But like Ascended pointed out, Kingdom Come and Injustice happened in realities where his ID wasn’t public. Jimmy and Lois were targeted in Injustice just because of their association with Superman. Kingdom Come was even more attenuated. Lois, even post-marriage was targeted just because she was thought to be Superman’s girlfriend after Lois and Clark were married. Clark Kent was even targeted occasionally if I’m remembering a few of those stories correctly. So again, it’s not like Superman was thought to be a monk with no connections to people. His association with his friends was well known. Really, only the Kent’s would be new factors.
This is all pre-Bendis as well. Bendis has set it up even more so. You have the Invisible Mafia who don’t even say Lois’ name because they knew he had a special connection to her. Targeting Lois was basically a cliche to Leone, who suggested Clark as something new.
Honestly, it’s almost as likely to lessen the danger to them. They’d want to avoid direct confrontation.
Elseworlds. Besides which, knowing Lois is actually Superman's wife makes her a target. A possible way of keeping Superman under the control of a criminal. Sme with Jimmy. Ma and Pa. The rest of the Daily Planet staff. Having how close those people actually are to Clark as Superman, make them even more likely to be targeted.
And the Invisible Hacks, er, Mafia? Whatever.
Besides which, there are characters who aren't Bendis creations that will be only more eager to get back at Clark with the reveal. Lex, Joker, Bizzaro (from another universe), Metallo, Cyborg Superman, etc.
Elseworlds, does'nt matter. Those kind of things happen in main universe. Talia tried to kill lois the reporter, no superman required . Lois lost a limb in a fight with Manchester black,just recently. Jimmy gets kidnapped everyother day.They are already in the middle of the action. It's a risk they already decided to take. Lois would go on a quest for a story no matter the danger. It wasn't just clark's concern that had him maintain the id. Clark isn't some saint. It was his issues. His issues aren't there anymore. What would be the point of having the id, if he doesn't have any sort of issues? It's not even funny anymore. It's too serious.
If his loved ones are threatened then expect Kara (+ other Superman associates/allies) or Bruce (+ Justice League) to step in and help Superman keep them safe, if he thinks he can't do it on his own.
Last edited by Crabble; 01-19-2020 at 08:17 PM.
I guess it can go either way. I remember that one STAS episode when a plane hijacker found out he was mouthing off to Lois, and then he realized that it was the Lois Lane and he knew right away he was screwed. Maybe there are some bad guys who feel Lois Lane is off-limits because if they messed with her then there'd be repercussions with the Big Guy.
On the other hand, if a bad guy wanted to screw Superman and didn't care about the consequences, then Lois is a target.
Being in a superhero universe puts the Daily Bugle staff in danger by default.
The discussion of the Planet staff sort of blurs the issue to me. Sure, Lois and Jimmy have been targets since their introduction even when neither knew the secret but, what about guys like Pete Ross or Clark's college roommate or for that matter the town of Smallville?
If I were a villain trying to get back at Superman. I wouldn't target the people he hangs around on a regular basis, the fact he is around them makes it likely he will be there to stop any threat to them. I'd be targeting people connected to him that aren't close enough for him to expect to be targeted. Hurting that kid whose cat he rescued six months ago- simply because he met Superman once- will hurt. Superman with less risk. And now that I would know about his time as Clark Kent I'd look for people Clark knew but who didn't rate having Batman or the JLA playing bodyguard. Not Jonathan and Martha- but how many people in Clark's classes in Smallville or Metropolis U have moved away from central locations Superman's allies would think to protect?
Well, we have seen a few stories where the people Superman rescues are attacked. And that does mess with him. As for targeting other people Clark knew, yeah that could be a serious issue. I expect stuff like this to be dealt with in the story. I hope it is, anyway. This reveal shouldn't be clean, there should be ramifications and consequences. I can accept the idea that Clark no longer feels the need to keep his identities secret at this stage of his life, but he had damn good reasons for doing it up till now so I don't expect the world to just say "cool" and no one does anything with the new information, yknow? Looking at how Bendis handled the issue in Daredevil I think he's more than capable of pulling it off, but we'll see how it goes.
One thing that works in Clark's favor here is that his circle of friends has always been so small. Pete and Lana, and that's kind of it for childhood friends of any note, yknow?
How is this handled for the president? I know a president's immediate family get secret service, but what about the high school best friends and whatnot? However that gets tackled by the white house security is how I expect Bendis to handle it here, given the president of earth stuff.
"We all know the truth: more connects us than separates us. But in times of crisis the wise build bridges, while the foolish build barriers. We must find a way to look after one another, as if we were one single tribe."
~ Black Panther.
It's only immediate family. Spouse, children (adult children if they are an active President, or former presidents kids up to 16 or 10 years after the presidency), etc. Parents are included in "immediate family" I think. But no, the secret service does not protect uncles or cousins, or friends, etc.
Last edited by Yoda; 01-20-2020 at 09:22 AM.
When people say they need a Superman they can relate to...
I need a Superman that inspires me to be a better person.
I don't need to see Clark Kent doing all the same mistakes I do in order to find him compelling as a character. I want him to lead with his example. He is Super not just in powers by also his mind and heart.
Agreed! I've said for years now.. that Heroes used to be characters that we average people looked up to and wanted to BE.... now people want the heroes to be as screwed up as WE are... Personally I'm old school. Give me the solid good guys that I can emulate. I have enough broken and fallen heroes in the 'real' world if I want to identify with.
The second people stop coddling these broken heroes is the day they stop getting made. Next time someone brings up how hard their life is they should get ignored. It doesn't make a lick of sense to me that the WWII generation of heroes worked harder and complained less while the modern day heroes work less and complain more. Some times it's painful for me to compare Batman from the Golden or Bronze age to Batman in the modern era.
Rules are for lesser men, Charlie - Grand Pa Joe ~ Willy Wonka & Chocolate Factory