# Superman’s secret identity is the opposite of convention **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** comic-books-manga\ **Created:** [September 20, 2020, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superman-s-secret-identity-is-the-opposite-of-convention/921095 "2020-09-20T19:28:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Kron](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kron/32/12444_2.png) [@Kron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kron)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2020, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superman-s-secret-identity-is-the-opposite-of-convention/921095/81 "2020-10-31T21:08:11Z")
_\*80s movie standing slow clap\*_ ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2020, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superman-s-secret-identity-is-the-opposite-of-convention/921095/82 "2020-11-02T01:51:20Z")
> [@digs](#): > > > [@Asuka](#): > > > > If Clark Kent was given a piece of pizza straight from the oven piping hot, can he just eat it right away despite it being dangerously hot since he’s Superman and it shouldn’t hurt him? > > He could, but of course he wouldn’t. Clark’s a nerd, and only hipsters try stuff before it becomes cool. Unless it was when Clark who had no powers for a time, such as the storyline where Superman’s powers (and costume) were completely changed into electric powers ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2020, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superman-s-secret-identity-is-the-opposite-of-convention/921095/83 "2020-11-02T14:31:12Z")
We do not speak of Sparkly Superman. … (or Sparkly Vampires) (or Red ‘n’ Blue Supes, or Long-Haired Supes, or [Super Giant Red Ant Man](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/big_creepy_crawlies_7.jpg)…) ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2020, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superman-s-secret-identity-is-the-opposite-of-convention/921095/84 "2020-11-13T21:49:45Z")
> **[Super-Team Family: The Lost Issues!](https://braveandboldlost.blogspot.com/search?q=lois%2Blane%2Bthing)** > > A blog presenting covers to imaginary comic books featuring the greatest team ups that never happened... but should have! ---
**Author:** ![bmoak1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f4b2a3/32.png) [@bmoak1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bmoak1)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2020, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superman-s-secret-identity-is-the-opposite-of-convention/921095/85 "2020-11-17T05:15:07Z")
> [@Wheelz](#): > > > [@erysichthon](#): > > > > When I was reading comic books in the 60s, Superman was clearly the true identity; Clark was a bland, nondescript, fade-into-the-woodwork guy with little or no personality. Although that made him a less interesting character, I think that’s a better disguise than making him a nervous, bumbling nerd, as Christopher Reeve played him. The ultimate disguise is to be unnoticed and unmemorable. > > These two incarnations are how I’m most familiar with Superman, and the basis of my assertion in the OP. In each of these cases, Clark seems more like a put-on character than a fully realized person. The Silver Age Superman of that era, who could easily do feats like turning back time or move planets to different solar systems, is the only one who really fits the OP. This is also the era of Superman that Feiffer wrote about. Even so, I don’t think that the identity battle was Clark Kent vs Superman. I think it was between Clark Kent and Kal-El, the Last Son of Krypton. Reading Superman comics from that era, there were so many Kryptonian survivors and artifacts in the stories that one might get the impression that the only people who died when Krypton exploded were Jor-El and Lara. In the rare occasions when he had downtime, it seemed like he spent very little time as Clark Kent, but instead he would go hang out at the Fortress of Solitude and do stuff like visit the bottled city of Kandor, read Kryptonian history, or tend to his menagerie of Kryptonian animals. Interestingly, the Superboy stories from that era are quite different. The Golden Age Superman was quite different. Other than Kryptonite (from the radio show originally), there was very little Kryptonian stuff, and early Superman wasn’t powerful enough to fly off to other planets for fanciful sci-fi adventures. Clark Kent was a hard-charging investigative reporter who could certainly break stories besides “scoops” on Superman’s doings and his investigative skills would often uncover crimes that he would then address as Superman. Lois wasn’t antagonistic to Clark because he was a milksop or nondescript, but because she saw him as a threat to her status as the top reporter at The Daily Star. ---
