How old is the merged Clark (post-Reborn)?

[daBronzeBomma]

Safe bet that Kal is probably no longer his perpetual 29 years old. I remember Clark was listed as being 34 years in his obit following 1992's Death of Superman storyline. By the time Flashpoint was about to begin in 2011, he may have added a physical year or three.

Then New52 happened. Then the Smiths showed up. Then Nuperman and Superdad merged.

I'm trade-waiting but don't mind being spoiled here.

Bottom line - how old is Clark now in-story?

[Jokerz79]

I'd say mid thirties given Jon. Really with his Kryptonian DNA does his human age matter? For all we know by Kryptonian standards he might be 15

[Frontier]

Mid-thirties seems about right for how he and Lois are being depicted now, their marriage and having a kid, and the merging of Post-Crisis with New 52 Supes.

I believe the Parkers in Renew Your Vows are also supposed to be in their early 30's.

[adrikito]

Someone from DC did not mention(before Reborn) that he has 38 years old? Something that the people saw as crazy adding 10 years more for the kid putting him with almost 50 years?

Now, is nothing crazy(I think).. Changing the story(reborn) he could have the son with 28 years, and live the rest of his adventures with an inexistent son previosly..

[beetee]

Their thirties.... pretty much where they were Pre-Flashpoint

[FishyZombie]

somewhere between 34 and 38, which is the default age I've personally generally seen/prefer him as. This version just settled down and raised a family earlier.

[Sacred Knight]

Someone from DC did not mention(before Reborn) that he has 38 years old? Something that the people saw as crazy adding 10 years more for the kid putting him with almost 50 years?

Now, is nothing crazy(I think).. Changing the story(reborn) he could have the son with 28 years, and live the rest of his adventures with an inexistent son previosly..

Before Reborn he should have been in the realm of 50, and Lois. The logic being that they were their post Crisis selves, whom were late 30s, and lived an undisclosed amount of time on Telos (at least 9 months) then traveled back in time to the current Earth and lived there for an additional 10 years before present day. The early Rebirth tales when the Convergence Superman took over ignored this though, and unlike L&C where they were drawn to appear somewhat older, they were suddenly drawn pretty young again (lip service was paid to this in the Action arc where Lois stole the other Lois's life, but she still wasn't drawn to look any older). IOW, when Reborn concluded technically they were deaged a decade or so, if we take how old they should have been at the time into account. But again, that whole aspect was pretty readily ignored once he took over the main books outside the Lois identity theft storyline.

[Kuwagaton]

Yeah I'd say 34-38 sounds good. Closer to the latter.

I've always assumed that Post IC Clark was younger anyway.

[Adekis]

If he was perpetually 25-27 post-Flashpoint and perpetually in his mid to late 30s between Convergence and Reborn, and there's speculation that most of his adventures in the Reborn so-called "merged" timeline happened after his marriage to Lois-- then I see no reason why he couldn't have had Jon pretty young and be back in the perpetual 29-32 range again. Besides, to be "merged" between his last two incarnations (though honestly I think I've been pretty open with my cynicism on that front really. I think he's just Rebirth Supes with the hypertime serial number clumsily filed off) they really should give him a split-difference between his previous two ages.

[Kuwagaton]

If they averaged his age he'd be about 36. As Jurgens wrote him, he was 35 in the Doomsday Wars, which was well before Jon. He'd have to be nearly 50 in Rebirth.

[Slaughter]

Pre-Reborn, they were in their late-thirties or forties, weren't they?

I remember a pre-Flashpoint timeline, and I think Superman was in action for at least twenty years? I mean, I think that in-continuity, Death of Superman was ten years ago - going from Superman #75 and Day of Doom (written by Jurgens).

This seems especially important if you consider the presence of Remnant in Superwoman, who was the villain of Day of Doom.

New52 Superman was started around his twenties, and was by his 25 after the five-years gap. There was some implication that he had died in the New52 universe, too.

If we consider that Jon was born nine, ten years ago, then Lois had Jon shortly after the wedding - which I think was, in-chronology, a year after Death and Return. It actually makes a lot of sense, when you think about it - Clark comes back to life, decides to live life to the fullest, settle down, have a family. After all, he may never get the chance.

