Clark Kent

Clark Joseph Kent, or Clark Jerome Kent,Note that some sources claim that Kent's middle name is in fact "Jerome", and that he was given this name in honor of creator Jerry Siegel. The name "Jerome" was used in the "Season's Greedings" episode of the television series The New Adventures of Superman. It was also featured in several episodes of the 2000s television series Smallville. is a fictional character created by Joe Shuster and Jerry Siegel as civilian secret identity of the superhero Superman.

Overview

Clark Kent's name is a combination of the names of actors Clark Gable and Kent Taylor. Through the popularity of his Superman alter ego, the personality, concept, and name of Clark Kent have become ingrained in popular culture as well, becoming synonymous with secret identities and innocuous fronts for ulterior motives and activities.

As first written in the earliest Superman comics, Clark Kent's primary purpose was to fulfill the perceived dramatic requirement that a costumed superhero cannot stay on-duty twenty-four hours a day, or throughout the entirety of a comic book series. As such, Kent acted as little more than a front for Superman's activities. Although his name and history were taken from his early life with his adoptive Earth parents, everything about Kent was staged for the benefit of his alternate identity—he acquired a job as a reporter for the Daily Planet for the convenience of receiving late-breaking news before the general public, providing an excuse for being present at crime scenes and having an occupation where his whereabouts do not have to be strictly accounted for as long as he makes his story deadlines. However, in order to draw attention away from the correlation between Kent and Superman, Clark Kent adopted a largely passive and introverted personality, applying conservative mannerisms, a higher-pitched voice, and a slight slouch. This personality is typically described as "mild-mannered," perhaps most famously by the opening narration of Max Fleischer's Superman animated theatrical shorts. These traits extended into Kent's wardrobe, which typically consists of a softly colored business suit, a red necktie, black-rimmed glasses, combed-back hair and, occasionally, a fedora.

Kent wears his Superman costume underneath his street clothes, which lends itself to easy transference between the two personalities. However, the purpose of this convention outside of fiction is largely dramatic, allowing Kent to rip open his shirt and reveal the familiar "S" insignia when called into action. When in action, Superman usually stores his Clark Kent clothing inside a secret pouch hidden inside of his cape, though some stories have shown him leaving his clothes in some covert location (usually places like phone booths) for later retrieval.

In the wake of John Byrne's The Man of Steel reboot of Superman continuity, many traditional aspects of Clark Kent were dropped in favor of giving him a more aggressive and extroverted personality, including such aspects as making Kent a top football player in high school, along with being a successful author. Recently, some aspects of this change have been dropped, in favor of bringing back elements of the earlier, "mild-mannered" version of Kent. John Byrne has stated in interviews that he took inspiration for this portrayal from the George Reeves version of Superman.

Adopted by Jonathan Kent and his wife Martha Kent of Smallville, USA, Clark (and thus Superman) was raised with the values of a typical small rural American town. Most continuities state that the Kents had been unable to have biological children. In the traditional versions of his origin, after the Kents retrieved Clark from his rocket, they brought him to the Smallville Orphanage, and returned a few days later to formally adopt the orphan, giving him as a first name Martha's maiden name, "Clark." In John Byrne's 1986 origin version The Man of Steel, instead of an orphanage, the Kents passed Clark off as their biologically-born son (after a lengthy months-long snowstorm trapped them on their farm).

In the Silver Age comics continuity, Clark gained superpowers upon landing on Earth, and gradually learned to master them, adopting the superhero identity of Superboy at the age of eight. He subsequently developed Clark's timid demeanor as a means of providing a means of ensuring that no one would suspect any connection between the two alter-egos.

In Metropolis, Superman (as Clark Kent) works as a reporter at the Planet, "a great metropolitan newspaper" which allows him to keep track of ongoing events where he might be of help. Largely working on his own, his identity is easily kept secret. He sees his job as a journalist as an extension of his Superman responsibilities, bringing truth to the forefront and fighting for the little man. ^* Fellow reporter Lois Lane became the object of Clark's/Superman's romantic affection. Lois' affection for Superman and her rejection of Clark's clumsy advances have been a recurring theme in Superman comics, television, and movies.

Secret identity security

Various reasons over the decades have been offered for why people haven't suspected Superman and Clark Kent of being one and the same. In the 1970s, one such suggestion was that the lenses of Clark Kent's glasses (made of Kryptonian materials) constantly amplified a low-level super-hypnosis power, thereby creating the illusion of others viewing Clark Kent as a weak and frailer being; however, this reason was abandoned almost as quickly as it was introduced, since it had various flaws (such as stories where Batman would disguise himself as Clark Kent, among others).

Another reason given in the late 1980s was the public simply does not know that Superman has a secret identity considering he does not wear a mask, which implies to most that he has nothing to hide. As an added precaution, Superman would vibrate his face (like Jay Garrick, the Golden age Flash) slightly so that photographs would only show his features as a blur, thus preventing the danger of photographs of both identities being reliably compared. However, more recent stories showing Superman being photographed have tended to ignore this factor.

