This article is about a fictional character. The name Klark Kent is also used as a pseudonym by Stewart Copeland.

Clark Kent is the civilian secret identity of the fictional character Superman.

Clark Kent's personality is traditionally described as being "meek" and "mild-mannered," and meant to hide his superhero alter-ego. As a result, Clark usually avoids doing things that would make himself stand out, and adopts fairly conservative and introverted mannerisms. Clark Kent's traditional wardrobe consisted of a blue suit, red necktie, black glasses, and combed-back hair. To further distinguish between his two alter egos, Clark would also speak in a slightly higher-pitched voice and slightly slouch.

When changing into his superheroic identity, Superman would usually place his Clark Kent clothes in a secret pouch hidden in his cape.

Clark's occupation is as a reporter for the fictional city of Metropolis' newspaper, the Daily Planet. Coworkers there include Lois Lane, Jimmy Olsen, and the newspaper's editor-in-chief, Perry White.

As a result of Clark's personality, he traditionally found himself snubbed romantically by Lois Lane, who usually thought of him as too much of a wimp. More recent comics have reversed this, however, with Clark successfully proposing marriage to Lois in the early 1990s; eventually, Clark and Lois were wed in 1996's Superman: The Wedding Album.

Clark Kent traditionally lived at 344 Clinton St., Apt. 3B, a modest apartment building in midtown Metropolis. In the recent comics, the married Clark and Lois live in an apartment at 1938 Sullivan Lane.

History

Over the years, the comics have presented three major different versions of Clark Kent, with differing details.

Golden Age

In the original Golden Age comics, an infant from Krypton (originally named "Kal-L," later changed to "Kal-El" by the 1950s comics) landed on Earth during the ending years of World War I, and was adopted by John and Mary Kent (also sometimes called Sara and Eben Kent) of Smallville. Over time, Clark slowly discovered that he possessed an array of superpowers.

In 1938, Clark found himself orphaned again, as his foster parents had both passed away. He decided to move to Metropolis, and began work at the Daily Star (the name was changed to the Daily Planet in the 1940s) as a reporter. He also began his superhero career as Superman at this time.

After the establishment of DC Comics' multiverse in the 1960s, it was declared that this version of Clark Kent existed on the parallel dimension world Earth-Two, home of the Justice Society. Explaining away the changes made in the earliest comics, it was decided that the Daily Star existed only on Earth-Two, while the Daily Planet was its Earth-One counterpart. In a similar fashion, Clark's birth name on Earth-Two was "Kal-L," while his birth name on Earth-One was "Kal-El."

It was revealed in a series of flashback stories in the 1970s that the Earth-Two Clark had married his world's Lois Lane in the 1950s, after a spell cast by the Justice Society foe the Wizard caused Clark to forget about his superheroic alter-ego, and allowed him to behave in a less introverted and more "natural" manner, which attracted the attention of Lois. The same flashback stories also revealed that Clark became the editor-in-chief of the Daily Star.

In the aftermath of Crisis on Infinite Earths, this version of Clark was written out of continuity, and both he and Lois were sent to a paradise-like alternate dimension to spend eternity together.

Silver Age

In the Silver Age or Earth-One continuity (i.e. comics published starting circa 1955 and up through 1986), the two-year-old Kal-El of Krypton was discovered by Jonathan and Martha Kent of Smallville, soon after his spaceship had landed on Earth. Adopting the infant and renaming him "Clark" (using Martha's maiden name), they raised the infant on their farm outside Smallville, where they soon discovered Clark had amazing superpowers (fueled by Earth's yellow sun and a lower gravity than the red sun orbited by Krypton).

The Kents sold their farm while Clark was in preschool, and moved into Smallville (next door to Lana Lang), where they bought a general store. At the age of eight, Clark adopted the superhero identity of Superboy, and fought crime in Smallville until he moved to Metropolis after high school and the deaths of the Kents. There, Clark attended Metropolis University, changed his name to 'Superman' sometime during his junior or senior year, and after graduating with a bachelor's degree in journalism, went to work at the Daily Planet.

While Clark stayed single through the entire Silver Age, various stories that took place in alternate futures strongly suggested that he would eventually marry Lois.

In the anthology comic Superman Family in the 1970s and 1980s, a regular series of stories called The Private Life of Clark Kent featured Clark in tales in which he did not change into Superman, but instead had adventures that required he use his powers more subtly.

Modern Age

After comics writer John Byrne rewrote Superman's origin in the miniseries Man of Steel in 1986, various aspects of the above versions of Clark were radically changed.

In this revised version, Kal-El was sent to Earth as a fetus in a "birthing matrix" with a rocket engine attached, and was fully "born" once he landed on Earth where, as above, he was found by Jonathan and Martha Kent. Raised on the Kents' farm outside Smallville, Clark slowly gained superpowers, with said powers fully emerging around his senior year in high school. After graduating, he confided to Lana Lang about his powers, and then left Smallville to travel and explore the world for several years.

After this, Clark moved to Metropolis, and enrolled in Metropolis University. After graduating with a degree in journalism, Clark was hired by the Daily Planet, where he met Lois Lane. In the early 1990s, Clark successfully managed to propose marriage to Lois, and revealed to her his secret identity. In 1996, the two were wed in Superman: The Wedding Album.

This version of Clark was written to be much more aggressive than his Golden Age or Silver Age counterparts; he was presented as Smallville High School's top football player, a Pulitzer Prize winning writer, and particularly self-confident. This might stem from the decision by Byrne to make Clark the dominant emphasis instead of Superman, and also the result of being updated for the 1980s.

