# 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:** 6
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2020, 11:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superman-s-secret-identity-is-the-opposite-of-convention/921095/101 "2020-12-02T11:14:02Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > > [@digs](#): > > > > Speaking of nomenclature, I love the way Lois calls Clark “Smallville”. Not sure where that started, but it’s often used when they’re competing for a story, and Lois is reminding him that she’s much more “Metropolis”. > > I believe that started with the TV series _Smallville_ Lois was calling him “Smallville” in the animated Superman series of the 90s. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2020, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superman-s-secret-identity-is-the-opposite-of-convention/921095/102 "2020-12-02T14:34:09Z")
Yeah, that’s the kind of detail that bothers me. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2020, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superman-s-secret-identity-is-the-opposite-of-convention/921095/103 "2020-12-02T15:50:49Z")
Nothing bothers me about comic book inconsistencies. Just apply a little excelsior to your gripes and rationalize stuff like that in the spirit of a no-prize. It doesn’t just work for Marvel comics. ---
**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, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superman-s-secret-identity-is-the-opposite-of-convention/921095/104 "2020-12-02T19:44:53Z")
Inconsistencies. Like how could Clark Kent hold down a job yet still be gone for days at a time fighting crime? ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2020, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superman-s-secret-identity-is-the-opposite-of-convention/921095/105 "2020-12-02T20:05:07Z")
Reporters can do that. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2020, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superman-s-secret-identity-is-the-opposite-of-convention/921095/106 "2020-12-02T20:26:07Z")
> [@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. “Professor X” is absolutely a super name - it’s just happens to also be his professional title and last initial. Which, as secret identities go, is not the smartest idea. But, particularly as originally conceived, it was completely in line with the trope: “Professor Charles Xavier” was known to the public as a geneticist and mutant rights advocate, but otherwise normal human, while “Professor X” was the leader of a group of mutant superheroes. ---
**Author:** ![gdave](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gdave/32/3683_2.png) [@gdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gdave)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2020, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superman-s-secret-identity-is-the-opposite-of-convention/921095/107 "2020-12-02T20:36:06Z")
In the era when he was maintaining a “secret identity”, was the general public even aware of the existence of a “Professor X”? I thought he was pretty much always back at the mansion, or at most tucked away in the Blackbird, directing the X-Men telepathically from a distance. Did the X-Men refer to him publicly? I’m not disputing, I’m genuinely wondering. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2020, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superman-s-secret-identity-is-the-opposite-of-convention/921095/108 "2020-12-02T20:40:18Z")
> [@urbanredneck2](#): > > Inconsistencies. Like how could Clark Kent hold down a job yet still be gone for days at a time fighting crime? > [@DrDeth](#): > > Reporters can do that. Right. It’s not unusual for a reporter to be out of the newsroom for days at a time chasing down a story. As long as Perry tells Clark he needs the story by next Thursday, and Clark hands it in on Thursday, there’s no problem. Clark could even turn the story in remotely. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2020, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superman-s-secret-identity-is-the-opposite-of-convention/921095/109 "2020-12-02T20:46:34Z")
No, the public as such wasn’t aware of the Professor X identity. But they did generally maintain the distinction in how he was written: he was Professor Xavier when he was debating Senator Kelly on television, and Professor X when he was telepathically guiding his mutant paramilitary strike force while they invaded a secret moon base. ---
**Author:** ![gdave](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gdave/32/3683_2.png) [@gdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gdave)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2020, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superman-s-secret-identity-is-the-opposite-of-convention/921095/110 "2020-12-02T20:50:06Z")
Gotcha, thanks. ---
**Author:** ![gdave](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gdave/32/3683_2.png) [@gdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gdave)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2020, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superman-s-secret-identity-is-the-opposite-of-convention/921095/111 "2020-12-02T20:59:05Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > > [@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. Jean Grey was Marvel Girl, then Phoenix, then Marvel Girl again, then Phoenix again, then…everyone finally gave up and just started calling her Jean Grey. Similarly, Kitty Pryde was Sprite, then Ariel, then Shadowcat, and was constantly changing her costume as well as her code name, and eventually everyone just started calling her Kitty. The X-Men, though, are a bit of an anomaly. Most of them have generally tried to maintain “secret identities”, but unlike most other Marvel superheroes, their lives in their secret identities still pretty much revolved around the X-Men. They were all at least nominally students or staff at “Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters”, and spent pretty much all of their time their or otherwise around each other. We almost never saw any of their families, or outside friends, or outside love interests. They were similar to the Fantastic Four in that way, and the FF had public identities - they all had “super” names, but those were just nicknames - the general public always knew who they all were. The FF was more like a small family, though. Compare that to, say, Spider-Man, whose comics were often _more_ about his life as Peter Parker than about his costumed adventures. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2020, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superman-s-secret-identity-is-the-opposite-of-convention/921095/112 "2020-12-02T21:23:05Z")
> [@gdave](#): > > The X-Men, though, are a bit of an anomaly. Most of them have generally tried to maintain “secret identities”, but unlike most other Marvel superheroes, their lives in their secret identities still pretty much revolved around the X-Men. They were all at least nominally students or staff at “Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters”, and spent pretty much all of their time their or otherwise around each other. We almost never saw any of their families, or outside friends, or outside love interests. I don’t think most of the X-Men have maintained secret identities since the '80s or '90s. Hell - almost no one in the Marvel universe has. It’s a running gag when Spiderman hangs out with the Avengers that he still won’t take off his mask. Apropos of nothing, but I was Googling to make sure I wasn’t completely talking out my ass here, and I found this: [https://www.reddit.com/r/Marvel/comments/605wic/professor\_x\_does\_not\_understand\_secret\_identities/](https://www.reddit.com/r/Marvel/comments/605wic/professor_x_does_not_understand_secret_identities/) One of the smartest men in the Marvel universe, ladies and gentlemen. ---
