Superman #6

[Superlad93]

If I may ask, what is the ideal interpretation for THIS (wife, kid, hero, reporter, seems to be pretty darn clever) Clark Kent? That is to say, the public persona after it's gained back.

Given what they have and the more recognizable take they're going for, how can they "stick the landing" in your opinions?

[Sacred Knight]

For me I'd hope for him to still be a little on the goofy side. Still a good reporter and not full-on Donner oaf, but not that physical. Like what Jurgens is doing with the new Clark in Action? Not that. I don't want a Clark Kent running away from a hail of bullets like a boss. He's a good reporter because he uses his brains. He shouldn't be all athletic looking on top of it. That should be part of the disguise coming into play. He should only display that level of physicality when there's no one around to witness it and he can get away with doing it. Now that he's a father, in public he's the nerdy, square father that your kid would be embarrassed of. Even have Jon get in on it, then they laugh about it in private. Stuff like that.

[Ascended]

If I may ask, what is the ideal interpretation for THIS (wife, kid, hero, reporter, seems to be pretty darn clever) Clark Kent? That is to say, the public persona after it's gained back.

Given what they have and the more recognizable take they're going for, how can they "stick the landing" in your opinions?

Honestly, my requirements are pretty loose. I mean, I could write a series of essays on how Clark balances his unique psyche, and indeed I have with a handful of people online (you know who you are) but I dont expect DC to write *my* vision of Superman. I just want them to stay true to what the character is, was, and is meant to be, with a concept informed by his full 80 year history and not just post-Crisis or the late Bronze Age.

I want Superman to be, as Yang once said, "the tension between Clark Kent and Superman" He's not just a farmboy who ended up in the city (which is my biggest gripe about post-Crisis' characterization and in my opinion a bastardized take on the concept) and he's not just an alien stranger among us (as he sometimes seemed to be in the Silver Age, playing at a human life for kicks). He's got one foot in both worlds, neither SUPER-man nor super-MAN, but a full-fledged SUPER-MAN. His emotional reactions and motivations can and should be purely human in nature, but his mind and world view should be much, much more than that.

So to that end, I want "public Clark" to be a disguise built on the idea of who he might have been if he been the Kents' biological son and not an alien from another planet with a physiology and brain far more evolved than our own. I want "Public Clark" to go out of his way to not stand out, without being a complete social pariah. I prefer my "Public Clark" to be socially invisible; neither popular nor unpopular, neither overly brave nor cowardly. I dislike the clumsy, bumbling oaf he is often written as, and I dislike it when he's a famous and well-dressed reporter with several prestigious awards on his shelf.

In the end, if they manage to avoid the "Clark is who I am and Superman is just my hobby" then I'll likely be fine with whatever they do.

EDIT: I think Sacred has the right idea with the "super lame father every kid is embarrassed by" approach. That'll keep him low-key enough in public to not go overboard on the worst excesses of post-Crisis, while keeping him "attached" in ways that were sometimes lacking in pre-Crisis' history.

[Superlad93]

He's a good reporter because he uses his brains. He shouldn't be all athletic looking on top of it. That should be part of the disguise coming into play. He should only display that level of physicality when there's no one around to witness it and he can get away with doing it. Now that he's a father, in public he's the nerdy, square father that your kid would be embarrassed of. Even have Jon get in on it, then they laugh about it in private. Stuff like that.

I totally agree with this. I think Jurgens is doing the whole "man of action" thing with Clark because he's currently a human. Even with that, I think it's still a bit much. I wouldn't be happy at all if that's who Clark turned into.

I 100% agree with the part in bold. That sounds like a fun dynamic. It also sounds like a good excuse to explain the "public Clark" side to new readers who might not "get it" through Jon. It's also just good fun.

EDIT: I think Sacred has the right idea with the "super lame father every kid is embarrassed by" approach. That'll keep him low-key enough in public to not go overboard on the worst excesses of post-Crisis, while keeping him "attached" in ways that were sometimes lacking in pre-Crisis' history.

Yeah it's an approach that I really hope they adopt. I'd really like the whole Kent family to have their own version of this little game. Have you ever seen the FX show The Americans? I've been thinking a lot about the parallels it has with the current Superman situations. It's surprisingly a lot. The show has like this perfect metaphor for marriage and family mixed into a Cold War thriller. It's pretty brilliant. I'm also reminded of Mark Millar's Jupiter's Legacy. The situation with Chloe, Hutch, and little Jason.

There's actually a lot you could do with the whole corny dad/husband as cover angle for Clark.