Wouldn't everybody who knew Clark in Smallville know that he's Superman?

[Jim Kelly]

I was really surprised by that episode when I saw it on DVD. Just the idea that a writer in the 1950s would conceive of such an idea and be able to get it on the air, the idea being that Superman has so many powers, whose to say that one of them might not allow him to change forms and that his true form might be female because he shows compassion and his emotions to an unusual degree for a man.

Yeah, that amazed me, too.

[superduperman]

I was really surprised by that episode when I saw it on DVD. Just the idea that a writer in the 1950s would conceive of such an idea and be able to get it on the air, the idea being that Superman has so many powers, whose to say that one of them might not allow him to change forms and that his true form might be female because he shows compassion and his emotions to an unusual degree for a man.

I'm gonna have to try and find that episode! I have the first season DVD but haven't made my way all the way through it yet!

[victorsage]

Post Crisis Superman had multiple people who looked similar to Clark being suspected of being Superman. After multiple were arrested, and proved not to be Superman, people began to assume that no one was "pretending" to be Superman, that Superman simply was his own person, not two people.

Also Clark in the Post Crisis world was known to be a high school athlete. If I recall correctly the idea was that as a college athlete he "busted" his knee. So people believed that it was possible for Clark to be hurt.

[Jon Clark]

Post Crisis Superman had multiple people who looked similar to Clark being suspected of being Superman. After multiple were arrested, and proved not to be Superman, people began to assume that no one was "pretending" to be Superman, that Superman simply was his own person, not two people.

Also Clark in the Post Crisis world was known to be a high school athlete. If I recall correctly the idea was that as a college athlete he "busted" his knee. So people believed that it was possible for Clark to be hurt.

The "busted knee" sounds more like Bruce Willis' character in Unbreakable.

I don't recall any mention of Clark playing football after the game in the Byrne mini. It seemed to be implied that he left Smallville immediately after that game to begin his world tour. Even with the minor retcon that Clark graduated high school and then left town, there wasn't any indication he played any sports in college. My impression from the World of Metropolis mini was that Clark spent his non-academic time mostly working at the diner with Ruby to pay for his tuition and expenses.

[Powerboy]

I'm gonna have to try and find that episode! I have the first season DVD but haven't made my way all the way through it yet!

It's called "The Secret of Superman". The scene we are talking about is just one lone scene in the episode but there are a number of episodes like that where there is one really memorable scene. "The Human Bomb" is another like that where the opening scene has some nice insights into the nature of Superman eloquently phrased.

[Kuwagaton]

(equally hilarious was that all of a sudden he had long hair as a teen as well). It was a stickler in that era, and one reason its good that take on the early years of Clark's life are out.

Now that I'm reminded of it, he had longer hair in college, too. You could say that he went in and out of it at some points in his life.

I remember the Brubaker incident superduper mentioned, but I don't remember any time it was specifically said that he didn't have powers until later. I'd have to look at the zero issues again. But really, that only makes his cover more believable. If people saw him work out, struggle, sweat, etc. and he wasn't even putting on an act at the time, then they'd never tie that to Superman who was presumably born with powers since his DNA never actually changed.

The "busted knee" sounds more like Bruce Willis' character in Unbreakable.

I don't recall any mention of Clark playing football after the game in the Byrne mini. It seemed to be implied that he left Smallville immediately after that game to begin his world tour. Even with the minor retcon that Clark graduated high school and then left town, there wasn't any indication he played any sports in college. My impression from the World of Metropolis mini was that Clark spent his non-academic time mostly working at the diner with Ruby to pay for his tuition and expenses.

The thing about Byrne that's funny is one of his main strengths is also a main weakness. He revisits and revises things with a certain logic to make for smoother storytelling, but sometimes he overthinks and misses the mark.

The idea that Clark dropped out of high school is ironically like byrning Byrne. It seems to come from the simple fact that Byrne didn't have Superman say, "after I graduate high school" in MoS #1. But Byrne himself wrote an issue of Clark in college as well as World of Metropolis, where Clark applied for college months after leaving Smallville. The only thing that came up was his good grades. He was never supposed to be a high school dropout.

[Lokimaru]

I always though that it was the Town Secret, everyone that had reason to know did. Takes a village to raise a child after all.

[Powerboy]

Now that I'm reminded of it, he had longer hair in college, too. You could say that he went in and out of it at some points in his life.

