Readers rarely saw Superboy in the tub, or were informed that his myriad abilities included a lovely singing voice.
But that’s what happened in Superboy’s Amateur Hour (Superboy 4, July-Aug. 1949).
The story includes some charming touches that recall a bygone era.
Ma Kent must let out Clark’s costume because he’s a growing super-being. Clark calculates Pa Kent’s income taxes plus deductions in an instant. The Kent home is heated by coal, and their dealer has missed a delivery. Luckily, Clark can compress wood into coal in a jiffy (even though he apparently can’t sew).
Pa records Clark’s bath-time balladeering and brings him to the attention of radio’s Amateur Hour. Advised that Clark needs vocal coaching, Pa sends him to a new local talent school, but it turns out to be run by Harold Hill-type crooks.
A job for Superboy, who not only corrals the criminals but salvages the hopes of the disappointed young performers at the school.
And Smallville’s bobby-soxers get a thrill when Clark Kent croons the Australian bush ballad Waltzing Matilda for them.
“I think this story is a prototype for all that made Superboy popular,” Cheryl Spoehr suggested. “The whole idea of ‘Super’ Man/Boy/Baby is that he is YOU with magic abilities. He does what YOU do, dreams what YOU dream, has the same problems YOU do.”
By the way, in 1949, The Original Amateur Hour was already an American institution. The program was Major Bowes’ Amateur Hour from 1934 to 1945 when Edward Bowes left. The show continued with Ted Mack and went on to television.
Like Superboy himself, the crowd-pleasing concept remains with us, giving rise to Star Search, American Idol and America’s Got Talent.
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