The Glasses Don’t Make the Man: A short essay about the identity(s) of Clark Kent

It would be inaccurate to call Superman my favorite character. It would be even LESS accurate to say he is not my favorite. Superman just sort of hovers over the list and gives all the people on it someone to look up to. No other character can make me giddy every time they walk onto a panel or crack a huge smile across my face just by hitting a guy or telling Lex Luthor to shove it. I had Superman pajamas when I was 4. …I have Superman pajamas now. Though now they don’t have a cape. I love Superman. So WHY do I feel like I have to defend him whenever he’s brought up in conversation?

Being a huge comic geek I talk about comics a lot and conversation will usually steer toward Superman in some way. 9 times out of 10 it’s met with a scoff from some jagoff who has never read a comic book in his life. ‘Pfft. Superman’s lame.’ Read one comic book. Just ONE, any one. They’re like 22 pages, go ahead you can borrow one of mine, I’ll wait. You done? There you go, you love Superman now.

People usually give me one of two reasons for why Superman is lame; a. he’s too strong or b. how does a pair of glasses hide his identity.

I’ll tackle the strength issue first. When I get that comment thrown at me it’s usually coupled with ‘his only weakness is Kryptonite.’ Superman has five main weaknesses. He is susceptible to telepathic attacks, anything magic based, Kryptonite, red sun energy, and anyone stronger than him, which in the DC universe is a pretty long list. Kryptonite isn’t even used that much except by Lex Luthor and Metallo …and occasionally Batman. Saying Luthor uses Kryptonite too much is like saying Iron Man uses his repulsors too often. It’s just part of his character. The same goes for Metallo who is powered by green K. Batman uses it for the same reasons Lex does. Despite the gadgets and the cars and the money, Bruce is just a man. The K was given to him be Superman because if anyone can or should take Superman down when it needs to happen, it’s Batman. Also he’s a total dick. And who doesn’t love a good superhero slugfest? Without Superman being as strong as he is we never would’ve gotten the epic ‘World of cardboard’ speech from the final episode of Justice League Unlimited. 

Now onto the identity issue. I want to talk about how I see his separate identities and what they each mean to him as a character but first I’ll talk about hiding them. 

The glasses. 

Everyone brings up the glasses. A lot more goes into hiding Clark Kent than the glasses but they are a factor. This is perfectly illustrated on this page from Superman Birthright #2:

The eyes are the window to the soul, change how they look and you can be a different person. I don’t even wear big thick glasses anymore and even when I take off my small wireframes people I’ve known for years take a minute to recognize me. Unless you’re Lois Lane you maybe see Superman up close once in your lifetime and you probably never see Clark Kent. This is why I maintain that Lois Lane has always known Clark Kent is Superman. Pre-crisis the lenses in the frames were made from a Kryptonian element that hypnotized people into forgetting Clark’s face but that was dropped almost as quickly as it was implemented into the story. Superman will also vibrate his face sometimes while being photographed or filmed but that doesn’t really come up in the stories anymore either. 

The clothing and posture. 

In Green Lantern #44 Hal brings up the glasses issue (everyone brings up the glasses). Barry tells him ‘Clark slouches, wears clothes two sizes too big and raises his voice an octave.’ This is also addressed in the same issue of Birthright: 

In this book they also explain that Clark studied the Meisner technique so that he can seamlessly move between his Clark and Superman personas. He puts work into this. Clark doesn’t just throw a button down shirt over the big red S and walk into the Daily Planet. Constantly on his toes he has to make sure to be in character at all times, even if that means he has to embarrass himself to keep his secret. Christopher Reeve described playing Clark in Richard Donner’s Superman films as ‘playing Superman playing Clark.’ His performance would come to be known as the definitive Superman for many and was echoed perfectly by Brandon Routh in Bryan Singer’s Superman Returns. This also brings up the ultimate Superman question; which is the real identity? Clark or Superman? 

When acting as Superman, Clark speaks in a deep tone, stands up straight and has to be demanding. He’s Superman. He’s someone that everybody has to look up to. Superman isn’t allowed to slip up. Superman can’t goof around. He’s a professional. He is the man. He is Superman.

But as Clark he has to be bumbling and quiet. Clark is everything Superman is not. Clark spills coffee and asks Perry White to repeat himself. Clark Kent sits at his desk, types and pines over Lois Lane but is too afraid to say anything to her. He’s not all wimp, though. Being an investigative reporter in the high paced, demanding Daily Planet offices he has to be assertive and needs to do whatever necessary to get what he needs for an article.  

Most people go for the ‘Clark is the real mask’ defense like Bill in Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill stating that he wakes up as Superman and has to act like us to blend in with us. I think it’s more complicated than that. Like I said before, he puts on an act as Superman. He needs to puff out his chest and be Captain NoFun when he’s on the job.

To me, the real Clark Kent is the guy at his parent’s dinner table in a white t shirt and blue jeans for dinner after helping Pa plow the fields. Maybe he’s got the glasses on, maybe he doesn’t. He’s got the costume on under his clothes but he doesn’t need to hide it. Around his parents Clark doesn’t need to put on any masks. He can just be himself. Even around Lois he’s still putting on a bit of an act as we all do around any kind of significant other. But on the Kent farm he gets to be the big farmboy throwing a football to Krypto and telling his mom what a dick Lex Luthor was this week.  

And people tell me Superman has no depth.