Really Strange Visitor

If you ever needed proof that Superboy is from another planet, check out this page from Superboy #197. It's pre-CoIE of course from 1973, which is still the only good Superboy.

Clark (Superboy) Kent is hanging out with the hottest girl in the midwest, Lana Lang. She puts the moves on him and he gets nervous and sweaty, uncomfortable with the idea of lip-locking with a human. If Clark was interested in human females, what with him being an alien is unlikely, he apparently isn't ready in a physiological sense and may mature at a different rate than humans. I imagine that for Clark, making out with a female probably holds the same sort of appeal that french-kissing a starfish would have for a normal human male. He only looks human, folks.

Regardless, if Clark was human enough to be interested in her the tryst is interupted by an emergency signal from his belt-buckle! How's that for subtext? Now that Clark had an excuse to refuse Lana, he responds to her sexual advances by knocking her unconscious! A really 'caveman' thing to do for the Boy of Tomorrow.

The emergency signal is from the Legion of Super-Heroes of the 30th Century and I think Clark is just using them as an excuse to avoid the situation with Lana. He's grasping like a drowning man at a life-preserver as he ducks reality. He's trying to fit in and feel normal, but it just isn't working. Superboy truly is a strange visitor from another planet and he's having trouble accepting that. It's too bad he had to mistreat his pet human to maintain the illusion that is his life.

Around Superboy #150 the stories matured, growing away from the 'innocent' silliness of the Silver Age as the market changed. I have no doubt that the writers put in lots of subtext that they could not get away with prior to the late 60's and early 70's and this was reflected in the story content.

The truth was that Clark could spend months exploring what it means to be human with Lana and then take a trip into the future to deal with the crisis. He could arrive to help with a crisis at any moment he chose because it's comic book time travel!

"Hi, Lightning Lad! What's the emergency?"
"Uhh...Hello, Superboy. I was just about to signal you..."
"I know! Isn't time travel neat?"