People of Smallville - how much should they know?

[Tzigone]

Throughout various eras and various media, there has been Smallville. And in many of these versions, it seems pretty unlikely that everyone of a certain age doesn't know Clark Kent is Superman. Man of Steel, for a more recent movie. But, of course, any continuity where Superboy was active in Smallville is going to tip people off. Smallville is often larger than some fans think it should be, but usually not so large such an obvious connection would be overlooked (and indeed anyone who makes effort should be able to have a pretty good likihood of finding out - similar issue comes up with Robin at Hudson U, depending on the size of New Carthage). Smallville was invaded by Superman's enemies in Lois & Clark. And so forth and so on.

So, how much do you think people should know in Smallville? And how much do you think Clark should do as a boy when he's there that might get him noticed? And which of these (what they know in the present or what you want Clark to have done as a boy) is the driver of your perception?

[superduperman]

Nothing. I wouldn't trust them to keep their mouths shut. The more people in on a conspiracy, the harder it is to keep secret. Superboy was problematic because one day Clark looks like an ordinary kid and the next he's wearing glasses and acting all timid? At the same time this Superboy shows up? That's gonna look suspicious. The pre-Crisis version just kind of side-stepped this issue. Johns origin made it look as ridiculous as it is. MOS has a lot of problems and half the town being in on Clark's secret is one of them. Suppose someone moves away? Or tells their spouse when they grow up? "Yeah, there was this kid named Clark when I was growing up who kept saving people. He was, like, really strong!"

[Restingvoice]

Logically a lot of them would know if we go by him started to float on his own at age 7... that age will have trouble keeping secrets to himself and that's before he hits teenagehood.

Recent comics tend to go with the angst of not being able to control his powers as a deterrent for him to keep secret. Burning the farm, almost breaking his mom and dad's body, actually breaking equipment, burning his neighbor... but I don't know if I like these. All of these are done when DC was trying to emphasize his loneliness and how different he feels from other humans.

The Superboy part is the hardest one because if they want or need to keep secret he has to start pretending as a teenager. Would he have the maturity to do so?

It sounds like when the Smallville people know, the story relies on them being a close-knit, family-like village that cares about one another and knowing that the Kents are nice people, or that Clark had helped them in the past that they're willing to keep secret.

[Doctor Know]

Nothing. I wouldn't trust them to keep their mouths shut. The more people in on a conspiracy, the harder it is to keep secret. Superboy was problematic because one day Clark looks like an ordinary kid and the next he's wearing glasses and acting all timid? At the same time this Superboy shows up? That's gonna look suspicious. The pre-Crisis version just kind of side-stepped this issue. Johns origin made it look as ridiculous as it is. MOS has a lot of problems and half the town being in on Clark's secret is one of them. Suppose someone moves away? Or tells their spouse when they grow up? "Yeah, there was this kid named Clark when I was growing up who kept saving people. He was, like, really strong!"

Reminds me of all the comings and goings of cast members on the Smallville TV series and all the villain of the week plots. For a small town, this would be national news after the first handful of unexplained events. The government, news investigators and curious parties would be all over Smallville, looking for the wonder boy and chasing the phenomenon. Clark back then was too sloppy to keep his own secrets and cover up his deeds. He'd have been exposed early on.


Maybe Byrne and Donner were right to have the Clark's powers manifest late in adolescence to avoid Clark's compulsion to use his powers. Sort of like the X-Men with their powers coming when they hit puberty or high stress triggers as teenagers. Not 7 or 10 years old.

[Jon Clark]

I think it works best as a balance. A few adults besides Jonathan and Martha in on the secret. Maybe the sheriff (is it still Chief Parker?), the local doctor (someone has to fudge vaccination records for a needle-proof kid), and someone at the school.

And like the "glasses disguise", I think a lot of people go into a story knowing what is really going on and then project that knowledge onto the characters. We know that Clark is not only superhuman himself but that other superhumans exist in the DCU, so obviously if something unusual happens people will realize the truth about Clark. But if you saw a kid lift something that looks massive in real life, would you immediately assume the kid was superhuman or that there is a more mundane explanation (object was a lightweight prop. kid had help that for some reason you didn't see, the kid was older than you thought and the object wasn't as heavy as it looked ...). Assuming Clark isn't going around performing super-feats every other week and doing so in front of large groups of witnesses, I can see there being suspisions but not necessarily widespread ones or ones tied directly to Clark.

[Alan2099]

So, one day Clark starts wearing glasses.

And?

It's not like people don't discover they have bad vision sometimes. if anybody asked, he got his eye checked and found out he needed glasses.

[superduperman]

So, one day Clark starts wearing glasses.

And?

It's not like people don't discover they have bad vision sometimes. if anybody asked, he got his eye checked and found out he needed glasses.

It was more of a mannerism. He acted more timid. Meeker. Slouched. I don't think a single pair of glasses in and of itself would fool anyone.

[BBally]

So, one day Clark starts wearing glasses.

And?

It's not like people don't discover they have bad vision sometimes. if anybody asked, he got his eye checked and found out he needed glasses.

How about as soon as he gets heat vision, he finds it hard to control so they use the "glasses are made of part of the Rocket ship's glass that absorb to lasers from his heat vision.

I always thought it was silly that Smallville advertised itself (on a billboard at the city limits, as I recall) as "Superboy's home town".

I imagine this working if this was done many years later like the 30 Century when young Clark's story of using his powers to help people in secret turns into the Superboy urban legend.

[superduperman]

Reminds me of all the comings and goings of cast members on the Smallville TV series and all the villain of the week plots. For a small town, this would be national news after the first handful of unexplained events. The government, news investigators and curious parties would be all over Smallville, looking for the wonder boy and chasing the phenomenon. Clark back then was too sloppy to keep his own secrets and cover up his deeds. He'd have been exposed early on.


Maybe Byrne and Donner were right to have the Clark's powers manifest late in adolescence to avoid Clark's compulsion to use his powers. Sort of like the X-Men with their powers coming when they hit puberty or high stress triggers as teenagers. Not 7 or 10 years old.

It's not a secret that I favor the powers from day one version just because that's what I grew up with. I think Smallville handled it best with the meteor shower as a blanket excuse for all phenomena. Even if someone saw Clark use his powers they could chalk it up to him being one of the kids affected by the meteor shower. It's not a cure all but it works as a distraction. When you have a kid who can set himself on fire or whatever, the Kent kid being a little bit stronger than everyone else doesn't seem like that big a deal. I think the healthy middle ground is something like New 52. He was strong but not dangerously so from day one. Obviously he couldn't fly. His vision powers came along later. He couldn't be hurt. Keep in mind, the threat of the government coming to take him away hanging over his head his whole life would play a role in getting him to behave himself.