Monday, 6 January 2014

Did The Clark Kent Of Earth-2 Grow Up In Smallville?

The Clark Kent of Earth-2 adopted his costumed, crime-fighting identity in adulthood whereas the Clark Kent of Earth-1 had been Superboy in Smallville before he became Superman in Metropolis. Later versions of Kent grew up in Smallville but adopted the superhero identity as adults in Metropolis - except for one TV Clark Kent who grew up in Smallville, then became Superboy at Shuster University, then became Superman in Metropolis.

Thus, later versions synthesize the two earliest versions.

Thesis: Kent becomes Superman in Metropolis;
Antithesis: Kent becomes Superboy in Smallville, then Superman in Metropolis;
Synthesis: Kent grows up in Smallville, then becomes Superman in Metropolis.

The Superboy period, difficult to sustain when Superman is always in the present and Superboy is always ten years behind him, was removed but Smallville as his hometown made sense and was retained. Super(man as a) boy wearing the familiar costume was a first attempt to present the young Kent but later versions, in which his powers develop although they are not yet publicized during his teens, make more sense. In the first two seasons of the Smallville TV series, we see Clark discovering X-ray vision and heat vision - and, in an emergency, flight, although he does not believe it!

My question is: when the Supermen of Earths-2 and -1 met and the latter said that he had grown up in a place called "Smallville," did the former say, "So did I," or "There is no such quaintly named town on Earth-2"?

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