Jonathan Kent
63 years ago - Jonathan Kent is born on Kent Farm, the son of Samuel & Sarah Kent.
57 years ago - 6-year-old Jonathan's mother Sarah Kent dies.
49 years ago - 14-year-old Jonathan attends Smallville High School.
48 years ago - 15-year-old Jonathan meets Martha Clark. He likes her, but she is dating Daniel Fordman.
45 years ago - 18-year-old Jonathan graduates high school and enlists in the army, and sees active combat.
40 years ago - 23-year-old Jonathan returns to the Kent Farm when his term of service is completed. He reconnects with Martha Clark, who is caring for her husband Daniel Fordman as his health declines.
39 years ago - 24-year-old Jonathan supports Martha Clark after the death of her husband Daniel Fordman.
38 years ago - 25-year-old Jonathan's father passes away, leaving him the farm. He & Martha Clark reconnect over their mutual loss.
37 years ago - 26-year-old Jonathan & Martha Clark are married. They are eager to start their family.
35 years ago - 28-year-old Jonathan & Martha Kent, after years without success having kids of their own, find Kal-El's crashed ship in the North 40 during a blizzard. Thinking that he is a human victim of a cruel experiment, they pass off the boy as their own, naming him Clark after Martha's maiden name and hiding the craft under their barn.
27 years ago - 36-year-old Jonathan's wife Martha Kent, is diagnosed with cervical cancer, and undergoes chemotherapy.
26 years ago - 37-year-old Jonathan's wife Martha Kent's parents die peacefully within several months of each other.
19 years ago - 44-year-old Jonathan & Martha Kent's son Clark Kent's powers begin to manifest. Johnathan shows him the space pod that brought him to Earth. The ship's core recognizes his DNA, and syncs with him to teach him his Kryptonian heritage. She helps him come to understand his place in the world.
17 years ago - 46-year-old Jonathan & Martha Kent's son Clark Kent leaves the farm and begins to travel the world.
13 years ago - 50-year-old Jonathan & Martha Kent's son Clark Kent returns to the farm after he is revealed in Metropolis. Together the conceive of his Superman Identity. Martha makes his first costume using the fabric found in his space pod.
10 years ago - 53-year-old Jonathan & Martha Kent help Clark Kent understand his conflict with General Zod.
7 years ago - 56-year-old Jonathan & Martha Kent first meet Lois Lane during Lana Lang's wedding, where she learns Clark Kent's secret.
6 years ago - 57-year-old Jonathan & Martha Kent agree to take in Kara Zor-El when Clark Kent recovers her from Argo.
5 years ago - 58-year-old Jonathan & Martha Kent mourn the death of Clark Kent alongside Lois Lane, When he has a heart attack, he finds himself battling demons vying for Clark's soul, and escorts his soul back to where it belongs. They stay with Clark for two months after his return.
2 years ago - 61-year-old Jonathan & Martha Kent see Clark Kent framed by President Lex Luthor for attacking the Earth. When he is exonerated and Luthor loses the presidency, they visit him when they help Kara Zor-El move to Metropolis to attend Metropolis University.
now - 63-year-old Jonathan & Martha Kent take in Cassie Sandsmark for a time as they grieve for Connor Kent until he returns to them from the future, now able to age.
Superman has been around for a LONG time. The earliest Superman comics that I read in the early 80s feel ancient to me, but even then the character had 40+ years of publication history, and had actually already undergone several major shifts in his status quo. It's hard to imagine a character like Superman, who feels so intractable, changing at all, but that's probably why it stands out so much when the version of the character you're reading is somehow something other than what you expect. It just seems WRONG.
Why mention this here? Because one element of Superman's story that has proven to be surprisingly decisive is the role of his parents, Ma & Pa Kent. A casual fan might just think of them as an element of his backstory and not a core part of the telling of his regular adventures, but there are a lot of readers, myself included, who consider them not just a vital part of Clark's story, but a vital part of the world of DC.