I remember the Brubaker incident superduper mentioned, but I don't remember any time it was specifically said that he didn't have powers until later. I'd have to look at the zero issues again. But really, that only makes his cover more believable. If people saw him work out, struggle, sweat, etc. and he wasn't even putting on an act at the time, then they'd never tie that to Superman who was presumably born with powers since his DNA never actually changed.



The thing about Byrne that's funny is one of his main strengths is also a main weakness. He revisits and revises things with a certain logic to make for smoother storytelling, but sometimes he overthinks and misses the mark.

The idea that Clark dropped out of high school is ironically like byrning Byrne. It seems to come from the simple fact that Byrne didn't have Superman say, "after I graduate high school" in MoS #1. But Byrne himself wrote an issue of Clark in college as well as World of Metropolis, where Clark applied for college months after leaving Smallville. The only thing that came up was his good grades. He was never supposed to be a high school dropout.

I took that as a misstep by Byrne because he didn't understand that Football season is in the Fall and there were still months left before his Senior year would have ended. Of course, that also means the editor and the editor-in-chief missed it but Byrne has been accused of seeking out weak editors who just glance at his work and okay it.

[Kuwagaton]

Or it could have been a case of none of them caring that much, since playing football is the least important part of the whole story. Maybe in a world where people fly around with laser vision, football season runs in different months.

To the idea of it affecting his Superman identity, it's not logically harmful to their world. It's not like people really care about who was good in high school football unless they make it really big. For every Tom Brady, there's a pro player not well known in media and for every one of them, there's two college beasts no one today cares about and for every one of those college players, there are three guys who gave it up after high school. Especially because back then he could sweat and push himself within human limits and didn't intentionally try to cover up a sectet identity. He could just act natural, which as a younger person meant he wouldn't at all slip up with his secret. If he also honestly disregarded some evidence of his powers as isolated incidents, he wouldn't even struggle to keep up the secret of his powers, they just legitimately come up in his mind to put him in a defensive mindset.

In Smallville that conversation would be like, "remember that guy 17 years ago who was pretty handsome and took a long time to get winded in football practice? I bet he's out there pushing planets as Superman. He wasn't conspicuous at all, but I figure he must have some secret."

[Clark_Kent]

I always though that it was the Town Secret, everyone that had reason to know did. Takes a village to raise a child after all.

This is my opinion as well, and is something I really enjoyed about the Man of Steel movie. It’s heavily implied that Smallville knows the secret, but they don’t care; he’s one of their own, and they will protect him. You saw this in BvS as well, with the open casket funeral. Having grown up in a small town of 900 people, I can safely say that the residents of Smallville keeping his secret is not only believable, but also an extremely realistic scenario. This is why I don’t mind when Lois calls him Clark right in front of Smallville police officers. It’s no biggie because these guys probably grew up with him.

[Buried Alien]

This is my opinion as well, and is something I really enjoyed about the Man of Steel movie. It’s heavily implied that Smallville knows the secret, but they don’t care; he’s one of their own, and they will protect him. You saw this in BvS as well, with the open casket funeral. Having grown up in a small town of 900 people, I can safely say that the residents of Smallville keeping his secret is not only believable, but also an extremely realistic scenario. This is why I don’t mind when Lois calls him Clark right in front of Smallville police officers. It’s no biggie because these guys probably grew up with him.

Wasn't the Superman memorial (where Lois called out to Clark by name) in Metropolis, though?

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

[Clark_Kent]

Wasn't the Superman memorial (where Lois called out to Clark by name) in Metropolis, though?

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

I meant in MoS, where she referred to him as Clark twice while he was in costume (after saving her from the escape pod, and then when she found him at the farm after the Smallville battle), and in front of people. My bad, I should have been more clear.

[seismic-2]

I always though that it was the Town Secret, everyone that had reason to know did. Takes a village to raise a child after all.

Not that it wasn't a nuisance. The school custodian probably got tired of having to replace all those broken windows, every time the Kent kid sneezed.

[FishyZombie]

This is my opinion as well, and is something I really enjoyed about the Man of Steel movie. It’s heavily implied that Smallville knows the secret, but they don’t care; he’s one of their own, and they will protect him. You saw this in BvS as well, with the open casket funeral. Having grown up in a small town of 900 people, I can safely say that the residents of Smallville keeping his secret is not only believable, but also an extremely realistic scenario. This is why I don’t mind when Lois calls him Clark right in front of Smallville police officers. It’s no biggie because these guys probably grew up with him.

I don't think that was the case there, not that there weren't suspicions, we know there were what with the bus incident. But the Kents were still trying to keep it under wraps as much as possible. I mean if they knew and they didn't care, then that just makes Jonathan's death even more stupid.