Superman Through the Ages! Forum

Weisinger was very conscious of areas still to be filled in of the Superman mythos. In the letter column of Jimmy Olsen #62 (April, 1962), he pointed out that he'd never yet shown what happened to Pete Ross after he grew up and left Smallville. The grownup Pete Ross has a brief cameo in "The Superman Super-Spectacular" (Action #309, February 1964), written by Edmond Hamilton. This story shows him as still knowing Superman's secret, but now completely out of touch with Superman since his college days. Pete Ross has grown up to be a successful geologist, wealthy from his exploration for oil. It is a terribly inadequate end to the Pete Ross series. It is too bad he did not come back for more! The college age Pete Ross has a role in "Lois Lane's College Scoops" (Lois Lane #55, February 1965), which shows both Pete Ross and Lois going to Raleigh College. Pete Ross is captain of the Raleigh fencing team. He and Superman are still friends, and they are still trading places with each other, just as in the friendship tales. Pete Ross is in just the first of the three brief episodes of this story; his is far and away the best of the three. Pete Ross also plays a major role in Edmond Hamilton's imaginary tale, "Clark Kent's Brother" (Superman #175, February 1965), although he has quite a different personality and role here than in his Superboy series. Different editors brought back Pete Ross many years later in (Superman #270, December 1973).