So I was told that the Kent's absolutely needed to be in Superman's adult life.

[DochaDocha]

What age and appearance do y'all prefer for Jonathan and Martha?

I remember as a little kid in school--only about eight years old--we each had to stand up in front of the class and talk about where we'd be in twenty years. I stood up and said that I would have white hair and glasses and run my own general store, where kids could come in and get a free piece of candy. I imagined myself as Johathan Kent. But white hair in twenty years, when I would be 28? I remember all the kids staring at me like I was some freak. Even the teacher didn't seem too impressed.

Heh, I feel like one of Byrne's missteps (assuming I'm remembering this correctly) was that he made the Kents seem pretty old when they found Clark. Superman: the Movie is also guilty of this. I remembered when Smallville first aired, I looked at 40-somethings John Schneider and Annette O'Toole and thought they were way too young to play Jon and Martha when they actually were roughly the right age and other stories probably portrayed them as too old. Maybe it's a veiled Biblical allegory to Elizabeth, making Superman not only Jesus but also John the Baptist.

Nonetheless, I have a latent bias to seeing Jon and Martha nearing their AARP years (regardless of Clark's age), even if it makes little to no sense.

[Alpha]

One of the things I think is missing from how writers portray the Kents is economic weight. These are farmers in the world of today. Clark is a journalist and a superhero and his own parents should really be a part of how he looks at the state of the world, or at least the country.

In my fantasy Jonathan Kent would've had a heart attack when Clark was around 17 or 15, but he would've survived, but he wouldn't be able to do the same things he could do before. So Clark would go off to college thinking about being a doctor and working all night to support his own parents (in my headcanon Clark doesn't really have to sleep more than 8 hours per week). I figure Clark would stop eating in order to save money to send back to the farm.

Keep this idea going over the years with Clark hhaving a hard time paying for his dads medical bills due to his heart condition. Also Martha re-adjusting to life now that she has to be the one working the farm.

[Jim Kelly]

Maybe it's a veiled Biblical allegory to Elizabeth, making Superman not only Jesus but also John the Baptist.

Classic Jonathan and Martha make me think of Abraham and Sarah from Genesis--they were 100 and 90 years old, respectively, when Isaac was born. They were so old that they thought it impossible to ever have children of their own--yet God promised Abraham that his offspring would be as the stars in the heavens in their number.

The Kents should be old enough that they don't think they will ever have children, so when Clark comes to them they see it as a blessing. However, in most of the classic Superbaby stories, they haven't gone grey yet. I would guess they were in their late forties when they found Kal-El and they were in their sixties by the time Clark was in his teens.

[Quinlan58]

Classic Jonathan and Martha make me think of Abraham and Sarah from Genesis--they were 100 and 90 years old, respectively, when Isaac was born. They were so old that they thought it impossible to ever have children of their own--yet God promised Abraham that his offspring would be as the stars in the heavens in their number.

The Kents should be old enough that they don't think they will ever have children, so when Clark comes to them they see it as a blessing. However, in most of the classic Superbaby stories, they haven't gone grey yet. I would guess they were in their late forties when they found Kal-El and they were in their sixties by the time Clark was in his teens.

IIRC they actually were elderly when they found Clark, it's just they got rejuvenated (I think by the Kryptonian ship to better raise Kal) and then fabricated an scenario where every other elderly person in Smallville was also de-aged so that no one suspected them.

Man, even the Pre-Crisis attempts at fixing continuity were weird, if admittedly simpler and more charming (and more effective) than modern attempts.

[PCN24454]

This is hyperbole. Superman being an isolated figure and struggling with that loneliness is a key part of his character. But it doesn't mean people don't want him to have a family or overcome those flaws. It's more of an issue that those flaws are excised or downplayed altogether, giving fuel to the belief that he's a flawless paragon with a perfect life and isn't relateable. It creates the problem it set out to solve, and the living Kents are one of the things that contribute to Clark being so vanilla in modern writings (along with the whole Superboy-less backstory Byrne envisioned, among other things).

