Superman Speaks His Truth *Spoilers for Superman #18*

[OpaqueGiraffe17]

The thing that's bothering me is that I feel like the real right thing to do if Superman wanted to move away from Clark Kent would be either fake his death or fake moving to another country. If he wants to be honest with the likes of Perry and Jimmy. Maybe tell them the truth in private. Just telling the whole world the truth might just endanger his friends and their families. I don't see how that's a good idea besides the relief of getting it off his chest.

Anyway in all fairness for Bendis, I didn't particularly enjoy truth, but I wasn't inherently against the exposed identity gimmick (SOLELY because we all knew it was only a matter of time before the identity was put back in the hat.) And I was actually pretty disappointed when Reborn finished that plot point so soon since, like I said in Bendis' defense there were probably a few more years worth of stories to mine from that before it got stale. But already circling back to it feels repetitive and I'm not sold on the idea of Clark actually exposing himself.

[DragonPiece]

The thing that's bothering me is that I feel like the real right thing to do if Superman wanted to move away from Clark Kent would be either fake his death or fake moving to another country. If he wants to be honest with the likes of Perry and Jimmy. Maybe tell them the truth in private. Just telling the whole world the truth might just endanger his friends and their families. I don't see how that's a good idea besides the relief of getting it off his chest.

Anyway in all fairness for Bendis, I didn't particularly enjoy truth, but I wasn't inherently against the exposed identity gimmick (SOLELY because we all knew it was only a matter of time before the identity was put back in the hat.) And I was actually pretty disappointed when Reborn finished that plot point so soon since, like I said in Bendis' defense there were probably a few more years worth of stories to mine from that before it got stale. But already circling back to it feels repetitive and I'm not sold on the idea of Clark actually exposing himself.

Bendis's idea seems to be that it won't really endanger his close and famiy since most people in the DCU know Superman is close with Jimmy and Lois already. And his parents are already dead(well, untill doomsday clock?) so it's not like he has to worry for their safety. And this would also be a way to explain Jon Kent to the world.

[OpaqueGiraffe17]

Bendis's idea seems to be that it won't really endanger his close and famiy since most people in the DCU know Superman is close with Jimmy and Lois already. And his parents are already dead(well, untill doomsday clock?) so it's not like he has to worry for their safety. And this would also be a way to explain Jon Kent to the world.

that's what they're going with? ok, but not sure where that leaves the likes of his Lana Lang, Pete Ross, any neighbors he or Lois have ever had. but alright.

[Bored at 3:00AM]

I'm interested in seeing what kind of new stories come out of this. If it doesn't work or pay off in an interesting way, it's comic books, there's dozens of ways to put things back to the classic status quo.

It's like the whole Kents being dead or alive, or Lois & Clark being single or married. If the stories are good, keep going, if they aren't try something different and see if that works. The character is resilient enough that he can withstand a lot of craziness.

[manwhohaseverything]

Why don't they just make clark skinny dude, like allmight? His secret id is easily fixable. Make him aneroxic.but, as superman he bulks up. Just say its his way of controlling his strength. His physiology allows him rapidly increase or decrease muscle mass. You can even do the clumsy clark thing. Yes, i know its blatantly ripping off. But, superman took inspiration when he was first created. Secretid easy to fix.

[Lvenger]

Bendis's idea seems to be that it won't really endanger his close and famiy since most people in the DCU know Superman is close with Jimmy and Lois already. And his parents are already dead(well, untill doomsday clock?) so it's not like he has to worry for their safety. And this would also be a way to explain Jon Kent to the world.

Then Bendis must not have read all of the stories where Superman's identity is publically revealed. The most obvious example, Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow, had a Metallo army attack the Daily Planet as soon as Superman was exposed as Clark Kent on live TV and Superman had to take the rest of the Daily Planet staff to the Fortress of Solitude for protection from the rest of his villains. Then there's Ending Battle where Superman's loved ones had to be hidden when Manchester Black reveals his identity and Black tried to trick Superman into believing he'd murdered Lois so Superman would kill Black in response. Not to mention the part of the Truth storyline where Vandal Savage's son goads Superman to deliver payback for him nearly killing Jimmy Olsen. So realistically he would have to worry about their safety from every one of his enemies with an axe to grind and it would be Clark's fault if anything happened to them.

[Vordan]

The problem with “he keeps the Secret Identity to protect his loved ones” as Bendis points out is that Superman does a terrible job from not associating with Lois and Jimmy and what not as Superman. Bendis points out that more people know Jimmy because of his association with Superman as his Pal then they know about Clark and Jimmy. And even before Bendis, your average villain knew Lois and Superman liked one another. He was terrible at hiding it and so was she lol.

So on that front I’m willing to concede the argument. As protection for his loved ones Superman’s SI does a terrible job.

BUT I don’t agree at all that Superman’s SI is “unrelatable” to young people today. In an age of social media I think people 100% get wanting to keep some privacy.

[seismic-2]

Yes, Superman wants to protect people who are linked to him. But doesn't he want to protect everyone, whether they are linked to him or not? If a criminal threatens to harm someone unless Superman backs off, would it matter whether that person were someone who knew him in Smallville as Clark Kent or just some random hostage whom he's never met? If not, then why would Clark Kent's friends be endangered by his revealing his identity?

