The idea of superheroes is ever-present in our society, and for good reason. Thusly, the question often comes up with new acquaintances, “Who’s your favorite superhero?” Usually, they’ll probably say Batman or Iron Man, maybe Captain America, sometimes the Flash. But nowadays you very rarely hear Superman as an answer. And while I do agree the DCEU interpretation being horrendous (my personal apologies to Henry Cavill), what really enrages me is that the man from Metropolis is ‘boring.’

As a genre, comic book superheroes have been around since the 1940s, and Clark Kent was one of the very first. And as most know, the majority of comic book creators in the early eras were Jewish, and found an outlet of expression of their struggles within the characters they created. Clark Kent (and also Captain America, but that’s not the point) came as an anti-thesis to the ‘ubermensch,’ the Nazi ideal of a strong, blonde-haired blue-eyed, man as the dominant race. The ‘ubermensch,’ or super man, offended many, and so Superman was born to prove these people incorrect.

Thusly, Jerry Seigel and Joe Shuster created Clark Kent, an actual Super Man to combat these ideals. Although Clark was quite strong and large in appearance, he was created using dark hair, a clear message shown through Semitic features. Hell, his name Kal-El literally translates to “Voice of God” in Hebrew. As his storyline expanded and comics got more complicated, we see clear definitive parallels between Superman and other areas of Jewish history. The first part of Clark’s origin story directly resembles Moses, a very big figure in Judaism. Much like Moses, Superman is sent away from his family to escape a dark fate, only to be adopted by kindly strangers who raised him as their own. Now feeling connected to the people of his new home, he feels obligated to use his capabilities to lead as an example to those who need it.

In regards to more modern Jewish history, one can see parallels in the immigration of Jewish people in the early 20^th century. As we delve even more into analysis, we can see that Superman has to hide his true self from the public, for fear of backlash, a story many Jews were familiar with, especially during one of the most anti-Semitic periods in history. Also, all Kryptonians in the DC continuity experience diaspora, or the scattering of a population from their origin country/area. This often resulted in families only send one person to the new country (often children), and resulted in problems with the merging of the cultures within said person. The migration Clark shows this, and we see him often struggle with balancing his identity as both a Kryptonian and a human American.

Although one can see why so many writers enjoy using Jesus allegories for Clark (looking at you, Zack Snyder), there are more appropriate allegories to be made for the character that is respectful to his history. However, that doesn’t mean the story of an alien (a bit on the nose, I agree) can’t be a voice of representation for anyone. Superman is known as a hero of the people, a regular guy fighting injustice, which can resonate with anyone if they tried hard enough. Not only has Superman helped the citizens of Metropolis and also Earth-1, he has helped in our own world, in more ways than you could imagine.

After comic books blew up in the American collective, and kids were going crazy for the Man of Steel, “The Adventures of Superman” radio show was created, broadcasted across the country for people to hear. Young writer Stetson Kennedy saw this an opportunity to be heard; but he didn’t want it to just create fictional stories, oh no, he wanted to use it to expose one of the most well-known white-supremacist groups in the United States. Yes, the Ku Klux Klan

In the 1940s, the Klan was experiencing a resurgence in popularity, most likely due to people wanting to find somebody to blame for the problems of the Great Depression. Kennedy went undercover into the group to find out its secrets, and although he tried to take the information the authorities, most wanted little to do with it. This caused Kennedy to take his information to the Superman Show, determined to make his knowledge heard. Eager to find a new villain after the World War II was over, the writers jumped on the idea, and thus the sixteen-episode series called “Clan of the Fiery Cross,” was created, finding Clark Kent fighting men in white hoods through the radio waves of 1940s-America. Throughout the program, code words and rituals of the KKK discovered by Kennedy were used, shaming the group and stripping them of credibility. Recruitment for the Klan dropped dramatically, and some stories even say Kennedy watched a man quit the Klan after his son mocked the group during their program. The KKK openly called for a ban of the program, but the popularity of the show only skyrocketed from there, showing the true power of superheroes.

Although every single writer that has had Clark Kent pass through their hands has put their own spin on him, most of the mythos has remained the same. Whether he is a farm boy built like a brick-house, who is a shy bumbling, slouching, hot mess who only feels confident in spandex, or he is a disaffected God, to ignore his history and importance to only quantify him as boring is a grave mistake on your part, as you are missing out on one of the most interesting characters out there. Because if anything, a man who feels a duty to help people due to his circumstances, is possibly the most relatable superhero of all.

If you are more interested in people’s (written much better than mine) opinions on Superman, I highly recommend these links/pieces:

“American Alien,” written by Max Landis provides an amazing new take on the character of Clark Kent, showing his life and how it has shaped the persona of the Man of Steel.

"Lois Lane going to Clark’s house," written via Tumblr, provides a hilarious look into Clark acting normal

"Joker trying to hurt Clark," which is similar to the above link, shows Clark once again trying to act normal

A collection of pictures of artists drawing both Clark and Superman

Right here is an actual scene from “Superman #39” which really gives insight into Clark's psyche and motivations

"The Trouble With Superman" by the Atlantic, an amazing piece who sums up basically everything I said