world watching him.
"Attention," he said coldly, "this is Lex Luthor. Unless I am paid twenty million dollars by the end of this day, two nuclear bombs planted in the Smallville area will explode, wiping out most of the west coast. That is all."
Everyone was dumbstruck. Luthor? The timid little red head? For a start, he was bald, and now he was threatening nuclear insurrection?
Clark was going to have to do something.
He threw a quick blast of heat at the television set, unbeknownst to anyone. Everyone's attention was drawn to the set, which had just blown up. This gave Clark the quick chance to slip out unnoticed.
Outside, Clark whipped off his glasses, and ripped open his shirt revealing the S logo of his Kryptonian birth parents. Clark threw off the rest of his clothes with such speed, that it looked like his Superboy suit simply zapped onto him. Superboy leapt into the air at an amazing speed.
Superboy flew faster and faster, hoping to reach the same frequency as the television signals floating in the air. Faster and faster he flew, until finally, all around him were colourful beams of energy flying in all directions. He flew in front to of one, still remaining at the amazing speed. Luthor's threat flew past his ears, and he knew he had found the right signal. He followed the signal toward a massive television station. He used his x-ray vision on the station. There he saw everyone in the building, dead, except for two. Luthor, and an unknown teenage girl. He was sitting in a chair, as though he was waiting for something. He wore a black short-sleeved shirt, and jeans. His cohort was wearing a leather jacket, a belly top and jeans.
Superboy crashed through the windows, where Luthor waited.
"Superboy!" Luthor drummed his fingers against the chair he was sitting on. "Nice of you to join us!"
"Why are you doing this Lex?" Superboy asked compassionately.
"Because it's what has to be done!" Lex answered as though Superboy had just asked something really stupid. "I deserve fame and glory! I am the greatest mind the world will ever know! People like me don't get anywhere in life by doing the things the right way!"
"You're wrong Lex." Superboy frowned, crossing his arms.
"Oh!" Lex said, "Forgive me! Superboy," he said pointing at Superboy, "this is Darla, my assistant. I met her at some club last week."
"Nice to meet you," Darla said in a ditzy voice.
"Where's the bomb Luthor?" Superboy finally asked, forgetting about his friendship with Lex.
"Do you really think if I had planted a bomb that I would still be in the country?" Lex smiled at the idiot Superboy. "Darla!" Lex shouted, "The box!"
"What box?" Superboy asked angrily, grabbing Lex by the scruff of his neck. Darla walked back in.
"Well what are you waiting for?" Lex shouted, "open it!"
Darla immediately did so, frowning at the bully Lex.
As Darla opened the box, Superboy felt his grip on Lex ease up. His hands went wobbly and uncoordinated. He felt a stifling pain all over his body. It rose up and clenched his throat tightly, it grabbed his brain giving him the greatest of all headaches, and it cancelled out his lungs so that he could not breathe. He looked up clumsily. Now he was lying on the floor, insignificantly. Lex was standing over him with a leaden box. Inside the box was the vilest and most disgusting shade of green Superboy had ever seen.
"It's called Kryptonite Superboy!" Luthor sneered. "Comes from your home planet. Since Krypton was the subject of an atomic explosion, it's radioactive, and although it only affects humans over time, it would easily kill you in ten minutes! Hope you like it!" He said, kicking Superboy in the head.
Outside were police sirens. Somehow, they had caught up to Lex.
"Let's go!" Lex said to Darla. He left the box beside the dying hero, and made his way to the door. "C'est la vie Superboy!" Lex laughed.
Superboy lay on the ground, writhing in agony. He twisted over toward the box. He slammed it shut before his bones would collapse. The pain gradually disappeared, air filling his lungs, his head clearing up, his legs and hands regaining their strength.
Over twenty police officers rushed in.
The police chief went over to Superboy and helped him up.
"What did he do to you son?" He asked, worried of the hero's well being.
"I'm fine now, the sun will heal me," Superboy gasped.
He limped outside, where the awesome sun was gazing down upon the puny earth. Its power filled Superboy with solar energy, healing him of his wounds. He flew into the sky, searching for Luthor.
Luthor and Darla were in a stolen taxi, moving swiftly toward the freeway out of the city.
"Easy money," Lex said to her.
Darla laughed idiotically.
Suddenly, Lex felt the car become sluggish and slower. Suddenly, an unknown force lifted the bumper up. Lex looked at the mirror, and saw Superboy grinning at him.
"Superboy!" He yelled.
"Right!" Superboy said. "You shouldn't have left that rock in that box Lex!" Superboy said even as he picked the car up into the air. "The lead blocks the rays!"
"Dammit!" Lex cursed.
The next day, Superboy attended Lex Luthor's trial in Smallville Court House.
"Lex Luthor," the judge began, "due to your actions of attempted murder, hijacking a television station, grand theft auto and disturbing the peace, and since you are not legally an adult as yet, I am forced to sentence you to three years in the Smallville Juvenile Detention Centre!"
Lex's face fell, as his eyes darted over to the boy of steel.
"I will get you..." Lex muttered to himself. "If it's the last thing I do, I'll get you..."
THE BEGINNING