View Poll Results: Should the Clark Kent identity be confident or bumbling?

Voters
40. You may not vote on this poll
  • Confident

    12 30.00%
  • Bumbling

    10 25.00%
  • Other

    18 45.00%
Page 3 of 4 FirstFirst 1234 LastLast
Results 31 to 45 of 57
  1. #31
    Father Son Kamehameha < Kuwagaton's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2014
    Posts
    8,748

    Default

    My favorite basic idea is that if Clark is a guy worth being, why would you suspect him to be someone else?

    Quote Originally Posted by Will Evans View Post
    Not bumbling. This isn’t the 40s, 50s, 60s anymore.

    The guy has to appear to be good and confident in his job or else how else can he be an adapt reporter in a shrinking industry in this day and age.
    Quote Originally Posted by Yoda View Post
    I voted confident, but I think "normal" is probably the better descriptor. He should be an excellent reporter and writer but be "normal" as far as affect and appearance. Being a bumbling idiot or coward would tend to draw more attention to himself than being just confident. Particularly where they are a bumbling coward who seemingly out of no where ends up with incredible scoops.
    Quote Originally Posted by Johnny Thunders! View Post
    I voted Bumbling. I like the fact that Superman humbles himself on purpose to fit in with all of us bumblers around him.
    Quote Originally Posted by Robanker View Post
    It's pretty disgraceful to his adopted parents memory to run their name into the ground by making it synonymous with complete and utter incompetence. A Clark who wants everyone to think "what an absolute rube" when they hear "Kent" is pretty much a complete jackass. He becomes a flatter character by eliminating half of his actual character to try and strengthen the strongman. The duality adds to the character, not the reverse.
    All agreed. I have to say on the third point that if we look at Superman as a humorous story, the Clark who goes out of his way to annoy other characters and also the readers is a great contrast to the other extreme, where he bends reality on a casual basis.
    Welcome or welcome back! Please check out the updated
    CBR Community STANDARDS & RULES

  2. #32
    The Man Who Cannot Die manwhohaseverything's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2017
    Posts
    9,478

    Default

    Bruce wayne is a guy worth being.I mean,cars,women,toys,money,fame...etc you can name all the superficial things and he's got it.Yet,Suspecting him of being batman is easy.Being Batman requires resources. He has a region of operation.And people do suspect him.Let's face it,he atleast covers his face.
    Clark needs to be the bad guy in some way in the cloisuper triangle.In this case,by being weak and not standing up for her.Otherwise,Lois choosing superman will always be her fault.Ofcourse,her own superficial outlook about the clumsy guy needs to be challenged as well and through her people in general.
    Last edited by manwhohaseverything; 12-03-2020 at 06:46 AM.

  3. #33
    Astonishing Member
    Join Date
    Jun 2014
    Posts
    2,844

    Default

    The original point of super-hero comic books was to appeal to awkward, clumsy, unpopular, and bullied kids by letting them see a character who was like an adult version of their current selves, whom they could relate to - a newspaper reporter who was meek, mild, slouching, shy, a bit stumbling, and not especially attractive to his co-workers. But then when trouble strikes - that person becomes powerful, brave, confident, and heroic! Surely the current status of those kids who were reading the comics was just their "secret identity" that was meant to disguise their true and completely opposite nature from the world, just like Clark Kent! Now that superhero comic books are read primarily by adults, that conceit is less relevant, and Clark can be just the sort of guy whom the Kents would have raised him to be, a strong and assertive character from Middle-America who is not intimidated by the big-city types who try to look down their noses at him.

  4. #34
    Astonishing Member The Kid's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2014
    Posts
    3,288

    Default

    In the middle but closer to bumbling. My preference isn't that Clark is actively looking like a fool but that 'Clark' is meek, unassuming, and pretty forgettable in general

  5. #35
    Astonishing Member Johnny Thunders!'s Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2014
    Location
    WGBS
    Posts
    2,532

    Default

    I get why people hate the cartoon but I don’t need Kent to be Don Draper. I love Alex Ross”s over stuffed Aloha Clark. He reminds me of the 50s TV show. I just think that even when he plays the fool, he’s manipulating every situation he is in for a bigger purpose. That’s why he winks at the audience off panel. We’re supposed to be in on the joke.

  6. #36
    The Superior One Celgress's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2014
    Posts
    11,760

    Lightbulb

    A bit bumbling or more so socially awkward, IMO, so it can be a good cover for his confident and powerful Superman identity.
    "So you've come to the end now alive but dead inside."

  7. #37
    Astonishing Member Johnny Thunders!'s Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2014
    Location
    WGBS
    Posts
    2,532

    Default

    If the DCU were Madmen, Batman would be Pete or Don Draper, Clark is Harry Crane.