The 2004 miniseries Birthright has altered aspects of Clark's origins yet again; what impact on Clark's comic portrayal this will have remain to be revealed.

Kent Family History

In the current Superman continuity, it was revealed that the Kent family in the 19th century were noted abolitionists who assisted the personnel of the Underground Railroad, like Harriet Tubman. The family moved to the territory of Kansas to promote the cause of creating a free state by running a newspaper for the region.

Unfortunately, the family patriarch was murdered by Border Ruffians who wanted to silence him. Furthermore, the sons, Nathaniel and Jeb, argued and had a parting of the ways so deep about slavery that they found themselves on opposing sides of the American Civil War with Jeb fighting with the notorious Confederate guerrilla unit lead by William Quantrill. Nathaniel fought for the North and married a half-Native American woman who gave him a special traditional spiritual symbol that was apparently a forerunner and inspiration for Superman's chest symbol.

After the war, Nathaniel became a sheriff in Smallville, while Jeb became the leader of a group of bandits. Eventually, Jeb discovered he had a son out of wedlock years ago, and allowed him to join his gang. Unfortunately, his son turned out to be a murderous sociopath and Jeb approached his estranged brother to arrange a trap to stop his son.

Unfortunately in springing the trap, the son mortally wounded his father before being killed himself and Jeb fully reconciled with Nate before dying. Nate remained in Smallville and there the Kents have stayed for generations, including Jonathan and Martha Kent, Superman's adoptive parents.

Other Versions

Smallville

In the WB network television series Smallville, the boy known today as Clark Kent (played by Tom Welling arrived as a young child in a space ship that crashed near the farm of Martha and Jonathan Kent years ago during a meteor shower in Smallville, Kansas. The Kents named him Clark after Martha's maiden name. Jonathan and Martha took the boy home, where he shocked them by crawling under a bed and lifting the 500 pound wood frame over his head. The Kents decided to take Clark to a doctor, but while waiting to see the doctor Martha warned Jonathan if they told anyone about his abilities they'd never see Clark again, so they went home. With the help of Lionel Luthor the Kents were able to fake an adoption of the boy. In return for helping the Kents, Lionel asked them to aid him in a business deal in Smallville, something they later regretted.

When Clark first started school he met young Pete Ross. When Clark and Pete were attacked by a school bully, Clark impressed everyone by throwing the boy through a door, but after that he learned to better hide his abilities.

Clark and Pete used to hang out with another boy named Greg Arkin, but then later they grew apart as Greg became obsessed with insects.

Clark set up the loft in the Kent barn as his own, his father referring to it as his Fortress of Solitude.

In 8th grade a girl named Chloe Sullivan joined school with Clark. She had moved to Smallville from Metropolis and Clark was assigned to show her around school. When Clark invited her back to his barn she kissed him, his first kiss.

Clark later attended Smallville High, where he worked in the school paper and made good friends with Chloe Sullivan. Clark developed a crush on schoolmate Lana Lang, but she dated school jock Whitney Fordman.

Clark saved the wealthy Alexander "Lex" Luthor from a car crash, and since then Lex has tried to help Clark, while being suspicious of Clark's abilities. Clark's parents told him of his unworldly origin, this lead to guilt over the all the bad things that have happened in Smallville because of the meteors. Clark did his best to make things better for others and together with Pete and Chloe started to investigate strange happenings in Smallville linked to the meteor shower.

Clark came into conflict with Greg when he was transformed into an insect-boy thanks to the meteor rocks. Greg was killed in the fight with Clark.

Clark developed the ability to see through solid matter about the same time he first came into conflict with Tina Greer. Tina had gained the ability to change shape and had increased strength because of exposure to meteor rocks, but Clark uncovered a plot by her to take over Lana's life.

The Kents took in a young runaway boy named Ryan who could read minds. Ryan learned Clark's secret, but because he saw Clark as a hero and older brother, he kept the secret.

When Pete discovered the space ship Clark came to Earth in, Clark revealed his secret. Although Pete was shocked at first, he kept Clark's secret and their friendship became closer.

Clark learned he could emit infra-red wavelength beams from his eyes.

Clark was exposed to a red meteor fragment, which altered his personality to be more amoral for a short time, but he was cured.

After being exposed to a piece of alien technology Clark learned to read the language on artifacts on his space ship. Clark eventually learned from a scientist that his ship came from a planet called Krypton, and named the meteor fragments that fell with his ship kryptonite.

Clark is a human looking alien. He has powers beyond those of mortal men. He has great strength, enabling him to lift cars with ease. He can move so quickly he is a blur to others and can resist most conventional physical damage. He has displayed the ability to see through objects and has at least a small level of telescopic vision. He can emit infra-red beams from his eyes. Clark is also capable of making lightning fast calculations rivaling that of a computer and has a photographic memory. Clark has proven immune to telepathic mind reading, something that the Comic Book Superman was not. (nor from attacks by Psionics/magic.)

Clark has recently displayed enhanced hearing. His powers seem to be increasing with age, and it is possible he will discover other abilities as he grows up. Clark once dreamed he was flying and woke up floating over his bed, but he cannot control that ability. Clark is diminished by the presence of green meteorite fragments, which he has dubbed kryptonite, which litter the ground in Smallville. Although he can be hurt when under its influence, he will heal from any damage quickly when away from the fragments. The rarer red kryptonite does not affect him physically, but seems to cloud his judgement, making him wilder and less inhibited. Clark's powers were once transferred to someone else when they were struck by lightning while near green kryptonite, but another electrical jolt transferred them back to Clark.

External links

• Superman Through the Ages