15. The Adventures of Superman when he was a boy
As early as November, 1938, Jerry Siegel pitched the idea of a character depicting the adventures of Superman when he was a boy in the Midwest. It was rejected then, and again in 1940. The accepted premise was that Superman arrived at Metropolis have decided to use his up to then secret powers for good. In 1944, with Siegel than serving in the Army, Detective Comics decided to go forward with stories featuring Superboy, based in part on the success of the character of Robin, The Boy Wonder, Batman’s protégé. Joe Shuster provided the art, an act which contributed to the deepening chasm between the creators of Superman, as well as with their mutual publisher. After a few issues featuring Superboy in Just Fun Comics, Superboy moved to Adventure Comics in 1946, and his own magazine was introduced in 1949.
The existence of Superboy changed much of the backstory for his adult counterpart. His adoptive parents were given names, Jonathan and Martha Kent. The town where he was raised was named Smallville, though no state was indicated. He aged from adolescence, developed a relationship with a girl named Lana Lang, His dog, Krypto, was presented as another survivor of Krypton. Krypto was rocketed to earth in a prototype of the vessel which later carried Kal-El to the same destination, though a course deviation extended his voyage by several years. Krypto had a secret identity too, a patch of brown dye served to identify him as Kent’s dog, Skip, when he was not in costume in company with Superboy/Superman.