if Action Comics 1 came out today ...

[DrNewGod]

It's 2019. Except for some noirish types like The Phantom, and The Shadow, or some sci-fantasy types like Flash Gordon, The Jedi, and The Matrix, nobody's ever seen or heard of superheroes. None of the tropes exist.

S&S are releasing their brainchild. What would he be like? Who would his antagonists be? What would Clark Kent's background be? Would he have a secret identity? If so, what would his day job be? What powers would he have?

Run wild.

[Restingvoice]

He's gonna be POC, the immigrant part of his story will be even more emphasized... that's what immediately comes to mind. I guess sorta like the one in Justice Lords.

[Ascended]

Presuming that S&S are still poor immigrants, the topics and themes of social justice are likely to remain largely the same as they were in 39, since we're dealing with so many of the same issues.

The powers would likely have some kind of technology-controlling component to them. And it's likely that Kryptonians (that name would likely change to avoid comparisons with the gas) wouldn't look totally human. So Superman would have some sort of distinguishing feature he'd have to cover up (pointy ears, blue skin, something) as Clark.

The Planet wouldnt be a paper, but probably an online entity made up of freelance bloggers, reporters, etc.

The costume would look more like what extreme athletes wear than the circus strongman outfit the original costume was based on.

[Jim Kelly]

Correction, S&S were sons of immigrants, which put them in between their parents' generation that still had attachments to the motherland and the generation after them which had assimilated into the new culture.

I don't think Clark would be a reporter. When Jerry and Joe created the Man of Steel, newpaper reporters were seen as heroic. Even electronic media reporters aren't seen that way anymore and often viewed as villainous. They would put Kent in a profession that has more prestige and respect, but one in which he had freedom of movement. Maybe a parcel delivery service.

[Vakanai]

No trunks is obvious. Other than that? I can't even imagine.

[Jim Kelly]

Well if there was no Superman and no super-heroes, the stupid bias against shorts wouldn't exist and Joe Shuster would have the freedom to create any new costume he wanted. Maybe he would base the costume on basketball, hockey, football or skateboarding.

[Yoda]

Superman's powers are so generic wish fulfilment, with the exception of heat vision, that I think if no one had gotten around to it yet, they might keep them going forward. Flying (or being able to leap tall buildings) seems like such a fundamental human wish that I could see it carrying over. Same with super strength and invulnerability. The Sampson like ability to tear things down, like say a wall, would probably be something the sons of immigrants would still find appealing.

I'm not 100% sure on whether or not this was the intention behind Clark being a reporter initially, but wasn't it in part so that he discovered who needed his help? With that in mind, I could see him being a reporter or investigative blogger maybe. "Media" has a bad rep now, but I think people still hold true investigative reporters in some esteem. I could also see him being some sort of NGO worker who would be able to travel and have access to a lot of problem areas in the world, keeping the more modern take on social justice that was present in the beginning. Lois would also likely still be relevant in either setting. Sadly even in 2019, a strong, independent, intelligent woman is still seen as a threat and excluded from many things. Her presence in either a media company or something like a NGO would still resonate.

The secret identity aspect would probably be even more interesting if it originated today given how our modern society privacy is such a weird issue. With anonymity on the internet being both a blessing and a curse and with people being so much more open and sharing to the public. I mean the way people can have their lives completely upended when something they do goes viral would I think reinforce the need for a secret identity. Superman's going to definitely go "viral" so Clark having some respite and privacy would still resonate I think.

Costume wise, that's so hard to judge because so much of what we see as superhero costumes comes from Superman and what came after in response to him. I think it'd be something utilitarian maybe? Probably closer to like a military style outfit or like your generic indiana jones type look with some kind of face covering.

THe really interesting thing to think about would be whether or not he'd still be able to pass as either human or your generic white guy. I think that might still be true, because I've heard people talk about that element being inherent in their conception of him and underlying the immigrant narrative. But I think he'd have to be more racially ambiguous today, to keep that element intack.

Villains wise, Luthor obviously still would resonate today. As a fresh take, the modern post-crisis evil businessman version is just still so spot on. Brainanc as well given the interconnectivity of everything technologically. This stuff is so basically obvious now it's amazing they haven't really capitalized on it well lately.

[Jon Clark]

I think Krypton might well be gone from the origin. While we did get a bit more fleshed out origin in the newspaper strip, there wasn't a lot of exploration of it in the S&S stories, It was more of a way of explaining Clark's powers than anything else. Now, Clark could be genetically engineered, a mutation, or even mystically powered. Even in the 1930's the idea of Superman just being from Earth in the future was considered. So alien from another planet wasn't a necessary component.

I think the secret ID troublesome as it is today would be there at least early on. The triangle for two seemed to appeal to S & S when they were developing the concept. The same way that Superman was them imagining a solution for social ills, Clark/Superman was them laughing at people who overlooked guys like them never seeing how "super" they really were. But assuming the K-metal story was their idea, I suspect that today Clark might go public after a few years of those type of stories.

