According to Answers.com: "Superboy was originally simply Superman as a boy and was essentially treated as a junior version of Superman. To that end, Superboy wore the Superman costume and his alter ego Clark Kent wore glasses as a disguise for his civilian identity. The character was created without the permission of Superman's creators, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, a fact which increased an already-growing rift between them and the publisher, DC Comics."
Ref. https://www.answers.com/main/ntquery?method...nktext=Superboy
There have been other incarnations of Superboy in DC world. Superboy was also the genetic creation after superman died. He was created by some other lab, I can't remember the name, but he wasn't a real born human or alien. He did have essentially the same powers.