Picture: Superboy "staying with it" as the years roll on

[Permanus]

I was born in 1974.  Chris Reeve was only a year older than my father.  So for me he was just the right age.
Everyone has their own ideal image of Superman. 

True; I was born in 1967 and my father was born in 1904, so I suppose really my ideal Superman actor should be someone like Laurence Olivier (which would have been pretty cool!).

[Gangbuster]

This just highlights how Superman has REALLY changed over time...and the culture surrounding him. For some perspective, the original Golden Age Superman would have been born slightly before 1920, when Charlie Chaplin was just becoming famous, when the culture and dress of the USA was still slightly Victorian, and when Civil War veterans were living in retirement. Jazz wasn't even popular yet.

By contrast, the last Superboy would have grown up in the 1950s. Rock and roll, leather jackets, and poodle skirts were popular (as was Ike), and he grew up watching the Adventures of Superman on TV. 

The current, as-yet Superboy-less Superman was actually born after the opening of Superman: The Movie. He could have grown up wearing a bold cut, a rat tail, a mullet, or just 5 tons of hair spray. Maybe he knows every Michael Jackson dance move, loves Full House and the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Superman Robots? Bah, he's built several fully functional Johnny-5s, but hasn't quite broken the time barrier with a Delorean yet.

[Johnny Nevada]

This just highlights how Superman has REALLY changed over time...and the culture surrounding him. For some perspective, the original Golden Age Superman would have been born slightly before 1920, when Charlie Chaplin was just becoming famous, when the culture and dress of the USA was still slightly Victorian, and when Civil War veterans were living in retirement. Jazz wasn't even popular yet.

By contrast, the last Superboy would have grown up in the 1950s. Rock and roll, leather jackets, and poodle skirts were popular (as was Ike), and he grew up watching the Adventures of Superman on TV. 

As I noted above, the last Superboy stories shown around the mid-80s featured him living in the late 60's/early 70's; the last issue of the "New Adventures of Superboy" series has Lana trying to ask Clark if he wants to go with her to see a concert of the Carpenters. :-)

The current, as-yet Superboy-less Superman was actually born after the opening of Superman: The Movie. He could have grown up wearing a bold cut, a rat tail, a mullet, or just 5 tons of hair spray. Maybe he knows every Michael Jackson dance move, loves Full House and the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Superman Robots? Bah, he's built several fully functional Johnny-5s, but hasn't quite broken the time barrier with a Delorean yet.

Heh!

[Gangbuster]

As I noted above, the last Superboy stories shown around the mid-80s featured him living in the late 60's/early 70's; the last issue of the "New Adventures of Superboy" series has Lana trying to ask Clark if he wants to go with her to see a concert of the Carpenters. :-)

The final Earth-1 Superboy would have been born 1951-55, so yes, he would have been a teenager in the sixties (and maybe seventies.) The New Adventures of Superboy series starts at age 16, and he actually remained Superboy in the last retcon until his junior year of college.

[Permanus]

It's awful to countenance the fact that at some point in the future, say in 2021, the Superman of that age will have been a teenager in our time. He's got a MySpace account, and probably vlogs on YouTube; he likes Lindsay Lohan and says "Totally awesome" a lot. And he probably watches Smallville. Lord only knows how he'll turn out when he grows up.

[Gangbuster]

It's awful to countenance the fact that at some point in the future, say in 2021, the Superman of that age will have been a teenager in our time. He's got a MySpace account, and probably vlogs on YouTube; he likes Lindsay Lohan and says "Totally awesome" a lot. And he probably watches Smallville. Lord only knows how he'll turn out when he grows up.

Dear God, NO!!!!

Actually, I teach rural teenagers of our time. They fortunately do not like Lindsey Lohan.

[Permanus]

Actually, I teach rural teenagers of our time. They fortunately do not like Lindsey Lohan.

Thank Heaven for that! I didn't know you were a teacher; there's still hope, then!

[dto]

Superboy-Prime was 16 at the time of the Crisis, so he was born in 1969 on Krypton-Prime and spent his early years on Earth-Prime through Nixon's resignation, the end of the Vietnam War, the Bicentennial, the Energy Crisis, stagflation, the Iran Hostage Crisis and the Reagan Administration.  I rather liked how they updated the Kents:

https://www.supermanthroughtheages.com/tales2/superboyprime/?page=11

Had the Crisis not occurred, SuperMAN-Prime would be 38 years old in 2007 -- about the "standard" Superman age.