Remembering Artist Neal Adams On Father's Day

Remembering artist Neal Adams on his birthday (June 15, 1941 - April 28, 2022) and also acknowledging today is Father's Day....so, here are a couple of Superboy covers featuring Superboy with his Kryptonian parents (Jor-El and Lara) and his Earth parents (Jonathan and Martha Kent), showing that Superboy does indeed need his father (and mother too!).  

Superboy #158 (July, 1969) and Superboy #161 (December, 1969)

Happy Fathers Day Superboy

It can be a little rough for anyone that's lost a father on Father's Day, and Superboy is no exception, wanting to see dad one more time.

But, he had two occasions where the ghost of Jor-El visited him (sadly, not a real ghost, but trickery by dastardly villains, in Superboy #20 of June-July, 1962 by with cover by Win Mortimer, and this villain in Superboy #78 of January, 1960, with cover by Curt Swan and Stan Kaye).

Happy Father's Day Superboy 2023

Two super covers featuring Pa Kent showing us (and Superboy) how super he really is, as, along with being Father's Day, today is the day that Kal-El's rocket landed on Earth, where he was found by Jonathan and Martha Kent, who took him into their Smallville home, named him Clark Kent, and eventually shaped the boy who would become....Superman!

These two issues have two different ideas of how super Pa Kent is.  In Adventure Comics #224 (May, 1956, cover by Curt Swan and Stan Kaye), Jonathan is struck by lightning and only thinks he is super, while in Adventure Comics #289 (October, 1961, also cover by Swan/Kaye), it is a more nefarious plot by one of the men here.

Still, Pa Kent is always super!

Happy Father's Day Superman

One of the defining characteristics of the Silver Age/Earth-1 Superman, is that it was the death of his Earth father (Jonathan Kent) when he was Superboy, that was one of the biggest changes in Clark Kent's life, leading him to move from Smallville to Metropolis, and to change from Superboy to Superman (shown so well recently in Action Comics #500).

So, imagine Clark's surprise when his father showed up in his current life!  Not a result of a universe changing Crisis, but a helpful alien repaying a kindness the Kansas farmer showed him, Pa Kent was allowed a little time with his grown up son in Action Comics #507 and #508 (May and June, 1980) with covers by Ross Andru and Dick Giordano, and stories by Cary Bates, Curt Swan and Frank Chiaramonte.

A Happy Father's Day to all the fathers out there, and for everyone who has lost a father and would like to talk to him one last time.

Happy Father's Day Superboy

Be happy this Father's Day, if you had a father like Superboy did with his Pa Kent in Smallville...

...here, on the cover of Superboy #69 (December, 1958) by Curt Swan and Stan Kaye, highlighting a tale from the past, when an earthbound Pa Kent taught the Boy of Steel how to fly!

 

Happy Fathers Day Superman

A quiet cover by Gary Frank, with Superman on the Kent farm as Clark Kent, enjoying a quiet moment with Jonathan Kent, the Smallville farmer who found the young Kal-El from Krypton, and adopted him into the Kent family.


Action Comics #869 (November, 2008)

Happy Fathers Day Batman

Happy Father's Day, Batman, as tough as it may be for you.

Here's the cover of Batman: The Long Halloween #9 (August, 1997), of a 13 issue mini-series by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale, with Batman paying homage to his deceased father, Thomas Wayne, as we pay homage to those who have lost a dad.

World's Finest Father's Day

Taking a moment to remember the fathers of the World's Finest super-heroes, Superman and Batman....Jor-El and Thomas Wayne.

Though no longer with them, their dads helped to make them into the heroes they became and continued to effect their lives after they were gone, as shown on these covers, with Jor-El on Superboy #121 (June, 1965 by Curt Swan), and Thomas Wayne on Detective Comics #235 (September, 1956 by Sheldon Moldoff).