**Author:** ![gdave](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gdave/32/3683_2.png) [@gdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gdave)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2020, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superman-s-secret-identity-is-the-opposite-of-convention/921095/113 "2020-12-02T22:10:10Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > I don’t think most of the X-Men have maintained secret identities since the '80s or '90s. Hell - almost no one in the Marvel universe has. It’s a running gag when Spiderman hangs out with the Avengers that he still won’t take off his mask. I may be misremembering, but I’m pretty sure that throughout Chris Claremont’s run on _Uncanny X-Men_, they maintained the pretense that Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters was a mundane, elite boarding school. I don’t think it was until after Claremont left, in 1991, that they (literally) blew up that premise. But, yeah, the X-Men have been pretty public since the 90s. Even in the 90s and into the 00s, thought, I think most Marvel super heroes were keeping their identities secret. Tony Stark didn’t publicly reveal he was Iron Man until 2006, in the Civil War storyline. A important early story arc in Brian Michael Bendis’ _Alias_ c. 2001 revolved around Captain America’s secret identity. Jessica Jones accidentally finds out he’s Steve Rogers while working what she thinks is a routine domestic dispute case, and promptly freaks the frak out, even though in-continuity she was a former Avenger, and was an ex-teammate. It’s heavily implied that S.H.I.E.L.D. straight up murders her client to keep Cap’s identity secret. Since Civil War, though, which was almost 15 years ago (I feel so old), semi-public or completely public identities have become the norm for Marvel super heroes. I don’t think that was the case for the first 45 or so years, though. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2020, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superman-s-secret-identity-is-the-opposite-of-convention/921095/114 "2020-12-02T22:11:36Z")
“Professor X” isn’t a superhero name; it’s just an informal name. In the real world, a professor named “Xavier”, without any superpowers at all, would of course be referred to and addressed as “Professor X” by his students. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2020, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superman-s-secret-identity-is-the-opposite-of-convention/921095/115 "2020-12-02T22:40:08Z")
> [@gdave](#): > > I may be misremembering, but I’m pretty sure that throughout Chris Claremont’s run on _Uncanny X-Men_ , they maintained the pretense that Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters was a mundane, elite boarding school. I don’t think it was until after Claremont left, in 1991, that they (literally) blew up that premise. But, yeah, the X-Men have been pretty public since the 90s. I thought the original X-Men, at least, were publicly known around the end of Inferno. The school was definitely kept up as a front for a lot longer, but they had graduated and weren’t overtly associated with the school anymore. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2020, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superman-s-secret-identity-is-the-opposite-of-convention/921095/116 "2020-12-02T22:46:59Z")
Perhaps the most perfect juxtaposition is “Doctor Strange”, which both sounds totally like a superhero name and a straightforward professional form of address. ---
**Author:** ![gdave](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gdave/32/3683_2.png) [@gdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gdave)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2020, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superman-s-secret-identity-is-the-opposite-of-convention/921095/117 "2020-12-02T22:48:05Z")
By 1986, Jean Grey was dead, and Iceman, Angel, and the Beast were long gone. Iceman and Angel had been members of the short-lived Champions of L.A., and the Beast (in his blue, furry form) had become an Avenger. Then Jean Grey was resurrected (again), Beast de-furried, and the team was reassembled as X-Factor. I think, but I may be completely wrong about this, that they actually originally actually tried to keep the fact that they were former X-Men secret, and pretended to be a completely different, unrelated, even antagonistic group (it was part of a convoluted scheme - don’t ask). IIRC, as with their earlier incarnation as X-Men, they didn’t really have separate private lives - no outside jobs or friends or anything - but they did keep their “civilian” identities secret. The Beast was a public figure (hard to have a secret ID when you’re blue and furry), but I don’t think many people in the general public actually knew that his real name was Hank McCoy. The others, I think, had maintained secret identities the whole time. ---
**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, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superman-s-secret-identity-is-the-opposite-of-convention/921095/118 "2020-12-02T22:53:03Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > One of the smartest men in the Marvel universe, ladies and gentlemen. That’s hilarious. I’m surprised I haven’t seen it before. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2020, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superman-s-secret-identity-is-the-opposite-of-convention/921095/119 "2020-12-02T23:09:46Z")
You’re right, I was getting my X-Factors confused. The original team was pretending to be an anti-mutant organization, so they could secretly help the mutants they were supposedly oppressing, and now that I write that out, it’s not hard to understand how Professor “No, McCoy!” Xavier is usually the smartest guy in the room. I was thinking of the reformatted team from the '90s, which was an entirely different group of characters. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2020, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superman-s-secret-identity-is-the-opposite-of-convention/921095/120 "2020-12-02T23:11:56Z")
“Hi, I’m Peter.” “I’m Dr. Strange.” “Oh, we’re using our super names? In that case, I’m Spider-Man.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superman-s-secret-identity-is-the-opposite-of-convention/921095.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superman-s-secret-identity-is-the-opposite-of-convention/921095.md?page=7)