Reign of the Supermen #150: New Earth Superboy

Source: Superman - Secret Origin #2 (2009)
Type: The real deal
So to continue a story I started to tell Wednesday, after the Legion was rebooted and then threebooted, it became unnecessary to include a Superboy in their history (histories). They were simply inspired by Superman, or the 21st century Age of Heroes. But then Geoff Johns, never one to leave things alone, started bringing back the Levitz Legion (even though the Threeboot Legion was still going!). Now, the Levitz Legion is where the original continuity left off, though one could easily say, pre-Crisis continuity actually ends with the 5 Years Later storyline at LSH vol.4 #4, just before the future is rebooted as the Glorithverse. But let's agree (partly because we have little choice in the matter) that the Levitz Legion is the one, true, pre-Crisis-upon-Crisis Legion. And after Legion of 3 Worlds, though they picked up a few strays from other versions, they were the one left standing.

So for the picture to be complete, Johns had to address the Superboy question (which was ignored in what many still consider the definitive modern Superman origin, Mark Waid's Birthright). What he's come up with is a piece of cake you can both have and eat. As in the original 1958 story, the original Legionnaires drop by Smallville 1000 years in their past to catch a glimpse of their hero (Superman) when he was their age. Unlike the original story, they don't make him cry or screw with his head... much. Kids will be kids, and they bring young Clark Kent to the future where he is free to fly and use his powers in ways that aren't possible back home. They even lend him a Superman costume. It's a place where he can be himself and belong.

And so it came to pass that Superman, when he was a boy, used to travel to the future on a regular basis to hand out with his Legion pals, any information about his future he shouldn't have conveniently removed telepathically by Saturn Girl (in your face, Zatanna!). And yet, the 20th century never had the "silliness" that is a Superboy operating in a small town. Like I said, the proverbial cake!