Traditionally, Lois Lane and others would often suspect Superman of truly being Clark Kent (and vice-versa), though more recent comics often feature the general public assuming that Superman doesn't have a secret identity. In Superman (Vol. 2) #2 (1987), for example, a super-computer constructed by Lex Luthor calculated Superman's true identity, but Lex dismissed the idea because he could not believe that someone so powerful would want another identity. In modern comic continuity as of 2006, Lois Lane never suspected the dual identity, beyond one isolated question, before Clark revealed it to her. She had visited the Kent farm, but was told there that Superman was "brought up" alongside Clark like a brother.

Some fans have noted that in order for the disguise to be credible, Clark has to be at least as skilled an actor as Christopher Reeve. The actor's portrayal of Clark in the The Movie was praised for making the disguise's effectiveness credible to audiences (though not all fans embraced it as warmly). According to the 2004 limited series Birthright (which retells Superman's origin), young Clark Kent studies the Meisner technique so that he can seamlessly move between his Clark and Superman personas. In the 2006 feature film, Brandon Routh's performance echoed Reeve's.

Actor George Reeves in the 1950s live-action television series The Adventures of Superman brought a naturalistic approach to the dual role, perhaps reasoning that if Clark were too much of a Caspar Milquetoast, he would not do well in the tough world of investigative journalism, particularly with an editor like Perry White. Reeves played Clark as moderately assertive, often taking charge in dangerous or risky situations and unafraid to take reasonable risks.

Identity change as plot device

When crises arise, Clark quickly changes into Superman. In the Fleischer animated series of theatrical cartoons, he often ducked into a telephone booth to make the transformation. In the comic books and in the Reeves television series, he favors the Daily Planet's storeroom. As a dramatic plot device, Clark often has to quickly improvise in order to find a way to change unnoticed. For example, in the first Christopher Reeve film, Kent is comically unable to use a newer, open-kiosk pay phone, so he enters a revolving door and changes clothes while spinning within it at superspeed. Thus made invisible, he appeared to enter the building as Kent and exit seconds later as Superman.

Which is the Real "Identity"?

A relatively recent debate is which of the two identities (Superman or Clark Kent) is the real person and which is the facade. Pre-Crisis interpretations of Superman very much assumed that Clark Kent was the "mask" and Kal-El the person. (In the classic story " Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?", when Superman's dual life is revealed, he completely abandons his Clark Kent persona.) With John Byrne's more assertive revamp of Clark Kent as well as Superman's greater grounding in Earth culture and humanity (as opposed to the everpresent Kryptonian heritage of the Pre-Crisis version), Superman is considered the "mask" and Clark the person.

Many fans and Superman scholars believe there to actually be three interpretations. There is firstly, Kal-El (in the feature films, this would be the Clark that is around Martha on the farm, or whilst alone with Lois in the Fortress of Solitude). He is a regular guy, brave, deep voiced and good hearted. Kal-El then wears two other masks: that of Superman, and that of Clark Kent - bumbling, clumsy and naive reporter. It should be noted that "bumbling" Clark is also an act - it is not the real Kal-El. Therefore, there are three interpretations of the same person.

Other concepts have become the current accepted canon in most modern versions of the Superman myth. (For example, in the DC animated universe Superman cartoon episode "The Late Mr. Kent" wherein Clark Kent is presumed dead, Superman expresses frustration at the idea of not being Clark and having to be someone else instead, because, in his words "I am Clark Kent. I need to be Clark. I'd go crazy if I'd have to be Superman all the time.")

In other media

Clark Kent's character is given heavier emphasis than his superheroic alter-ego in the 1990s series The New Adventures of Superman and the 2000s series Smallville where Clark has not yet adopted the identity of Superman. In Lois and Clark, Lois discovers his identity, but Clark says "Superman is something I do. Clark is who I am." In Lois and Clark, Clark is portrayed by Dean Cain; in Smallville, Clark (as a teenager) is portrayed by Tom Welling.

Cultural perceptions of Clark Kent

Memorable Quote from Vol. 2 (2004)

Bill (David Carradine) explaining Superman's identity to The Bride (Uma Thurman)

"An essential characteristic of the superhero mythology is, there's the superhero, and there's the alter ego. Batman is actually Bruce Wayne, Spider-Man is actually Peter Parker. When he wakes up in the morning, he's Peter Parker. He has to put on a costume to become Spider-Man. And it is in that characteristic that Superman stands alone. Superman did not become Superman, Superman was born Superman. When Superman wakes up in the morning, he's Superman. His alter ego is Clark Kent. His outfit with the big red "S", that's the blanket he was wrapped in as a baby when the Kents found him. Those are his clothes. What Kent wears, the glasses, the business suit, that's the costume. That's the costume Superman wears to blend in with us. Clark Kent is how Superman views us. And what are the characteristics of Clark Kent? He's weak, he's unsure of himself... he's a coward. Clark Kent is Superman's critique on the whole human race."

Notes

Fictional Americans in DC Comics | Fictional Kansans | Fictional reporters | Superman supporting characters