Of Fathers and Super Sons

Hello! 

Today is Father's Day so I thought I would take a look at the sons of Superman and Batman which first appeared in World's Finest Comics#216.  Written by Bob Haney in the bizarre, off-kilter way he had of writing young people, these stories tracked the adventures of Clark Kent Jr and Bruce Wayne Jr as they sought to assume the super heroic mantles of their famous fathers.   

Covers by Nick Cardy 

In case you're wondering, the sons had mothers. The wives of Superman and Batman make appearances but their identities are not made clear. These cameos are from behind of women with black hair so we can possibly assume the mothers were Lois Lane and (maybe) Selina Kyle. But there is no info to go on to make any informed assessments of the identities of these women. They were plot devices to bring these young men into the world and occasionally scold Clark Sr and Bruce Sr into do something about them.  

Bob Haney was never a stickler for continuity. Ostensibly, the adventures of Clark Jr and Bruce Jr took place in the future. But there was at least one story that featured Robin, still pretty much a Teen Wonder with Dick Grayson still a student at Hudson University.  

cover art by Ernie Chan w/Dick Giordano & John Calnan 

After their first appearance in issue #216, the Sons alternated with their fathers as the featured attraction World's Finest Comics before making their final Bob Haney scripted appearance in issue # 242.   

I always found the stories of the Super Sons to be hokey and contrite, even by Bob Haney standards.  A lot of stories centered on our young lads roaming America with Bruce Jr spending his trust fund money while bemoaning what tight asses their fathers and other grown ups were.   




But in World's Finest Comics #263, writer Denny O'Neil wrote "The Final Secret of the Super-Sons" which brought the saga of Clark Kent Jr and Bruce Wayne Jr to a heart breaking conclusion.   

cover art by Ross Andru & Dick Giordano 

The super-sons' adventures are revealed to be computer simulations observed by Superman and Batman. But when Superman leaves the program running, Superman, Jr. figures out that there is another plane of existence and the boys enter the real world. Unfortunately their presence causes natural disasters because, you know, comics, right? So to save the world, they sacrifice their artificial lives.

"The Final Secret of the Super-Sons" is a bit rushed with a lot of story being shoved into a 16 page space. But it was still an unexpectedly moving end. 

The concept that the super-sons were computer simulations had actually been explored earlier in a Gerry Conway written story in Superman Family #192 which I did purchase and read back in the day but I guess I forgot about that story when World's Finest Comics #263 came out.