[manduck37]

Superman's SI is kind of a key element to his immigrant story. In order to avoid discrimination, many immigrants have kept their culture and past quiet. Look at what Stan Lee contended with. He changed his last name to Lee so people wouldn't know he was Jewish and would hire him for jobs. That's the kind of experience Siegel and Shuster were working with when they created Superman. It's a key element of actual experiences that people can relate to. It's not some gimmic to give Superman problems or cause wacky adventures. It's to show that people have to sometimes hide who they are or be looked down upon by their new society. It's certainly not trolling. If you take away a core concept of Superman like this, it really diminishes the character and people's connection to him. It's like saying "well, no one really believes in alien planets, so we'll say Superman is from New Jersey".

Particularly now, with everything going on here in the states, the SI and immigrant story seem so much more important. So many people could really use this connection and relate to it. But it's getting cast aside because Bendis doesn't seem to understand younger people or the roots of Superman.

Kind of strange considering we also have Superman Smashes the Klan, which dives right in to the immigrant aspects of Superman and feels so relevant. Honestly Superman Smashes the Klan is a real treasure and handles these struggles of identity so well. It's really striking the contrast between this wonderful book and Bendis' Superman.

[Yoda]

Superman's SI is kind of a key element to his immigrant story. In order to avoid discrimination, many immigrants have kept their culture and past quiet. Look at what Stan Lee contended with. He changed his last name to Lee so people wouldn't know he was Jewish and would hire him for jobs. That's the kind of experience Siegel and Shuster were working with when they created Superman. It's a key element of actual experiences that people can relate to. It's not some gimmic to give Superman problems or cause wacky adventures. It's to show that people have to sometimes hide who they are or be looked down upon by their new society. It's certainly not trolling. If you take away a core concept of Superman like this, it really diminishes the character and people's connection to him. It's like saying "well, no one really believes in alien planets, so we'll say Superman is from New Jersey".

Particularly now, with everything going on here in the states, the SI and immigrant story seem so much more important. So many people could really use this connection and relate to it. But it's getting cast aside because Bendis doesn't seem to understand younger people or the roots of Superman.

Kind of strange considering we also have Superman Smashes the Klan, which dives right in to the immigrant aspects of Superman and feels so relevant. Honestly Superman Smashes the Klan is a real treasure and handles these struggles of identity so well. It's really striking the contrast between this wonderful book and Bendis' Superman.

While I agree this was all the original intent, I think it’s Yang that has an essay about how passing is built into Superman’s story as an immigrant and he’s knocking it out of the park in SSTK, but doesn’t all this equally weigh in favor of him revealing himself though? Generally forcing people to give up or hide their true selves in order to fit into a culture is seen as a bad thing now. We don’t want to encourage people to change their names to anglicize them and hiding any aspects of your culture to fit in or pass better are not seen as necessary any more and definitely are no longer thought of as good things outside of certain circles. This is really true of any minority group today. To that extent, isn’t there as much power now in Clark saying this is actually who I am? To encourage acceptance?

[LordUltimus]

Just do what All-Star Superman did and give Clark a noticeably different build.

[Bored at 3:00AM]

I don't think the main impetus behind getting rid of the secret identity is that it's implausible. The idea has always been ridiculous. The whole point of this is that, at this point in his life, being truthful is more important to him as a character, which means Clark Kent has to stop lying to people about who he really is.

[Stick Figure]

I just think secret identities are just creepy. I guess it’s easier when a character wears a mask. If you see Batman you know he’s hiding something. With Superman, everyone trusts him even though he’s hiding as much as Batman. I just think getting rid of the identity is a great move.

[manwhohaseverything]

I don't think the main impetus behind getting rid of the secret identity is that it's implausible. The idea has always been ridiculous. The whole point of this is that, at this point in his life, being truthful is more important to him as a character, which means Clark Kent has to stop lying to people about who he really is.

I just think the persona is important even if it's not the real clark. The persona is the guy next door people look past. The glasses are a symbol as much as the sheild he wears for me. Clark kent without glasses is too, i don't know. He just doesn't represent that guy

[manwhohaseverything]

I just think secret identities are just creepy. I guess it’s easier when a character wears a mask. If you see Batman you know he’s hiding something. With Superman, everyone trusts him even though he’s hiding as much as Batman. I just think getting rid of the identity is a great move.

You do know he is a vigilante, right? It is supposed to be creepy. Clark used to make sure his news wasn't on paper. He didn't want the spotlight.he used to be an enigma and was well hidden until he met a woman named lois lane. The things he was doing was very much questionable. But, that's the point.


Clark believes it is necessary. it was the right thing to do.

He didn't want to leave the hiding part. Even though he was doing the helping part when time came.
It is a contradiction. Similar to bruce's criminals are superstitious and cowardly thing. When in fact he himself is superstitious and sometimes cowardly. He is afraid of everything. That's why he plans for everything. The problem with superman is that people have forgotten he is a vigilante.
I think you hate the classic superhero/vigilante archetype. You want a wolverine like in your face kindof guys.Expecting every character to be that is bad.