**Author:** ![bmoak1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f4b2a3/32.png) [@bmoak1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bmoak1)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2020, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superman-s-secret-identity-is-the-opposite-of-convention/921095/86 "2020-12-02T03:28:52Z")
It’s pretty odd to claim that Superman’s secret identity is the opposite of convention when Clark Kent/Superman is pretty much the source of the secret identity superhero trope. However, heroes with secret identities predate Action Comics #1. The Scarlet Pimpernel, Zorro ( a big influence on Batman’s creation), The Shadow, The Lone Ranger, The Green Hornet. Both the Scarlet Pimpernel and Zorro had secret identities that pretended to be ineffectual fops to throw off suspicion, even if out made people in their lives think less of them. Remember, Batman was Bruce Wayne, millionaire playboy from the beginning. The origin story of Bruce Wayne being traumatized by his parents’ murder. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2020, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superman-s-secret-identity-is-the-opposite-of-convention/921095/87 "2020-12-02T03:36:49Z")
So…how long before Supes returns to having a secret identity again-six months? A year? Two years? ---
**Author:** ![bmoak1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f4b2a3/32.png) [@bmoak1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bmoak1)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2020, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superman-s-secret-identity-is-the-opposite-of-convention/921095/88 "2020-12-02T03:38:48Z")
He doesn’t have one now? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2020, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superman-s-secret-identity-is-the-opposite-of-convention/921095/89 "2020-12-02T03:43:13Z")
Nope-He came out of the…ummm…closet a little while back. he is Clark Kent and still works at the Daily Planet, but when the Kryptonite hits the fan he just changes in front of everyone, says Be right back", and flies off. ---
**Author:** ![bmoak1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f4b2a3/32.png) [@bmoak1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bmoak1)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2020, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superman-s-secret-identity-is-the-opposite-of-convention/921095/90 "2020-12-02T03:52:41Z")
For most of his comic book career Captain America’s identity as Steve Rogers was a secret. Suer, the military knew and SHIELD knew, but the general public knowing ia pretty recent development. The odd thing about Steve Rogers, 9s that there is very little sense of who has is as a person. Clark Kent = Journalist Bruce Wayne = Wealthy Playboy Barry Allen = Police Forensic Scientist Hal Jordan = Test Pilot Tony Stark = Genius Industrialist Don Blake = Medical Doctor Steve Rogers = ??? In the Golden Age, Steve was a soldier in the army. In his 60s revival, there was very little depiction of his civilian life. He split Tales of Suspense with Iron Man, and Jack Kirby was trying to jam as much action into those 12 page stories as he could. Steve seemed to spend more time with SHIELD agents like Nick Fury and Sharon Carter than any civilians. They later tried to give Steve a career as a commercial artist, and even as a comic book artist, and give him a supporting cast, but it didn’t really seem to stick. ---
**Author:** ![bmoak1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f4b2a3/32.png) [@bmoak1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bmoak1)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2020, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superman-s-secret-identity-is-the-opposite-of-convention/921095/91 "2020-12-02T03:57:05Z")
Historically, DC has always presented Superman without a secret identity as a Bad Thing. Either it puts people close to him in danger, or he kind of goes crazy without having a normal life. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2020, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superman-s-secret-identity-is-the-opposite-of-convention/921095/92 "2020-12-02T04:21:05Z")
Sounds like the “Superman” speech from Kill Bill. Bill’s hypothesis was that Superman was born Superman and Clark Kent was his interpretation of humans (weak, cowardly, bumbling, etc). I don’t think that’s necessarily true. Yes, Superman was born Kal-El on Krypton. But he was raised as Clark Kent on a farm in rural Kansas by humans Jonathan and Martha Clark. IIRC, he wouldn’t even be “super” had he remained on Krypton (assuming it didn’t explode). As he learned about his superpowers and alien origins, he adopted the “Superman” persona. So, in a sense, Clark Kent is just like anyone else who was born with super powers and then decided to go off into the world as a costumed superhero. I don’t see it as any different from Arthur Curry (Aquaman). Wonder Woman usually goes by “Diana Prince” but her birth name isn’t “Wonder Woman”. I think it’s just Diana. Same with basically every Marvel X-Mutant. They were all born with their powers and many of them (Jean Grey, Professor Xavier, Kitty Pryde, etc) don’t even have “super” names. Of course, many are unable to actually have secret identities either because of their appearance. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2020, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superman-s-secret-identity-is-the-opposite-of-convention/921095/93 "2020-12-02T04:26:43Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > They were all born with their powers and many of them (Jean Grey, Professor Xavier, Kitty Pryde, etc) don’t even have “super” names. Marvel Girl/Phoenix, Professor X, Shadowcat, Cyclops, Angel, The Beast, Wolverine, Ice Man etc. ---