  8. #38
    The Man Who Cannot Die manwhohaseverything's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2017
    Posts
    9,478

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by seismic-2 View Post
    The original point of super-hero comic books was to appeal to awkward, clumsy, unpopular, and bullied kids by letting them see a character who was like an adult version of their current selves, whom they could relate to - a newspaper reporter who was meek, mild, slouching, shy, a bit stumbling, and not especially attractive to his co-workers.
    Yeah! That might be true for spiderman.But superman?I don't think so.The real Clark kent was none of those things.Maybe, when he was a kid.Superman was made to appeal to kids via newspaper strips.He was actually like a standard hero back then.A debonair,good looking,confident,outspoken,powerful...etc guy.
    Last edited by manwhohaseverything; 12-03-2020 at 09:15 AM.

  9. #39
    Moderator Frontier's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2014
    Posts
    114,771

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by manwhohaseverything View Post
    Yeah! That might be true for spiderman.But superman?I don't think so.The real Clark kent was none of those things.Maybe, when he was a kid.
    Public Clark Kent is meant to be more of an affectation compared to Peter Parker.

  10. #40
    Astonishing Member
    Join Date
    Jun 2014
    Posts
    2,844

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Frontier View Post
    Public Clark Kent is meant to be more of an affectation compared to Peter Parker.
    Right. Clark Kent in "real life" is different from Clak Kent in public. The public Clark Kent is a disguise. He has to hide himself by wearing glasses, slouching to keep people from realizing his real stature and physique, and being unassertive and timid to keep from attracting attention to himself. In private, of course, Clark is none of those things.

  11. #41
    The Man Who Cannot Die manwhohaseverything's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2017
    Posts
    9,478

    Default

    actually,private clark kent is superman and He was pretty self assured.The guy was a lot like zorro.

    Women were pretty impressed with the dude.(i am not advocating for a stereotypical portayal where woman swoon over a mysterious guy because "He is soo handsome and powerful").Clark was pretty much like a shonen hero.He had no time for romance of that sort.(Except for lois)
    Last edited by manwhohaseverything; 12-03-2020 at 10:40 AM.

  12. #42
    Astonishing Member
    Join Date
    Jun 2014
    Posts
    2,844

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by manwhohaseverything View Post
    Women were pretty impressed with the dude.(i am not advocating for a stereotypical portayal where woman swoon over a mysterious guy because "He is soo handsome and powerful").Clark was pretty much like a shonen hero.He had no time for romance of that sort.(Except for lois)
    The guy who's rescuing women and flying away with them isn't Clark Kent. He's Superman. The whole point of maintaining a "Clark Kent" identity is for there to be a significant difference. "Clark Kent" is a face in the crowd, by design.

  13. #43
    BANNED
    Join Date
    Aug 2017
    Posts
    3,823

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by seismic-2 View Post
    Right. Clark Kent in "real life" is different from Clak Kent in public. The public Clark Kent is a disguise. He has to hide himself by wearing glasses, slouching to keep people from realizing his real stature and physique, and being unassertive and timid to keep from attracting attention to himself. In private, of course, Clark is none of those things.
    With so many people having fit physiques these days, I don't think Clark needs to make himself look fat by wearing baggy clothes and slouching. That stands out as much as anything else, especially in the judgmental world we live in.

  14. #44
    BANNED
    Join Date
    Aug 2017
    Posts
    3,823

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by manwhohaseverything View Post
    Yeah! That might be true for spiderman.But superman?I don't think so.The real Clark kent was none of those things.Maybe, when he was a kid.Superman was made to appeal to kids via newspaper strips.He was actually like a standard hero back then.A debonair,good looking,confident,outspoken,powerful...etc guy.
    Yeah, all the Golden Age guys came from the same mold. Cool powers, cool jobs, confident personalities. They were more aspirational than characters these days. All of them were big men on campus types.

    The writing and art weren't groundbreaking-- The power fantasy was. That's what sold the books.
    Last edited by SecretWarrior; 12-03-2020 at 11:20 AM.

  15. #45
    BANNED
    Join Date
    Aug 2017
    Posts
    3,823

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Johnny Thunders! View Post
    I get why people hate the cartoon but I don’t need Kent to be Don Draper. I love Alex Ross”s over stuffed Aloha Clark. He reminds me of the 50s TV show. I just think that even when he plays the fool, he’s manipulating every situation he is in for a bigger purpose. That’s why he winks at the audience off panel. We’re supposed to be in on the joke.
    I don't really get people who want to modernize Superman by taking him back to the 50s, 60s, 70s, whatever. Clark's not a man out of time or fish out of water. Not even rural Americans are like that anymore.

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •