Judging by the surprising number of comments I’ve gotten this morning on my Green Lantern t-shirt (people recognizing it just be the logo, since there’s no words), I’m going to reconsider a conversation I had a while back with some of you.
I remember saying something about how I always thought that it was common knowledge that Superman’s “real” (Kryptonian) name was Kal-El (even before the Nicholas Cage baby thing). Several people said that I only knew that because I was a comic geek, but I was thinking that most people knew this (even if they didn’t read comics, since it was in the movies).
So, now for a completely unscientific poll: How many of you knew Superman’s Kryptonian name was Kal-El?
27 Comments
not i
i did, and i think superman sucks!
lisa didn’t even recognize the name when i told her.
Well, then I’m disqualifying your entry from my informal poll. (not because of your wife, but your bad taste)
Wait a second, I guess I won’t disqualify you since your answer supports my point, and since everyone knows that’s the point of most surveys, I will let it stand.
I didn’t and I know Sara or Avery didn’t.
not me.
I didn’t.
I did and I never read a comic book as a kid…and still have never read a complete one. Just saw the movies and paid attention.
i’ll let you borrow some real comic books. ones with realistic characters.
I thought Superman’s real name was Clark. I didn’t know he had an arabic name.
Kristi - Clark is the name that the people who found him when he landed on earth gave him (his “adopted” parents). Kal-El is the name his real parents gave him when he was born on Krypton, before they launched him into space.
Nathan - Re: “real” comic books - which ones are you referring to, specifically?
maus and blankets are good starters.
Well. If his “real” parents were “real” parents they wouldn’t have launched him into space, now would they? So I think his “real” name should be ‘Clark”, given to him by the people who cared enough to love him, care for him, stand by him, stick with him, go to parent night, attend basketball games, pay for driving school. Go Martha and Jonathan Kent!!! You did the right thing.
Sorry! This is all too close to home.
By the way. Does anyone know what Clark’s teenage nick name was?
super dork?
super four eyes?
his biological parents cared enough to not allow him to die with the rest of krypton civilization.
Yeah right. I’ve heard that kind of rationalization before.
Any way, Superman’s (Clark’s) high school nick name? Anyone?
As far as I know, he didn’t have a high school nickname.
Nathan: I’ve heard good things about both of those books, although I’ve never read them personally. However, I don’t know if I would say that comics / graphic novels that try to cover more serious issues or personal relationship stuff are the only “real” comics. I’m assuming you’re referring to the subject matter being the guideline as opposed to actual realism, since I know that maus uses animals kind of like Orwell’s Animal Farm.
There are lots of varieties of comics out there, made and enjoyed for different reasons. I would rather not put mainstream superhero books into a “lower” category than some of the other indie stuff; some of them can be serious as well, depending on the creative team.
PS - Does anyone know when the Watchmen or V for Vendetta movies are coming out?
Acording to one issue, the kids at Metropolis High nicknamed him “Specs” in honor of his black rimmed glasses. But some people say he didn’t go to Metropolis High, but instead attended Smallville High. So I guess the nickname is debatable.
Here’s one. Does anyone know why Martha and Johnathan named him Clark?
I don’t know where that “specs” thing came from - I don’t even think he wore glasses in school, unless you’re referring to some new-fangled re-written history (which happens all the time in comics) that I haven’t seen.
Clark was Martha’s maiden name.
yeah, i was mostly just calling them “real comics” to be incindiary.
i think the thing that annoys me most about superhero books is the unending serialization. if you have a good story, tell the good story and then move on. otherwise you end up with ridiculous soap opera situations where the main character has been married 15 times or has had an on and off relationship with the main chick for 40 years.
i also like that the indie artists tend to see their work through the entire process. sometimes artists and writters team up, but it not a forced relationship where each page is colored by a different person using a mandated style guide.
i don’t think the watchmen is even in production yet. last i heard paramount slashed it’s budget after seeing some pre-production work.
http://vforvendetta.warnerbros.com
Ya, the long running stuff can be a bit cheesy at times, especially when you have to start explaining time warping and stuff like that to account for most of the mainstream heroes that everyone is familiar with not being dead or at least very old senior citizens by now.
But on the other hand, there is also a geeky cool aspect to having a “universe” that has a huge history and a lot of context to build stories on; similar to the attraction of Tolkein fans to what some would consider providing too much detail about his imaginary world.
The varying creative teams can have positives and negatives as well. Especially with some of the long running characters, where the original creators can’t be doing the stories anymore, I think it’s interesting to see different people’s takes on the same concept; some you will like, and some you won’t, but some may even be better than the original. Frank Miller’s Daredevil is a good example of that; it wasn’t technically “his” character, but most people agree that his run on the book was one of the best.
We will have to plan to resume our comic book movie tradition when V for Vendetta is released; let me know if any of you want to read the book before seeing the movie.
Sounds great to me!
I know superman’s real name. Kent is the name of the couple who adopted him when he landed on earth and they named him Clark.