Same with Clark as a reporter. It was a way to get Superman into contact with people in trouble. For major disasters and even crimes now-a-days there are more options for the average Joe (24/7 news, scanners for police/fire/EMT). I think a modern version of the 1930's reporter might be a social worker role. Maybe an actual social services guy, a front desk guy in a politicians office (with an emphasis on Superman being the antidote to politics/red tape), similar role for a private charity … Lois could even be Clark's supervisor

His opponents would probably be the same types you got in those early Action/Superman tales - corrupt businessmen, con artists, etc; I can see the modern Lex developing before we'd get to "super-villains" and such.

[DrNewGod]

So much of what S&S gave us was cribbed from others. Doc Savage was the obvious model, but also John Carter, who Edgar Rice Burroughs gave greater strength and leaping ability (relative to those around him) in Mars' lighter gravity. The costume resembled circus acrobats and strongmen, but also referenced Flash Gordon's look. The secret identity and love triangle had a model in The Scarlet Pimpernel.

Both the secret identity and the reporter gig might hold up today. One of the nice things about being a reporter is that it provides a blanket excuse to nose about in all manner of matters , and -especially if he's an independent blogger or content contributor - offers a very flexible schedule. As for the secret ID, in my head canon, Kal-el has always hung onto that to minimize his own loneliness. The triangle with Lois, however, wouldn't likely last, or at least not for very long (am I correct in remembering that S&S wanted to let her in on the secret and have Lois be his secret side kick - ala The Flash's Joan Williams, or Dr. Fate's Inza Cramer - but got told no?).

I'm with others in thinking the costume might be more like an athletic body-stocking. Something like the outfit Timm gave his Superman in Justice League: Gods and Monsters.

In today's environment, I think Superman would be targeting hate groups of all stripes. Also, as others have suggested, he'd probably be drawn as racially ambiguous.

I think Krypton might well be gone from the origin. While we did get a bit more fleshed out origin in the newspaper strip, there wasn't a lot of exploration of it in the S&S stories, It was more of a way of explaining Clark's powers than anything else. Now, Clark could be genetically engineered, a mutation, or even mystically powered. Even in the 1930's the idea of Superman just being from Earth in the future was considered. So alien from another planet wasn't a necessary component.

That had never occurred to me, but it makes a lot of sense. Rather than another planet, he might have been the last survivor of an ultra-advanced ancient human civilization.

[Jim Kelly]

Wasn't the earlier idea that he would be a time traveller from the future?

They would probably be influenced by modern action movies and science fiction movies. Mission Impossible meets the Terminator. Jason Bourne meets the Martian.

[DrNewGod]

Wasn't the earlier idea that he would be a time traveller from the future?

They would probably be influenced by modern action movies and science fiction movies. Mission Impossible meets the Terminator. Jason Bourne meets the Martian.

I heard that somewhere, but have never confirmed it. I assumed it was where Busiek got his original for The Samaritan.

[Vordan]

I remember the time travel origin too. It was an idea concept that came in between the villainous “Super-Man” that S&S came up with at first and the traditional heroic Superman that we know today. Instead of an alien origin he was the “Man of Tomorrow”. Siegel destroyed any notes he had on the idea apparently.

As for OP... It’s a difficult question. The original Superman was very much a product of his time, he tackled the social ills of his day, and was inspired by pulp magazines. If they were to make him today he’d be different. Supes was originally clearly Siegel and Shuster’s self-insert, so he might still have been white-passing. It’s an interesting question, I agree with others that Clark probably wouldn’t be a reporter, the news industry is just viewed so negatively now. He could just be a writer, that lets him do his thing, but then you wouldn’t have Lois. Honestly I can’t see a Superman created today being anything like the original Superman.

[Kurt Busiek]

I heard that somewhere, but have never confirmed it. I assumed it was where Busiek got his original for The Samaritan.

Nope. I didn't hear about that until after ASTRO CITY had begun.

kdb

[DrNewGod]

...The original Superman was very much a product of his time, he tackled the social ills of his day, and was inspired by pulp magazines. If they were to make him today he’d be different...

To some degree, but I have to wonder how much? So many of the ills of 1939 seem to be back (if they ever truly left at all).

Nope. I didn't hear about that until after ASTRO CITY had begun.

kdb

Neat. Thanks for chiming in, and I hope you'll forgive my ill-informed assumption.

While it's off the thread's topic, I really loved The Samaritan's origin, particularly the way that The Samaritan either assumed (or chose to believe) that his mission to prevent his native time's horrible conditions was the result of the impact of someone on the Space Shuttle whose death he prevented. My interpretation was that it wasn't any one act, but The Samaritan's entire body of heroic work, that worked the change. And that he didn't (or refused to) realize that it was The Samaritan himself who had wiped away his homeworld and every one he knew in it.

[Kurt Busiek]

While it's off the thread's topic, I really loved The Samaritan's origin, particularly the way that The Samaritan either assumed (or chose to believe) that his mission to prevent his native time's horrible conditions was the result of the impact of someone on the Space Shuttle whose death he prevented. My interpretation was that it wasn't any one act, but The Samaritan's entire body of heroic work, that worked the change. And that he didn't (or refused to) realize that it was The Samaritan himself who had wiped away his homeworld and every one he knew in it.

Thanks. But he didn't just assume it -- it's what he was sent back to do.

If there was more to it than that (and, of course, there could have been), the scientists who sent him back didn't tell him.

kdb