The Kents: Alive or Dead?

[MajorHoy]

I do think it's weird that both Kent's are dead still . . .

It had been that way for nearly fifty years, though. So it all depends on how old you are.

[ironman2978]

Prefer both dead.

[Batowl]

bring back pa kent

[kingaliencracker]

I dunno, that logic to me is like saying the Waynes would be more relevant if they were alive and supporting characters in the Batman books. Of course they would be more relevant if they were alive and active in the story arcs, but the question is, should they be alive?

The Waynes' murder are intricate to the mythos of Batman, however. So there is a major difference.

[Francisco]

The Kents work better dead just before Clark takes the Superman identity.

[The World]

Basic question. Should Ma Pa Kent be alive or dead whilst Clark is Superman?

Compromise and have them hang around as zombies.

[RobinFan4880]

Ma and Pa should be alive, then again I grew up in an error where they were alive and vital to many stories and the mythos. It is strange, to me, for Clark not to have a place to go home to.

[MajorHoy]

Ma and Pa should be alive, then again I grew up in an error where they were alive and vital to many stories and the mythos. It is strange, to me, for Clark not to have a place to go home to.

(1.) He can always go back to Smallville.
(2.) Are you really sure you grew up in an "error"?

[Ascended]

Im gonna resist the obvious snark-joke about post-Crisis and "error" here...but I want ya'll to appreciate the effort its taking.

Anyway, the Kents? Dead as disco.

You want Clark to get a pick-me-up talk full of good ol' fashion down country wisdom? You do it via flashback where Jon and Clark talk about a situation whose themes mirror the current plot. Does Clark tell Lois his secret? Well, he thinks about the time he talked to the Kents about telling Lana. Clark isnt sure if he should get involved in a war in the Middle East? He thinks about a talk he had with the Kents when he plowed everyone's fields for them during the night and all hell broke lose afterwards. Done. You dont need the Kents alive for them to matter to the stories, the loss of the parents is a big part of the classic hero's journey, and, especially if they die through natural, unavoidable means, it teaches Clark a lesson about life and limits that resonates far better than if you do the same thing with a friend of his who will likely never be mentioned again (such as Sam from the Loeb story, which was tear-jerking as hell but never mattered again) and it will never carry the weight of the loss of a parent.

[Slaughter]

Super-hero with Dead Parents is so 1930 it hurts.

I prefer Kents alive.

I think that so far having dead Kents has been prejudicial because Clark has been pretty much ignored since the New52. He seems to be a lonely person in general since then.

[Sacred Knight]

Its hard to make the argument that protagonists with dead parents is at all dated. It is in fact fairly timeless. It doesn't HAVE to be so, but again, not dated in the least.

[beetee]

Ma Kent alive. But after the merge/reset of NuperSuperDadMan, establish that both Kents died of natural causes... Go back to the original concept of the Kents being elderly when they adopted Kal.

[plumc]

i prefer the way in ASS.pa dead.ma alive.

[Potanical Pardon]

Alive. I miss them.

[Zero Hunter]

Alive. It just worked better for me and the I think it helped Supergirl and Superboy just as much as it helped Superman having those touchstone characters.