Reign of the Supermen #135: Atomic Superboy

Source: Superboy vol.1 #115 (1964)
Type: Transformation
A crazy cover and a crazy Silver Age story, but the line is a fine one between crazy awesome and crazy stupid. I think "The Atomic Superboy" falls in the latter category. But let's make sure...

Scientists try to create the first nuclear blast, but fear blowing up the world. They want to do this using a few jars of chemicals.
This is crazy stupid!

They call Superboy, the only person strong enough to literally stomach their atomic cocktail. Just in case there's any danger, Superboy flies to the moon to conduct the experiment. A decidedly atmospheric version of the moon.
Was science even INVENTED in 1964? This is crazy stupid!

But of course, you need an atmosphere there, if only to hear the atomic explosion inside Superboy!
This is crazy stupid!

The raging explosion inside Superboy makes him leak fire every time he opens his mouth. I bet that's how the moon lost its atmosphere. Superboy burned it up.
The scene on the cover happens exactly the same way in the comic, and the premise of the story is... crazy awesome!

Superboy is forced to talk with cue cards, cue cards later discovered by a janitor who wants to tell his story to the tabloids.
So true to life! That's crazy awesome!

Superboy tries to quench the flames in the ocean, but only manages to irradiate some sea life. He tries to spend it in space, but creates a misunderstanding.
This is crazy stupid!

Following the janitor's tip, the media starts to wonder why Superboy never says a word. Meanwhile, Lana hounds Clark Kent because isn't it funny how his laryngitis coincides with Superboy's vow of silence. Thankfully, Superboy uses super-ventriloquism to confound Lana.
But wait... if he can do that, what was the whole deal with the cue cards?! Totally, completely, crazy stupid!

After performing quite a few good deeds without the benefit of speaking, Superboy finds a white-hot Krypto returning from a fire planet. Superboy heads there to let out more steam and ends up saving the life of a dude drowning in lava.
As previously discussed under the story's sequel, this is crazy awesome!

Of course, Superboy blows in the guy's mouth so much, he finally empties himself of atomic bomb. So what's the tally? Crazy awesome: 3, Crazy stupid: 5! /debate!

Comments

Robert said…
So the story was printed in 1964, almost twenty years after the Trinity explosion. When was this story supposed to have taken place?
Matthew Turnage said…
Prior to 1971, all Superboy stories were set in the late 1910's or 1920's, depending on Superboy's age. After that, they pretty much switched to 13-16 before the story was published.
Anonymous said…
He drowned in someone else's vomit, but they don't know whose, since they can't dust for vomit.