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

[achilles]

It doesn't help that Superman is evidently not as smart as Power Girl. Ever heard of GLOVES Superman?

[Godzilla2099]

Figured its the same reason the Batmobile is never stuck in traffic.

[Vakanai]

Figured its the same reason the Batmobile is never stuck in traffic.

How does a maps/traffic app help keep Superman's fingerprints safe?

[Jim Kelly]

Granted there were those stories where someone got Superboy/man's fingerprints--which I just edit out of continuity--but I think the great thing about Superman, what makes him Superman, is that he doesn't wear a mask or gloves. This makes him more approachable. Despite being an alien, he has the most humanity of any super-hero.

[Vakanai]

Granted there were those stories where someone got Superboy/man's fingerprints--which I just edit out of continuity--but I think the great thing about Superman, what makes him Superman, is that he doesn't wear a mask or gloves. This makes him more approachable. Despite being an alien, he has the most humanity of any super-hero.

Does give the middle finger to suspension of disbelief though if he's still going to have a secret identity...

[Jim Kelly]

. . . suspension of disbelief . . .

So . . . Bertolt Brecht?

Actually, one of my favourite shows to watch in the 1970s was STORY THEATRE, which was being made not far from where I grew up in Vancouver (in Burnaby but our house was right on the border with Burnaby). Even though made in Canada, this featured some great actors from the U.S.

What I liked about this show is that they would play out fairy tales and other classic tales using minimal props. They acted it. But the wonder of theatre is that the attempts by Brecht to break suspension of disbelief don't work (according to my Theatre History prof). If someone on stage makes like they are holding a candle and then proceeds to light the candle, even though there's nothing there, we as an audience participate in imagining that it's there.

This is what Superman does--or should do, except that people nowadays are so into the gotcha that they don't surrender to the story--they're always looking for the boom mikes or bad background renderings and never seem to turn off their internal editor and let the story happen.

[Vakanai]

So . . . Bertolt Brecht?

Actually, one of my favourite shows to watch in the 1970s was STORY THEATRE, which was being made not far from where I grew up in Vancouver (in Burnaby but our house was right on the border with Burnaby). Even though made in Canada, this featured some great actors from the U.S.

What I liked about this show is that they would play out fairy tales and other classic tales using minimal props. They acted it. But the wonder of theatre is that the attempts by Brecht to break suspension of disbelief don't work (according to my Theatre History prof). If someone on stage makes like they are holding a candle and then proceeds to light the candle, even though there's nothing there, we as an audience participate in imagining that it's there.

This is what Superman does--or should do, except that people nowadays are so into the gotcha that they don't surrender to the story--they're always looking for the boom mikes or bad background renderings and never seem to turn off their internal editor and let the story happen.

With good storytelling it's not up to the audience to suspend their disbelief, it's up to the stories to trick them into suspending their disbelief. If audiences find it harder to buy into Superman's ability to keep a secret identity with no explanation on page as to why people don't recognize Clark's face as Superman or check for prints, then it's because the story doesn't address it well enough.

[Jim Kelly]

With good storytelling it's not up to the audience to suspend their disbelief, it's up to the stories to trick them into suspending their disbelief.

Needless to say, I disagree. But to explain, I'd have to go on for pages about writing theory and why writers deliberately challenge a reader's "fictive dream" (John Gardner, THE ART OF FICTION). And that's not what this thread is for.

[DochaDocha]

Since it's probably not worth creating a whole new thread inspired by this topic, do you think a normie could pluck a hair off Superman's scalp?

[Vakanai]

Since it's probably not worth creating a whole new thread inspired by this topic, do you think a normie could pluck a hair off Superman's scalp?

Not if his hair's still so indestructible that he has to heat vision it with a mirror very carefully just to get a haircut.

[Jim Kelly]

Since it's probably not worth creating a whole new thread inspired by this topic, do you think a normie could pluck a hair off Superman's scalp?

Chances are, if you can think of it, there was likely a pre-Crisis story that did that very thing.

[DrNewGod]

I had this idea a long, long time ago, but when I posted it here someone told me it was the idea for Icon from the Dakotaverse. I've since read the Icon story and it is similar to what I had in mind. When Kal-El arrives on Earth as a baby, his natural power to assimilate to his environment causes him to unconsciously adapt to the first people he comes in contact with--Jonathan and Martha. Taking on their characteristics, he resembles them and has normal human features. However, when he expresses his super-powers he reverts back to his Kryptonian form. James Gunn can use this idea if he wants.

Y'know, in Byrne's Post-Crisis overhaul, Kal-el came to earth in a pod that looked a lot like the one Byrne drew for Marinna in Alpha Flight a few years earlier. Marinna also adapted to a human form in a manner very close to the one you described.

I sometimes wondered if Byrne intended for kryptonians to look nothing like humans and then chickened out or got told no.

[marhawkman]

Y'know, in Byrne's Post-Crisis overhaul, Kal-el came to earth in a pod that looked a lot like the one Byrne drew for Marinna in Alpha Flight a few years earlier. Marinna also adapted to a human form in a manner very close to the one you described.

I sometimes wondered if Byrne intended for kryptonians to look nothing like humans and then chickened out or got told no.

There WAS a story where some alien intelligence trying to get Superman to help it used that argument actually, but... it turned out to be a lie.... but was it being a lie actually the original plan?

[bat39]

There WAS a story where some alien intelligence trying to get Superman to help it used that argument actually, but... it turned out to be a lie.... but was it being a lie actually the original plan?

Funnily enough, Superman Smashes the Klan kinda referenced this idea, with Clark having nightmares about the possibility that he might actually be a stereotypically green-skinned alien disguised as a human, and that his true form might emerge if he got too comfortable with his alien nature...

[All Star Superman]

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.

I like Waid's idea that Clark's eyes are a vibrant blue that are dimmed by the lenses of glasses. I also like Morrison/Quitely's idea that Clark wears larger clothing than needed and hunches. Finally, I think that the idea that most people don't think someone with Superman's powers would "bother" with a regular life. All of these together keep Clark Kent distinct enough from Superman. However, when you have an actor who makes no attempt at differentiating the two (Reeves,Cain, Cavill, Hoechlin) it's idiotic that no one can tell they're the same guy.

Reeve was the best at making you not only "believe a man can fly," but also, that that flying man could disguise himself as a regular guy that no one would ever mistake for Superman. Welling might have pulled this off and Routh came closest to Reeve in Superman Returns.

As for the fingerprint issue, I think Clark would indeed have to be printed as a reporter. I worked in the radio news industry for several years and reporters generally do have to undergo background checks. It occurs to me that Clark could simply use a low dose of his heat vision to slightly change his prints if he needs to be fingerprinted or before touching things. This slight damage would heal as quickly as a minor scrape would for us.