**Author:** ![bmoak1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f4b2a3/32.png) [@bmoak1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bmoak1)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2020, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superman-s-secret-identity-is-the-opposite-of-convention/921095/94 "2020-12-02T04:28:56Z")
Also, most mutants are born with their powers. Mutant powers usually surface in adolescence , often after triggered by some traumatic event. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2020, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superman-s-secret-identity-is-the-opposite-of-convention/921095/95 "2020-12-02T04:35:07Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Nope-He came out of the…ummm…closet a little while back. he is Clark Kent and still works at the Daily Planet, but when the Kryptonite hits the fan he just changes in front of everyone, says Be right back", and flies off. Is his identity known to ordinary people in DC world, or just to his colleagues? > [@msmith537](#): > > Sounds like the “Superman” speech from Kill Bill. Ahem. Check out post #30. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2020, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superman-s-secret-identity-is-the-opposite-of-convention/921095/96 "2020-12-02T04:44:47Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > Is his identity known to ordinary people in DC world, or just to his colleagues? Everybody. Lex Luthor was royally pissed off for not figuring it out…and Jimmy Olsen revealed that he had known about it for years, but didn’t let on so that Clark wouldn’t worry about it. ---
**Author:** ![urbanredneck2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/5f8ce5/32.png) [@urbanredneck2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/urbanredneck2)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2020, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superman-s-secret-identity-is-the-opposite-of-convention/921095/97 "2020-12-02T04:48:37Z")
Also you have to think about making money and earning a living. Being a super hero is cool but most of the time it doesnt pay. Granted if your a member of the Justice League you get housing and meals but you must be ready at all times to go and deal with problems. So Peter Parker is stuck living with his Aunt Mae. ---
**Author:** ![urbanredneck2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/5f8ce5/32.png) [@urbanredneck2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/urbanredneck2)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2020, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superman-s-secret-identity-is-the-opposite-of-convention/921095/98 "2020-12-02T04:50:53Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Nope-He came out of the…ummm…closet a little while back. he is Clark Kent and still works at the Daily Planet, but when the Kryptonite hits the fan he just changes in front of everyone, says Be right back", and flies off. There was one comic series where his identity is revealed to the public and his parents and Lois Lane have to go into a type of witness protection system because all of Supermans enemies will not be going after them. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2020, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superman-s-secret-identity-is-the-opposite-of-convention/921095/99 "2020-12-02T07:34:39Z")
> [@urbanredneck2](#): > > There was one comic series where his identity is revealed to the public and his parents and Lois Lane have to go into a type of witness protection system because all of Supermans enemies will not be going after them. Isn’t that already a problem? Putting aside the issue of Clark Kent’s identity, people already know that Superman is a close friend of Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen. Revealing Superman is Clark Kent wouldn’t add to their risk. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2020, 9:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superman-s-secret-identity-is-the-opposite-of-convention/921095/100 "2020-12-02T09:17:06Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Nope-He came out of the…ummm…closet a little while back. he is Clark Kent and still works at the Daily Planet, but when the Kryptonite hits the fan he just changes in front of everyone, says Be right back", and flies off. Yeah, well, it’s not like there are any phone booths left… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superman-s-secret-identity-is-the-opposite-of-convention/921095.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superman-s-secret-identity-is-the-opposite-of-convention/921095.md?page=6)