My Hero Academia solve this issue with All Mights Muscle form and switch back forth between average male and more muscular person. In Superman case let him control his molecular structure(or even muscle structure) and he would go from Brandon Routh size to Henry Cavil size. And it is not like this not something new in past they have Superman have control over his spine to kind of change height between Clark and Superman. I can live with Superman has more control over his muscular structure and visually bigger than Clark as superman. So Superman would be 6'3 225 and Clark would appear to be 6'3 215. Basically a mini hulk out where he relaxes muscles expanded to his correct size. Once you have a obvious size difference it makes the glasses and hair style change easier to take.
If you need more real world example think about weight cutting in wrestling and combat sports. They are some fighters who fought in weight classes two below their natural size so the person might weight 205 but fight at 170 pounds. For the week(s) leading up to fight they dehydrate their body of water to make weight. Once they weigh in, they drink water and rehydrate and they go from 170 to close to their natural weight. So crazy size shifts are not unrealistic you just need the psuedo science reason why he can do this and Clark being from Kansas were high school wrestling is a bigger thing than most place. It wouldn't be hard tell a story about where he learned he could control his size.
I think most of these are already done, more-or-less. He has a different personality, it wears loose clothes, the glasses dull his eye color, his voice is different, etc. The cast part isn't doable for narrative reasons, and while facial hair isn't too bad of an idea, I'm not too crazy about it.
Here's the problem with the premise, though: 9 times out of 10, the "anti-Superman" people aren't starting from a genuine critique: they're spouting off something they've half payed attention to someone else say, and parroting it like lemming walking off a cliff (for anybody who played that old game, lol)
You can show them how many of these things exist, and they don't care: they just see what they want to see. I do think that recent movies *ahem* could have shown these differences a heck of a lot better.. or at all... and that would have been a step in the right direction. But a number of people still were throwing around "well, Superman's too perfect and not flawed enough" when talking about what the Batman V Superman matchup would be like. That proves that they don't really pay attention.
So, while it's an interesting exercise for it's own sake, I don't think we should worry too much about those people. Not worth our time.
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^This^. You don't even have to characterize it as shape shifting, but advanced muscular control that lets him alter the contours of his nose, hairline, jowls, cheekbones, and eyelids enough to confound recognition. In days when writers gave him superventriloquism, how much of a stretch would this have been? If we can do Quietly's posture tricks, face muscle control should be no issue.
Mostly don't have him interact with people as Superman that he knows as Clark Kent.
I had an idea where he uses low level heat/x-ray vision to mess with any cameras that could be recording him. Just saw it is a harmless, invisible frequency that only cameras see and causes images of him to be all whited out or something.
Indeed! I see you're a man of a similar mind to myself. = ) Interestingly, I do believe that super-mucle-control is actually one of his powers even... And he uses this ability in a Bronze Age story where Lois Lane has everyones finger-prints tested - Supes fools her by using super-muscle-control to change his finger-prints.
I like the simplicity of the glasses, kept hair, slight slouch, and slightly changed voice.
Clark's a world class actor in the sense that he can use very, very small physical shifts and add-on alterations to create the illusion of a totally different person. The explanation, as I see it, is simply that Clark's a bit more sly and clever than most give him credit.
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There's been a few times when Clark seemed to follow the fashions. In the early 1970s, he grew longer sideburns, wore white framed glasses and had flashier looking suits, with big ties (sometimes sporting a turtle neck sweater). In the 1990s, after his return from the after life, he had the long hair pulled back in a pony tail.
If Clarkie always followed fashion, he probably would have a goatee when those were popular and he'd probably have Sgt. Rock style stumble now. For 2019, he should wear dad jeans, with a button down shirt open at the neck (get rid of the tie).
I think his glasses should have a technological upgrade, so he can follow social media while he's doing other things, and can pick up on news as it happens.
Didn't read the whole thread so apologies if Im just repeating stuff here.
I think a lot of people put effort into the disguise itself (which is the main thing of course), but not necessarily any artistic tricks that the medium allows, which would subtly help sell the differences in a way that only comics can.
Colors. Superman is colored vibrantly. His skin is clear, tanned, perfect, perhaps even a little lustrous, as if he really does have a solar furnace in him and we can almost see the glow from that beneath the skin. In fact, Superman should be colored more vibrantly than most anything else on the page, with brighter, cleaner shades. It shouldn't be pronounced but it'll help set him apart; as if he's in a movie with some color gradient but he avoided it. Clark's skin on the other hand is pale, usually with the odd zit or blemish, and he's under the same color gradient as the rest of the world. Superman, of course, wears bright primary colors while Clark wears dull neutral tones in browns and grays.
Clark's clothes are not only ill-fitting, but usually rumpled and his shirt and tie always have a stain or two on them. Clark's hair is limp and flat while Superman's is thick and lush. Superman's hair is a bit longer (the s-curl, pulled straight, would reach the middle of his nose or so. Clark's hair, which is completely straight and flat, doesn't quite reach Clark's eyebrows).
Superman is 6'6''. Clark Kent is 6'2". Call it spinal contraction and super-muscle control, or a slouch v. standing very straight, or better yet don't explain it at all.
Superman has a powerful build (70% raw mass, 30% muscle definition), similar to how Alex Ross handles him; square shoulders, straight back, thick arms and obvious but not "gym bunny" defined muscle groups. Clark is just a rounded, soft lump. He's a big guy but it seems to be all fluff, with virtually no muscle definition at all. Rounded shoulders, rounded back (as if he spends all his time hunched over a computer).
Clark moves cautiously and carefully, like he's too big for the world around him but still afraid of getting hurt by it. Small, plodding steps and carefully considered motions. He has weak hand-eye coordination and while he's not clumsy enough for it really to stand out, everyone knows not to toss him anything. Superman breezes through the world as if his size were the most natural thing there is. Graceful and powerful, with swift, confident movement.
Speech. Not only do Clark and Superman have different accents, speaking patterns, and vocabularies, but the font used in dialogue should be different. Clark should have the same font style as everyone else. Superman's should be something slightly different. Clark has a mild stutter and speaks softly, rarely making concrete statements ("perhaps" "maybe"). Superman has excellent public speaking skills and a rich, strong voice that carries, and he speaks in definitive terms ("this is" "we must").
Superman is right-handed. Clark is a lefty.
Clark's glasses are thick and completely change the color of his eyes to a bland bluish-gray (or even brown). They also warp his eye-shape so you can't really tell what shape they are at all; they just overwhelm the lenses. Superman's eyes are a unnatural bright blue that would stand out on anyone.
Clark should usually be drawn in the middle-ground or even background of a panel. Even when he's the focus of the scene or in a discussion, he shouldn't be in the fore-front if the artist can avoid it. Superman should almost always be in the spotlight of a panel. Clark is socially invisible; not making him the obvious focus of the art helps make that feel more tangible.
And Superman spends as little time around Clark's co-workers as possible.
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