Very seriously for a minute or two -

[Brainiac44]

If you were Superman, would you really get a secret identity?

I mean, you'd basically waste 8 hours a day for nothing.

You can superhear, supertelescopic read or see catastrophes all over the world.  You can also use CNN, internet and so many other ways.

While these 8 hours, you could go sleep on Venus, visist the interior of the Sun!  If you wanted you could overtake the light rays of the Earth and verify any legendary character that's suppose to have existed and see how it really happened.  

With that extra 8 hours if you were Superman who wanted the good of the World, you could go in your Fortress and find a cure for cancer, aids and many other illnessess.  You could also invent a machine that would implode hurricanes and detect earthquakes weeks in advance.  

You could also construct a beautiful city and only bring in people that are good - remember, you'd be a lie detector yourself by hearing the pulse change when you'd interview people.  

Thoughts?  Prescription?

[Kuuga]

Firstly, you're overthinking the concept just a bit.

Secondly, your point is loaded. Those hours are not a waste.

Superman fights the battle for truth and justice on two fronts. What he does as Clark tells him more about where he is needed as Superman. Sometimes he can do more good with being a reporter than he can swooping out of the sky as Superman. Besides, an honest investigative reporter with x-ray vision and super-speed who's on our side is a pretty cool thing in and of itself. Clark continues his quest using one power people forget he has, the power of the press.

Now given what the media has become of late, it might be hard to see it that way but Clark Kent represents a much more sincere form of journalism than we are used to in the post-CNN era. Sometimes I think the reason why Perry White is so grumpy and balding is because he fights like heck to keep his paper honest even in a world where making up the news as you go sells papers.

Also to, Superman needs a break and some sense of normalcy just like anyone else. No matter which camp you come from (Clark is the reality, Superman is the reality, they're both aspects of Kal-El) nobody can be Superman 24 hours a day. Not even Superman.

Besides consider to that a woman that he is attracted to and has feelings for is working there as well as a kid he considers his pal and an old, wise jounralism warhorse whose integrity he admires.  

Theres also prolly alot of little things about it that you and I would take for granted.  Sitting from our PCs it's easy to think "why wouldn't you want to just adventure all the time and emmerse yourself in the fantastic?" Well, just like we don't like when comics lose a sense of wonder, Superman doesn't want to lose his. It helps him remember why he does what he does.

[Captain Kal]

We had a story a few years ago where Talia Head had counted on Clark Kent's intervention as a journalist to expose Luthor's criminal activities, but Clark didn't trust his human identity so messed things up by 'saving' the day as Superman and Talia was well and truly ticked-off.  Needless to say, Luthor's villainy remained hidden thanks to that lack of confidence in the Clark persona.

[Gary]

There are a couple of Superman stories that very effectively show why the Clark identity is necessary.

One is a four-parter from the Schwartz era, Who Took the Super Out Of Superman, which is available on this site. In part 3, Superman gives up being Clark for a week. Not only does this leave him with no way to relax and unwind, but he can't appear as Clark to testify against crooks that he'd captured.

The second is from the post-Byrne era. After the Kents, Lois, and Jimmy are nearly killed by an enemy who discovered Superman's secret identity, the big S is ready to give up being Clark. Lois (who knows the secret by this time) tells him she came looking for Clark, and she can't believe she hasn't found him yet. She goads Supes into going into a cafe, as Superman, just to buy a cup of coffee. Naturally, this causes a huge commotion, and Supey realizes how important being Clark is to him.

[Gernot]

Something's been bugging me for awhile.  

What is the NAME of the TPB that collects Who Took The Super Out Of Superman?  I'd bought it about a decade ago, and lost it in a move.      

I've been lookin' for it on Amazon and eBay for a couple of years, with no luck.

[nightwing]

I'm fairly certain it's this one, "The Great Superman Comic Book Collection."  I've also seen it in hardcover once, at a show.

http://cgi.ebay.com/1981-Great-Superman-Comic-Book-Collection_W0QQitemZ69829...

[Great Rao]

I never knew it was a TPB, I've only seen it as a hardcover.



That was the source material I used for the Special Edition of Who Took The Super Out Of Superman?

[TELLE]

your point is loaded. Those hours are not a waste.

Superman fights the battle for truth and justice on two fronts. What he does as Clark tells him more about where he is needed as Superman. Sometimes he can do more good with being a reporter than he can swooping out of the sky as Superman. Besides, an honest investigative reporter with x-ray vision and super-speed who's on our side is a pretty cool thing in and of itself. Clark continues his quest using one power people forget he has, the power of the press.

Now given what the media has become of late, it might be hard to see it that way but Clark Kent represents a much more sincere form of journalism than we are used to in the post-CNN era. Sometimes I think the reason why Perry White is so grumpy and balding is because he fights like heck to keep his paper honest even in a world where making up the news as you go sells papers.

Also to, Superman needs a break and some sense of normalcy just like anyone else. No matter which camp you come from (Clark is the reality, Superman is the reality, they're both aspects of Kal-El) nobody can be Superman 24 hours a day. Not even Superman.

Kuuga, this is one of the best posts I've read here in awhile.  Beautifully summed up.

I always loved the (romanticized?) version of the big city paper that Superman comics portrayed.  Almost more than the character of Superman, the idea of the crusading paper is the enduring concept that most inspires me.