The Ole Swimming Hole

I found this in a Superboy story ("Superboy's Best Friend") originally published in Superboy 77 (December 1959) and reprinted in Adventure 319 (April 1964). The rest of the story is pretty decent, but I found these panels to be particularly poignant when seen through the eyes of a closeted gay reader of the time.

When the story was published I was one year old, and I was not yet six when it was reprinted. I didn't encounter it until I started collecting back issues in my 20s, with my gay identity well-established. I wonder if it spoke to any gay boys a handful of years older than me?

Don't you just want to hold Clark and comfort him?

Incidentally, I've seen a bunch of gay porn that started this way. In an alternate universe....