Why mention this here? Because one element of Superman's story that has proven to be surprisingly decisive is the role of his parents, Ma & Pa Kent. A casual fan might just think of them as an element of his backstory and not a core part of the telling of his regular adventures, but there are a lot of readers, myself included, who consider them not just a vital part of Clark's story, but a vital part of the world of DC.
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Jonathan Kent's Comic HistoryMa & Pa Kent appeared on the first page of Superman #1 in 1939. NOT Action Comics, Superman's actual first appearance from 1938, because in the earliest Superman stories no real thought was given to how he got his powers. Even once the whole 'rocketship from another planet" idea was solidly canon, the first episodes of the radio show The Adventures of Superman describe him aging to adulthood while in that rocketship and springing out of it on Earth a full grown man. Superman #1 first introduced the story that became cannon, however; that the Kents found him as a baby in his rocket... took him to an orphanage, and then later adopted him. Which seems wrong, doesn't it? Like I said... these stories have changed a LOT. Regardless, one fact remained consistent for decades; When Clark was a grown man but not yet Superman, his parents died, and his father on his deathbed made Clark promise to use his powers to help fight injustice.
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As far as Superman is concerned, Ma & Pa Kent really only ever appeared in stories that explored his origins. in 1945, however, we started to see stories about Superboy published. Superboy became almost a co-feature of Superman Comics, with just as many stories featuring this version of the character as his adult counterpart. In these stories, of course, Ma & Pa are still alive, and we get to see them both playing an active role in helping maintain his superhero identity.
Still, for decades, it was understood that Clark's parents were dead. This was true when Richard Donner made his Superman Movie, and in comics running all the way up to the Crisis in 1985. When John Byrne fully recreated the Superman mythos, one key idea was the complete removal of the concept of Superboy. It was now understood that Clark first donned his Superman costume in Metropolis as an adult. Interestingly, however, Byrne actually took lots of concepts that were prevalent during the classic Superboy comics and moved them into Clark's adult life. He now regularly visited Smallville where his old high school best friend Lana was still around, and crucially, so were his parents. They were a regular part of his story for decades, proving to be hugely important both to Clark and to his expanding cast of characters. |
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What Pa Kent taught SupermanIt's probably not necessary for us to get into why we think Jonathan & Martha should still be alive; the cases for both ways of thinking are pretty obvious. It comes down to whether you believe that the formative event of being told to go be a hero on his parents deathbed is more important that the constant support and love Clark gets from his parents in shaping who he is today. We obviously fall in the latter camp.
So instead, we wanted to just talk about what makes the Kents so special. Superman is basically just a power fantasy, but what makes him interesting is to deep dive into his motivations and understand how this man can be who he is... and that comes directly from these two people. While we imagine that Ma Kent is largely responsible for Clarks deep sense of empathy, to us what he got from Pa is his unique sense of responsiblity. Clark sees his powers as an opportunity to help people, and feels legitimately privledged to do so. Certain depictions of him aside, it's Jonathan Kent who really put Clark on the path to become the decent, helpful man he became. |
Our Jonathan Kent StoryThis idea of the Clarks still being around has proven to be a little controversial in more recent years, particularly among creators of a certain age. Notably, Geoff Johns was actually Richard Donner's assistant on Superman and seems dedicated to restoring Donner's vision as the cannon Superman. Like we said earlier... Superman feels like such a monolith of a character, It just feels WEIRD when the version of him you're reading doesn't match what's in your head.
Canonically, Pa Kent has been depicted as a war veteran, and although we haven't gotten into which war since our sliding timeline doesn't really let us do that, we can at least make sure he has a brief history of service with the Army. We found a few minor stories about the Kents lives when they were younger that we mixed together a little into what we find was kind of a sweet but tragic little story that makes them feel like they are bonded together in a way that gives them a mutual shared wisdom about the world that can help them be a little bit special in their approach to raising their son. We also decided to use the story from the Death of Superman where Jonathan has a heart attack and helps Clark find his way back to the world of the living, which we can't help but think is a clever use of the character. |
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