Superman first then Clark. That’s how I see it.
Superman first then Clark. That’s how I see it.
For when my rants on the forums just aren’t enough: https://thevindicativevordan.tumblr.com/
I've read a ton of pre-Crisis Superman this last year - that's what's gotten me through everything this year.
I think with Earth 1 Superman part of his attachment to Clark is that that's his link to his adoptive parents. As long as he's Clark he's got that part of them with him.
That and he also needs down time, friends, a piece of a normal life is important to him.
In THE GREAT COMIC BOOK HEROES, Jules Feiffer is remembering how he felt about the comics when he was a kid. In 1938, he would have been nine years old when Superman appeared on the scene. By 1946, when he was seventeen, he was working for Will Eisner on the Spirit. So I'd say his memories are mainly confined to that period between 1938 and 1945.
Clark Kent wasn't given much of a back story, before his arrival in Metropolis. Not until the Superboy stories started to appear, as of MORE FUN COMICS 101 (January-February 1945)--and even then the Superman stories never referenced those Superboy stories. So I can see how the young Jules Feiffer had this impression of Superman. Also, he's probably exaggerating for comic effect.
I think Feiffer’s Superman is very much the male power fantasy Superman. It’s the one that is winking at us as he suffers Lois’s dismissal of Clark. “If Lois only knew, she’s too taken by flashy old Superman to notice the real thing in front of her. Silly Lois.” The thing is that version of Clark, he faints, he has stomach issues, he’s a coward or an asthmatic. The Wally Wood Clark Bent hits the nail on the head. I think that version of Superman is driven more by a love of Justice than human beings. (It’s my first time reading that quote . I read it again and “chaste ménage” jumped out at me, to quote Hank McCoy, oh my stars and garters!)
Last edited by Johnny Thunders!; 02-27-2021 at 09:19 AM.