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Clark Joesph Kent, is a fictional character created by Joe Shuster and Jerry Siegel as civilian secret identity of the superhero Superman.
Overview Clark Kent's name is a combination of the names of actors, Clark Gable and Kent Taylor. His physical design is believed to be modeled after science fiction fan Walter Dennis, who sent Joe Shuster his photograph. Through the popularity of his Superman alter ego, the personality, concept, and name of Clark Kent have become ingrained in popular culture as well, becoming synonymous with secret identities and innocuous fronts for ulterior motives and activities. First written in the earliest Superman comics, Clark Kent's primary purpose was to fulfill the perceived dramatic requirement that a costumed superhero cannot stay on-duty twenty-four hours a day, or throughout the entirety of a comic book series. As such, Kent acted as little more than a front for Superman's activities. Although his name and history were taken from his early life with his adoptive Earth parents, everything about Kent was staged for the benefit of his alternate identity—he acquired a job as a reporter for the Daily Planet for the convenience of receiving late-breaking news before the general public, providing an excuse for being present at crime scenes and having an occupation where his whereabouts do not have to be strictly accounted for as long as he makes his story deadlines. However, in order to draw attention away from the correlation between Kent and Superman, Clark Kent adopted a largely passive and introverted personality, applying conservative mannerisms, a higher-pitched voice, and a slight slouch. This personality is typically described as "mild-mannered," perhaps most famously by the opening narration of Max Fleischer's ''Superman'' animated theatrical shorts. These traits extended into Kent's wardrobe, which typically consists of a softly colored business suit, a red necktie, black-rimmed glasses, combed-back hair and, occasionally, a fedora. Kent wears his Superman costume underneath his street clothes, which lends itself to easy transference between the two personalities. However, the purpose of this convention outside of fiction is largely dramatic, allowing Kent to rip open his shirt and reveal the familiar "S" insignia when called into action. When in action, Superman usually stores his Clark Kent clothing inside a secret pouch hidden inside of his cape, though some stories have shown him leaving his clothes in some covert location (usually places like phone booths) for later retrieval. In the wake of John Byrne's The Man of Steel reboot of Superman continuity, many traditional aspects of Clark Kent were dropped in favor of giving him a more aggressive and extroverted personality, including such aspects as making Kent a top football player in high school, along with being a successful author. Recently, some aspects of this change have been dropped, in favor of bringing back elements of the earlier, "mild-mannered" version of Kent. Feeling that Clark is the real person and that Clark is not afraid to be himself in his civilian identity, John Byrne has stated in interviews that he took inspiration for this portrayal from the George Reeves version of Superman. Adopted by Jonathan Kent and his wife Martha Kent of Smallville, USA, Clark (and thus Superman) was raised with the values of a typical small, rural American town. Most continuities state that the Kents had been unable to have biological children. In the traditional versions of his origin, after the Kents retrieved Clark from his rocket, they brought him to the Smallville Orphanage, and returned a few days later to formally adopt the orphan, giving him as a first name Martha's maiden name, "Clark." In John Byrne's 1986 origin version The Man of Steel, instead of an orphanage, the Kents passed Clark off as their biologically-born son (after a lengthy months-long snowstorm trapped them on their farm). In the Silver Age comics continuity, Clark gained superpowers upon landing on Earth, and gradually learned to master them, adopting the superhero identity of Superboy at the age of eight. He subsequently developed Clark's timid demeanor as a means of ensuring that no one would suspect any connection between the two alter-egos. In Metropolis, Superman (as Clark Kent) works as a reporter at the Planet, "a great metropolitan newspaper" which allows him to keep track of ongoing events where he might be of help. Largely working on his own, his identity is easily kept secret. He sees his job as a journalist as an extension of his Superman responsibilities, bringing truth to the forefront and fighting for the little man. * Fellow reporter Lois Lane became the object of Clark's/Superman's romantic affection. Lois' affection for Superman and her rejection of Clark's clumsy advances have been a recurring theme in Superman comics, television, and movies. Secret identity security
Identity change as plot device When crises arise, Clark quickly changes into Superman. In the Fleischer animated series of theatrical cartoons, he often ducked into a telephone booth to make the transformation. In the comic books and in the Reeves television series, he favors the Daily Planet's storeroom. In Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, Clark's usual method of changing was to either "suddenly" remember something urgent that required his immediate attention or leave the room/area under the pretense of contacting a source, summoning the police, heading to a breaking story's location, etc. As a dramatic plot device, Clark often has to quickly improvise in order to find a way to change unnoticed. For example, in the first Christopher Reeve film, Kent is comically unable to use a newer, open-kiosk pay phone, runs down the street and rips his shirt to reveal his Super-suit underneath and he enters a revolving door and changes clothes while spinning within it at superspeed. Thus made invisible, he appeared to enter the building as Kent and exit seconds later as Superman. Which is the real "Identity"? A relatively recent debate is which of the two identities (Superman or Clark Kent) is the real person and which is the facade. Pre-Crisis interpretations of Superman very much assumed that Clark Kent was the "mask" and Kal-El the person. (In the classic story "", when Superman's dual life is revealed, he completely abandons his Clark Kent persona.) With John Byrne's more assertive revamp of Clark Kent as well as Superman's greater grounding in Earth culture and humanity (as opposed to the everpresent Kryptonian heritage of the Pre-Crisis version), Superman is considered the "mask" and Clark the person. This is made explicit by Clark himself in Superman Many fans and Superman scholars believe there to actually be three interpretations. There is firstly, Kal-El (otherwise known to fans as 'Smallville Clark'). Kal-El reveals himself only around trusted friends and family, particularly whilst on the farm with Martha, or in moments alone with Lois. He is a regular guy, brave, and moral. Kal-El then wears two other masks: that of the heroic Superman, and that of the bumbling and goofy Clark Kent (otherwise known as 'Metropolis Clark'). It should be noted that "bumbling" Clark is an act - it is not the real Kal-El. Therefore, there are basically three interpretations of the same person. This idea has appeared in comics, in a pre-Crisis story by Alan Moore in DC Comics Presents Other concepts have become the current accepted canon in most modern versions of the Superman myth. (For example, in the DC animated universe Superman cartoon episode "The Late Mr. Kent" wherein Clark Kent is presumed dead, Superman expresses frustration at the idea of not being Clark and having to be someone else instead, because, in his words "I am Clark Kent. I need to be Clark. I'd go crazy if I'd have to be Superman all the time.") Since , a combination of the Kal-El concept and the animated/Man of Steel Clark has gained prominence, with the real persona being what Mark Waid calls "Smallville Clark", as opposed to "Metropolis Clark". In other media
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