754 – Superboy Meets Bruce Wayne

Hm, I wonder. A panel from Adventure Comics #275, June 1960
Hm, I wonder. A panel from Adventure Comics #275, June 1960

Remember that time Superboy met Oliver Queen and set him on the path to become Green Arrow? The plot is shamelessly copied in Adventure Comics #275 (June 1960) wherein Superboy reminisces about meeting Robin and then wonders if he’ll ever meet a young Bruce Wayne. Literally one panel later guess who shows up in Clark’s class.

Another panel from Adventure Comics #275, June 1960
Another panel from Adventure Comics #275, June 1960

Doctor Wayne has just moved into Smallville! This is before it is established that Bruce Wayne’s parents are murdered when he is a child, because Clark and Bruce are at least 15-16 years old in this story. Bruce hits it off with Lana Lang, uses some detective skills to uncover Superboy’s secret identity, and helps Superboy fight some crime in Smallville using one of Lana’s father’s head-dresses of a “flying fox”:

The Flying Fox in Adventure Comics #275, June 1960
The Flying Fox in Adventure Comics #275, June 1960

Later, Superboy shows Bruce his “time telescope” which reveals that they are friends, trust each other, and fight crime together as Batman and Superman. Bruce realizes he is too young to know this information and insists that Superboy help hypnotize him in his father’s office:

Superboy hypnotizes Bruce Wayne in Adventure Comics #275, June 1960
Superboy hypnotizes Bruce Wayne in Adventure Comics #275, June 1960

Later, the Waynes move out of Smallville, presumably back to Gotham where they will soon be shot dead by Joe Chill. I guess Superboy never knew why Batman decided to fight crime or he surely would have been tempted to prevent Bruce’s parents from being killed? Oh the timey-wimey-ness of it all…