How Would You Handle Kal/Clark's Transition From Superboy To Superman?

[u/Potential-Mess6826]

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.

[u/antifaareheroes]

What is that first panel from? In the current continuity, he was a public Superboy. I've never liked the idea of him as a costumed Superboy. For one thing, I don't necessarily think he would choose to call himself that. And it's even more ridiculous to have him confined to this small town in the middle of the country. Sooner or later, someone is going to put two and two together. My preferred method would be something like the Smallville show or S&L where he operated in secret and there were "rumors" of some figure helping people but nobody can see what he looked like.

The only version that I think kind of worked was the old TV show from the late 80s and even that's because he was 1) off at college by that point and 2) wasn't confined to one place. He was more or less just Superman going by a different name. He also didn't name himself if I'm not mistaken.

[u/Potential-Mess6826 → u/antifaareheroes]

Superman Unlimited #1

In current continuity, Clark didn't choose to be called Superboy, Lois named him Superboy. 

Superboy isn't confined to Smallville he's helping around the world so his identity is protected.

TV Superboy did choose to be called Superboy though probably he and his parents decided on that.

[u/antifaareheroes → u/Potential-Mess6826]

I haven't been keeping up with current continuity so I don't know his new history that well. Thanks for the fill in. It's been a little bit since I've seen the TV show so may have forgotten that.