Can I Keep Him?

 

cover art by Curt Swan

Today, we return to Superman Family #182 (March-April 1977) for a look at the second story in that issue. 

"Superbaby's Alien Pet" is a story that can only have been written by E. Nelson Bridwell, who was a font of knowledge about Superman's mythology and a writer arguably the best grasp of Silver Age goofiness. (And please note that I am not knocking Silver Age goofiness, which ranks among mankind's greatest artistic movements.)  It is indeed a goofy, but highly entertaining and clever tale from the days when Clark Kent was still a toddler. The art is by John Calnan.

On the very first day, we discover one of the challenges of raising a super-powered child. Clark comes flying home with an alien monster in tow, asking "Can me keep him?"

[By the way, as much as I love the Silver Age, the DC method of portraying baby talk--which mostly consists of overusing the word "me"--can get on my nerves from time to time.]

To the credit of both the Kent parents, they handle the situation with aplomb. Pa Kent quickly directs Clark to build a cage for the alien, which includes walking the toddler through steps of shaping metal into tools. 

When the alien is safely contained, Clark makes a quick inter-continental flight to a jungle to bring it some food. 

This gives Pa Kent time to wonder where the alien came from. This, in turn, convinces Clark to show Pa the crashed space ship near which he had found the monster. And, when Pa sees the size of the chaire and controls, he learns that it has been inappropriate of me to be calling the alien a monster. He was actually the pilot of the ship.

The next step is to try to communicate with the alien. Fortunately, though Clark can't get the hang of English pronouns, he does have a super-brain and is soon talking to the poor guy. Under the alien's instructions, Superbaby is able to repair the ship and the alien is soon on his way home. Clark is glad, but he does still which he had been allowed to keep him.

It's a wonderful little tale, allowing Pa Kent to be smart while still depending on Clark's superpowers to get the heavy lifting done. In real life, a child with super-powers would pretty much always generate an "It's a Good Life" situation. But one of the points of Superman is that he is moral and decent by nature. And, of course, so are the Kents. It's a situation that allows fun stories like this to exist.

Next week, we'll discover that there are Leopard Women on Venus who achieve space flight on the back of giant lizards. As if we all didn't already suspect that was true.