How come no one checks Superman's/Clark's fingerprints?

[Jim Kelly]

I don't like the Icon idea at all for Superman. This is a case of trying too hard to explain something that is (or once was) generally accepted as part of the "suspension of disbelief" with regard to Superman.

Even though I came up with this idea, I'm not a fan of it myself. It's selling out to those boring people that can't accept Superman as someone who just puts on glasses and fools everybody.

Maybe people today just can't appreciate irony. Yet as a kid, I knew that feeling well--I know something that nobody else in the story knows! That was a delicious feeling.

Clark Kent, who is clearly Superman, completely fools everybody in the world. And at the end of the story, he winks at us, because we're in on his secret. This wouldn't have the same effect if Clark didn't look the same as Superman. We, the reader/audience, have to be able to see that it's the same guy for the irony to work.

[DABellWrites]

On one hand, I like godisawesome idea, embrace the concept of Clark being alien. But, on the other, hand that seems too over the top. My idea: Clark can move faster than any camera on Earth, correct? So, he just returns and wipes off his prints. If that's wacky for some, then you're being way too realistic. Superman also has heat-vision. I'm sure he can "burn" off his DNA without people noticing.

[gwhh]

Would a space alien from another planet. Even have finger prints?

[bat39]

Would a space alien from another planet. Even have finger prints?

A space alien who looks, walks, talks, eats, sleeps like a human, and who can even (in many versions) have children with a human, would almost certainly have fingerprints like a human.

Kryptonians have traditionally always been depicted as being basically identical to human beings in every respect...albeit their bodies have adapted to conditions on Krypton, so conditions on earth give them powers. In the Bronze Age I think it was even established that humans and Kryptonians (and many other races) had common ancestry.

[All Star Superman]

Even though I came up with this idea, I'm not a fan of it myself. It's selling out to those boring people that can't accept Superman as someone who just puts on glasses and fools everybody.

Maybe people today just can't appreciate irony. Yet as a kid, I knew that feeling well--I know something that nobody else in the story knows! That was a delicious feeling.

Clark Kent, who is clearly Superman, completely fools everybody in the world. And at the end of the story, he winks at us, because we're in on his secret. This wouldn't have the same effect if Clark didn't look the same as Superman. We, the reader/audience, have to be able to see that it's the same guy for the irony to work.

Appreciation of irony requires a level of intelligence that sadly appears to be on the decline these days.

[manwhohaseverything]

Even though I came up with this idea, I'm not a fan of it myself. It's selling out to those boring people that can't accept Superman as someone who just puts on glasses and fools everybody.

Maybe people today just can't appreciate irony. Yet as a kid, I knew that feeling well--I know something that nobody else in the story knows! That was a delicious feeling.

Clark Kent, who is clearly Superman, completely fools everybody in the world. And at the end of the story, he winks at us, because we're in on his secret. This wouldn't have the same effect if Clark didn't look the same as Superman. We, the reader/audience, have to be able to see that it's the same guy for the irony to work.

They don't add humour to the story no more.The tone is different.How can the stories of jesus-lite messiah and nerd underdog competing with a jock for the hand of woman have that kinda irony.Even if it did.it would clash with the tone currently used and people's suspension being broken is natural.I don't blame the audience.

[DABellWrites]

Even though I came up with this idea, I'm not a fan of it myself. It's selling out to those boring people that can't accept Superman as someone who just puts on glasses and fools everybody.

Maybe people today just can't appreciate irony. Yet as a kid, I knew that feeling well--I know something that nobody else in the story knows! That was a delicious feeling.

Clark Kent, who is clearly Superman, completely fools everybody in the world. And at the end of the story, he winks at us, because we're in on his secret. This wouldn't have the same effect if Clark didn't look the same as Superman. We, the reader/audience, have to be able to see that it's the same guy for the irony to work.

100% agreed, Jim. But, people don't want to suspend their disbelief about why Clark Kent can fool people. In my opinion, it goes beyond just the look, it boils down to the personality. Superman needs to operate by his own rules, not ours. That's why I opted for Clark using his powers to hide his biological trace. It can add to the quirky aspect of Clark Kent.
"Hey guys, look at Kent getting focused on that bio scanner." with Clark responding: "Oh, sorry about that. I'm just curious to how those things work." Little did they know what he was doing.