I think you can totally have a working chronology with that:

1. Superman in his late teens/early twenties: Emerges as Superman (Morrison's AC). T-shirt and jeans time. This is 15 years ago or so. Would be easy to meld Secret Origin and Morrison's AC.
2. Doomsday happens, say, five years later. So Doomsday happened ten years ago or so. Superman dies at 25, father and husband soon after.

There's a nice ten-years gap to insert anything one wants. Our Worlds at War, Kon-El, Cyborg-Superman, etc etc etc.

One cool thing is that this also leaves the opportunity to have the inevitable "give Jon a brother/sister" story a few years down the line.

[adrikito]

Before Reborn he should have been in the realm of 50, and Lois. The logic being that they were their post Crisis selves, whom were late 30s, and lived an undisclosed amount of time on Telos (at least 9 months) then traveled back in time to the current Earth and lived there for an additional 10 years before present day. The early Rebirth tales when the Convergence Superman took over ignored this though, and unlike L&C where they were drawn to appear somewhat older, they were suddenly drawn pretty young again (lip service was paid to this in the Action arc where Lois stole the other Lois's life, but she still wasn't drawn to look any older). IOW, when Reborn concluded technically they were deaged a decade or so, if we take how old they should have been at the time into account. But again, that whole aspect was pretty readily ignored once he took over the main books outside the Lois identity theft storyline.

WOW.. you have made this long comment. Anyway.. I'm glad to have helped

[Adekis]

If they averaged his age he'd be about 36. As Jurgens wrote him, he was 35 in the Doomsday Wars, which was well before Jon. He'd have to be nearly 50 in Rebirth.

You're taking the timeline too realistically, I think. By the same notion, if he started out at age 22 or so (a normal graduate age after 4 years of college) in Action Comics # 1, he'd still be older than 30 in Superman # 52, because of the 5 year timeskip and the five years of real-time storytelling. I don't think he's 30, I think he's "perpetually" 25, due to comic-book time. He's certainly always written as young and at least a little reckless. Similarly, Superman might have been close to 50 in Lois & Clark, but he's clearly younger in Action # 957 - and there's no obscure science-fiction tidbit to explain it away as a quirk of his alien biology either, because Lois is clearly a lot younger as well. It's just comic book time, and that's okay. They're just, you know, suddenly in their mid-30s to early-40s instead of their late forties to early fifties.

[Kuwagaton]

You're taking the timeline too realistically, I think. By the same notion, if he started out at age 22 or so (a normal graduate age after 4 years of college) in Action Comics # 1, he'd still be older than 30 in Superman # 52, because of the 5 year timeskip and the five years of real-time storytelling.

I'm not going by real time at all. If he was fifteen twenty years ago and will go on to have a ten year old son, then he becomes 45. Those numbers are exactly what has been presented on panel by this one writer.

Superman as perpetually 27 has to follow in story time logic. Otherwise, a flashback to five years ago for the new 52 version could have him the same age, because it's perpetual. It's not truly perpetual, because the story identifies him at different ages.

but he's clearly younger in Action # 957

I don't see that at all. Different artist, who has him shave. Age is the same, unless anyone involved has stated otherwise on or off panel.

[Adekis]

I'm not going by real time at all. If he was fifteen twenty years ago and will go on to have a ten year old son, then he becomes 45. Those numbers are exactly what has been presented on panel by this one writer.

Superman as perpetually 27 has to follow in story time logic. Otherwise, a flashback to five years ago for the new 52 version could have him the same age, because it's perpetual. It's not truly perpetual, because the story identifies him at different ages.


I don't see that at all. Different artist, who has him shave. Age is the same, unless anyone involved has stated otherwise on or off panel.

See, the thing about Comic Book Time is that it's completely immune to "in-story time logic". The New 52 version did seem about the same age during the flashback years in Action (starting in at least issue # 10 or so) as he did at the end of his life.

I also don't think that the Rebirth Clark looks anything approaching the same age in Action # 957 even compared to the first issue of Lois and Clark where Jon's a baby! The new artist didn't just shave off Clark's beard, he shaved off ten years minimum! But I consider visuals to be more important than the numbers. Clark never says "I'm X years old", all we have to deal with is how long it's been since Y event, and before that, how long it had been since Z event. Since he's self-evidently drawn the same age regardless of whether a story took place five, ten or twenty years ago, I feel pretty comfortable throwing age out entirely except as it relates to how old I'd guess he is in the artwork.

... This probably has something to do with my ever-increasing disdain for the concept of "canon", now that I come to think of it.