Which is the origins of the S logo do you like better?

[KurtW95]

Which is the origins of the S logo do you like better?

A) It’s an S. And his adoptive parents made the suite after he got the Superman moniker.

B) It’s the El crest and or means ‘hope’ in Kryptonese.

I’d pick A, but I know that the crest option is also popular.

My ideal is how Byrne handled it where they made the suit after news reports start calling him Superman. Though I also like the idea that Lois is the one who coins it.

Thoughts?

[Jon Clark]

I strongly dislike the symbol pre-dating Clark's use. Never cared for the Donner movie's introduction of it being the house-crest of the Els, let alone the added dimension of it being Kryptonian for hope. Found the reverse logic of it being adapted from a symbol tied to Kent family history no better. And the idea that there was a sword formed from the Big Bang that had the symbol carved into the hilt was the worst.

I admit the Byrne idea that the "Superman" name preceded the adoption of the symbol makes more sense than the costume leading to the "Superman" name. And Lois coining the name makes the most sense (unless Clark starts his career as a teen).

If we really need a reason for the symbol (and i don't think we do) I'd make it a paradox where the Legion gave Clark the suit with the symbol based on their history telling them he used that symbol. No one creates it- it's a mobius loop where the symbol is inspired by itself.

[Stanlos]

Which is the origins of the S logo do you like better?

A) It’s an S. And his adoptive parents made the suite after he got the Superman moniker.

B) It’s the El crest and or means ‘hope’ in Kryptonese.

I’d pick A, but I know that the crest option is also popular.

My ideal is how Byrne handled it where they made the suit after news reports start calling him Superman. Though I also like the idea that Lois is the one who coins it.

Thoughts?

I prefer the classic it's an S after the acronym, namely because the other way has come with the annoying Superman-as-Jesus retro embellishments which for me lessens the dramatic throughline of the story

[Stanlos]

Also my goodness does Byrne do a remarkably heroic and powerful Superman

[manwhohaseverything]

My head canon option c..It's an s..Neither his adoptive parents nor his space parents have anything to do with it. He got the costume from an old carnival in metropolis..The previous owner of the costume was a strongman named kent Savage.Lois starts calling him superman by mistake.

[greatmetropolitan]

I'd pick a mid-point. The symbol of the Els is more like an 8, so \8/ (as Rucka put it, a lemniscate on its head, never ending battle etc), and Clark puts that symbol on t shirt first time out. Maybe he gets mud on it, whatever, but the 8 becomes an S in photos, so Lois calls him Superman. Then Martha designs a new symbol, the S humans gave him and the 8 sigil from Krypton. The shield becomes a literal fusion of earth and krypton, of man and super.

[Jim Kelly]

A) all the way.

The Krypton chest symbol explanation seems like someone was so blind to unusual fonts that the "S" was hard to see (like people who can't read cursive), so they had to make up this baroque explanation for the chest symbol. Whereas, it is so obviously an "S." It being a symbol of hope doesn't make sense, since that's not the meaning of "El" (or shouldn't be--are we to believe that Jor-El was Bob Hope).

I have my own alternate explanation for the "S" if I ever write that fan fiction based on the original Siegel and Shuster Superman. I would say that during the hungry thirties, Clark joined a travelling circus in the Midwest, where he was a strongman and a roustabout. In his strongman act he wore an athletic shirt with an "S" on it that variously stood for Samson, Strongman, Superman or Steelman.

[The Frog Bros]

I prefer option a.), an S made by the Kents.

If it has to be b.), then I prefer it being a family crest only and does not literally translate to hope. I do get a kick out of Lois in Man of Steel (Snyder) telling Clark after his "hope" explanation, "well here it's an S."

[manwhohaseverything]

I have my own alternate explanation for the "S" if I ever write that fan fiction based on the original Siegel and Shuster Superman. I would say that during the hungry thirties, Clark joined a travelling circus in the Midwest, where he was a strongman and a roustabout. In his strongman act he wore an athletic shirt with an "S" on it that variously stood for Samson, Strongman, Superman or Steelman.

I would have gone for this..But,i didn't want to tie clark into a time period.Granted you are doing that with run down carnival and things like that.But,The killing joke story is tied to a carnival.It doesn't feel dated.My metropolis would justfiy the existence of a carnival.I don't want an event to trigger the birth of superman either.

So,Smallville itself is like a part of metropolis.Metropolis is very populated.It 's very steam punk meets cyber punk environment with huge wealth disparity and change of world from block to block.Clark and his pals(legion in disguise..future isn't set in stone nor is it utopian) would hang around the place..Clark would show them tricks with old weight training things and learn to control his own abilities,Even push himself to the limit. They would be upto their mischievous activities and causing trouble to local slumlords( it's like peter pan on steroids).As said above,The costume is of kent d(anner) savage(don't want copy right problems)

When clark enters metropolis proper..He would have street cred and reputation as the really really strong guy that nobody seem to catch a glimpse of..Clark would leave or make marking of s to make statements to authorities (hell yeah! Zoro and robin hood.. Smallville had it)..Some would fear it and others would be feel relieved.It's like a reverse batsignal.It's cops who shine and they feel relieved when it comes.here people use it and corrupt authorities fear it.

[superduperman]

I like the idea of it being a family crest but the whole "it stands for hope" thing is a bit much.

[Lightning Rider]

I'm a sucker for amalgamation so I'd probably try to find a way to mix it all together. I do like the strongman idea. So maybe he finds the shirt in the circus, maybe just as a disaster is happening, saves the day in it, and gets named by Lois in the paper. He wears it as T-Shirt and Jeans Superman for a while, then asks his mom to stitch it into more of a uniform. Once he discovers his Kryptonian identity, he realizes the striking resemblance the El crest has with his own S, and modifies it a bit before going fully public.

[Jim Kelly]

Howabout a time-travelling T-shirt paradox? The Legion time travel back to Smallville and give Clark a Superman T-shirt. When Clark grows up, he time travels to Krypton and meets Jor-El who is impressed by his suit. Jor-El makes a copy for himself and this sets a fashion trend in Kryptonopolis.

Of course, with all that time travel, entropy would cause the T-shirt to break down and soon Superman's suit would be in tatters. By the time of Earth After Disaster there's not much of the costume left for Kamandi to find.

[JBatmanFan05]

One of the tougher questions in Superman fandom IMHO...I have to admit that I like a lot of ideas in this thread about perhaps fusing together some different origins for the symbol/logo...I'd maybe mix the Smallville infinity symbol (that gets translated into English into S) thing with the Kents creating the suit/strongman stuff.

But I'd also perhaps throw in some of the Legion moebius loop aspect (the clever chicken or the egg aspect of the logo sorta creating itself, thus absolving any particular person as being responsible, and allowing everyone to be responsible for it).

[Filbert]

It's an S for Superboy, who Saves lives, Stops crime, and is Super helpful.
Created by Ma and Pa Kent to give their son a positive outlet for his abilities.

[Quinlan58]

I like the idea of it being a family crest but the whole "it stands for hope" thing is a bit much.

Same. While I do understand the argument that it diminishes first Clark and then the Kents' involvement to make it a Kryptonian thing... it being a family crest is just cool.

And yes, making it literally mean hope is way too much. Of all the different interpretations the S has had, that's the worst.