He eventually will build a family with Lois, he has Kara and Krypto, sometimes Kon, and the rest of his inner circle with Perry and Jimmy, Lana, etc. It's more interesting if he has a period without the Kents before overcoming his (largely self inflicted) loneliness and builds a new family.

Is it really that much of a key part? There are lots of traits of superheroes that people say is key but were really things that were tacked on later.

Superman works alone because he's powerful enough that he usually doesn't need help; not that he isolates himself.

[manwhohaseverything]

Is it really that much of a key part? There are lots of traits of superheroes that people say is key but were really things that were tacked on later.

It is a key part for the superman of the old days.I mean,people asking this.it is removing vestiges of the old pulp heroes.There is a literal fortress of solitude/secret citadel for the guy..If you don't want that then remove the costume,the base,the secret id,the love interest,the duality...etc.Everthing superman inherited from those heroes.

[Zero Hunter]

Heh, I feel like one of Byrne's missteps (assuming I'm remembering this correctly) was that he made the Kents seem pretty old when they found Clark. Superman: the Movie is also guilty of this. I remembered when Smallville first aired, I looked at 40-somethings John Schneider and Annette O'Toole and thought they were way too young to play Jon and Martha when they actually were roughly the right age and other stories probably portrayed them as too old. Maybe it's a veiled Biblical allegory to Elizabeth, making Superman not only Jesus but also John the Baptist.

Nonetheless, I have a latent bias to seeing Jon and Martha nearing their AARP years (regardless of Clark's age), even if it makes little to no sense.

For the time older people did look like that. My great grandma always looked like she was 80 from the age of 50 on. People just age better these days and don't look as old as they used to. I have friends that are in their 50's and grandparents and you would swear they were maybe late 30's tops. Just look at Aunt may in the Spider-Man movies or the Ultimate universe. Orignaly she looked liked she was always 90 year olds even though she was in her 50's tops when Peter was a kid. Now they portray her as much younger looking than the withered all classic crone look.

[witchboy]

For the time older people did look like that. My great grandma always looked like she was 80 from the age of 50 on. People just age better these days and don't look as old as they used to. I have friends that are in their 50's and grandparents and you would swear they were maybe late 30's tops. Just look at Aunt may in the Spider-Man movies or the Ultimate universe. Orignaly she looked liked she was always 90 year olds even though she was in her 50's tops when Peter was a kid. Now they portray her as much younger looking than the withered all classic crone look.

Ben Parker was supposed to be about 15 years older than his brother Richard. If Richard was about 35 when Peter was born, that puts Ben and May at about 50. So when Peter became Spider-Man Aunt May should've been about 65 - but the art makes her look like she's much older than that. Still better than her being in her 50s at least. It is a reflection on how older people were viewed back then.

[witchboy]

Heh, I feel like one of Byrne's missteps (assuming I'm remembering this correctly) was that he made the Kents seem pretty old when they found Clark. Superman: the Movie is also guilty of this. I remembered when Smallville first aired, I looked at 40-somethings John Schneider and Annette O'Toole and thought they were way too young to play Jon and Martha when they actually were roughly the right age and other stories probably portrayed them as too old. Maybe it's a veiled Biblical allegory to Elizabeth, making Superman not only Jesus but also John the Baptist.

Nonetheless, I have a latent bias to seeing Jon and Martha nearing their AARP years (regardless of Clark's age), even if it makes little to no sense.

The Kents look to be somewhere in their mid to late 30s to me in Byrne's reboot. They did have their white haired elderly looks by the time Clark is an adult.

[kingaliencracker]

We have this conversation about once a year it seems.

In terms of storytelling, there is zero advantage to the Kents being alive and there is zero advantage to the Kents being dead. It's all about the preference of the fan and/or writer. There are plenty of great Superman stories with the Kents both alive and dead, so why fans continue to harp on this is beyond me.

[DochaDocha]

For the time older people did look like that. My great grandma always looked like she was 80 from the age of 50 on. People just age better these days and don't look as old as they used to. I have friends that are in their 50's and grandparents and you would swear they were maybe late 30's tops. Just look at Aunt may in the Spider-Man movies or the Ultimate universe. Orignaly she looked liked she was always 90 year olds even though she was in her 50's tops when Peter was a kid. Now they portray her as much younger looking than the withered all classic crone look.

The Kents look to be somewhere in their mid to late 30s to me in Byrne's reboot. They did have their white haired elderly looks by the time Clark is an adult.

I think these points are correct. My Byrne stuff isin my mom and dad's place, but I looked at a few scans online and I'd say in the panel where Pa first finds Clark, he could be anywhere from his mid-30s to 50s. But Superman the Movie cast Glenn Ford and Phyllis Thaxter, and they were in their 60s and late 50s, respectively, at the time of shooting. I think in that movie they looked their ages when they found Clark, but Thaxter was aged up for the scene when Clark left the farm.

[Will Evans]

They need to a be around to be the caretakers of which ever spin off character that Clark doesn’t want to deal with.

Like Kara in Superman: the animated series, or Kon-El in the comics.

[Sacred Knight]

I dunno, I think if you're doing something to Superman's mythos for another character, then something isn't quite right. Its my biggest issue with what's going on with his line right now. Superman's world should be set up for him to flourish first and foremost, not spin-off characters. Their world can be built on their own when they spin out. That's what was so cool about Kon-El when he spun out of Reign. He didn't rely on Superman's mythos, they were creating his own. That's how it should be done. Its also how Kara was built way back when; she had the Danvers'. Pawning Kon and Kara off on the Kents was always short sighted ideas. Hell even when Matrix was Supergirl, she only stayed with the Kents briefly until she spun out.

[SiegePerilous02]

Is it really that much of a key part? There are lots of traits of superheroes that people say is key but were really things that were tacked on later.

Superman works alone because he's powerful enough that he usually doesn't need help; not that he isolates himself.

That would be the living Kents. Because them being alive in the present day was tacked on much later.

I said Superman struggles with loneliness and being an isolated figure in many aspects of his life, I didn't specify how he works as an active superhero. A lot of it is due to how powerful and alien he is. He hangs out with the Daily Planet staff in both identities but can't just trust any of them with the secret, and then feels lonely. He wants to meet other beings like him, but then shunts Kara off to an orphanage. He's neurotic as Hell and a lot of his loneliness is self inflicted. For a character that many people complain is too perfect, it doesn't make sense to get rid of these flaws. The Kents being alive and he can fly home for apple pie any time he wants to get some bland homespun advice renders that psychology moot, and I've yet to see a convincing argument about how this setup is key for him

They need to a be around to be the caretakers of which ever spin off character that Clark doesn’t want to deal with.

Like Kara in Superman: the animated series, or Kon-El in the comics.

Kara has the Danvers', she really doesn't need the Kents.

[Jim Kelly]

The late 1970s and early 1980s do a good job of showing the loneliness of Superman. The loneliness comes not from being an alien but from being the World's Greatest Super-Hero. The Man of Steel has chosen the happiness of others over his own happiness.

Marty Pasko through his series of stories showed that Superman can't settle down with Lois Lane, because everyone else comes first. And Lois comes around to understanding this and accepting it. It kind of reminds me of GOD BLESS YOU MR. ROSEWATER, by Kurt Vonnegut--Mr. Rosewater is absolutely democratic in his love for everyone. This bugs his wife, because she wants to be special in his eyes. Lois is more compassionate and accepts that she also has to sacrifice her happiness for the greater good.

Cary Bates offers "The Miraculous Return of Jonathan Kent"/"The Secret World of Jonathan Kent" in ACTION COMICS 507 & 508, where Jonathan Kent seems to have returned from the dead. This ties in with a Bates story from THE NEW ADVENTURES OF SUPERBOY 5, where two aliens owe Clark a favour--and so he's allowed to meet his father when he's become Superman.

And in SUPERMAN: THE SECRET YEARS, Bob Rozakis tells us that Superman often time travels back into his past--but because he can't travel back in his own timeline without becoming a phantom, he only appears like a ghost hovering over the events of his youth, watching Ma and Pa in hindsight. It's incredibly powerful, as realized by Curt Swan and Kurt Schaffenberger, showing Superman so close and yet so far from those he loved so much.