SUPERMAN: Best-selling (BLANK) Author

[Admiral2]

This harkens back to "The Man Of Steel" and John Byrne's run on the Superman books. It seems that back when Byrne was fresh into his reinvention of the series, he wanted to convey the notion that Clark Kent and Lois Lane were more than just newspaper reporters. As many journalists in real life have become, Byrne left a couple of hints that Clark and Lois were novelists on top of their day jobs. Now, I don't recall anything really major being developed from this notion as the Superman books went on. Byrne played with the idea and that was it, but every now and then I'm struck by the idea, and the last time I was struck it got me thinking:

Clark Kent is Superman, which means he spends a good portion of his day flying around in a strongman outfit complete with cape beating the snot out of superpowered criminals and is a member in good standing of the Justice League, which saves the universe every other Tuesday.

Given that the above is his version of RL, what kind of fiction would he think to sit down and write about? I'm serious. I've been thinking about this all day. The only answer I can come up with is Mystery fiction. It seems to me that he'd write about characters that solve problems with their brains, with as little violent force applied as possible - a situation he rarely gets to enjoy.

What about you? What genre do you think Clark Kent uses up valuable electrons dallying in?

 

[Christopher]

I think Superman/Clark would probably write children's books -- something nice and sweet and wholesome and pastoral, with positive moral messages.

 

[JNG]

I dimly recall something called Under a Yellow Sun...

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

Soft core porn, obviously, just like John Boy Walton.

 

[EnderAKH]

I would bet mysteries. Use some of his journalism work as source material.

 

[Broccoli]

He'd write Batman fan-fiction.

 

[Ultimale]

If memory serves, the post-Crisis on Infinite Earths Clark Kent wrote mystery novels.

 

[S. Gomez]

He could write something non-fiction. A lot of journalists do that.

 

[Garth Rockett]

If memory serves, the post-Crisis on Infinite Earths Clark Kent wrote mystery novels.

That's my recollection as well. I also seem to recall an issue (I think when Jerry Ordway was writing and drawing Superman) when Clark is disappointed to find one of his novels on the remaindered table at a bookstore.

 

[Admiral2]

If memory serves, the post-Crisis on Infinite Earths Clark Kent wrote mystery novels.

That's my recollection as well. I also seem to recall an issue (I think when Jerry Ordway was writing and drawing Superman) when Clark is disappointed to find one of his novels on the remaindered table at a bookstore.

Okay, I guess I missed all that, but it does make sense to me. It just bothered me when I last thought about it. Garth, do you have any idea what issue that was?

Dropo: Actually, another reason I thought mystery fiction was it was a tiny dig at Batman ("See, my detective's a better detective than you, so there!")

Then Bruce Wayne takes home his autographed copy and solves the crime in two chapters.

 

[Garth Rockett]

Okay, I guess I missed all that, but it does make sense to me. It just bothered me when I last thought about it. Garth, do you have any idea what issue that was?

If I get a chance, I'll try to look for it tonight, but I'm thinking it may have been in either #49 or #50. For some reason my brain's connecting that scene with Krisis of the Krimson Kryptonite, but I could be way off base.

 

[murdough2000]

Okay, I guess I missed all that, but it does make sense to me. It just bothered me when I last thought about it. Garth, do you have any idea what issue that was?

If I get a chance, I'll try to look for it tonight, but I'm thinking it may have been in either #49 or #50. For some reason my brain's connecting that scene with Krisis of the Krimson Kryptonite, but I could be way off base.

Yeah, it's Superman #49, the first part of the Krimson Kryptonite arc and one month before Clark proposed to Lois.

 

[Broccoli]

Dropo: Actually, another reason I thought mystery fiction was it was a tiny dig at Batman ("See, my detective's a better detective than you, so there!")

Then Bruce Wayne takes home his autographed copy and solves the crime in two chapters.

I'd imagine that if Supes wrote Batman fan-fiction, it would mostly consist of Batman slipping on banana peels. I also fully believe that Clark Kent was a secret executive producer of the Adam West Batman show.

 

[Garth Rockett]

Okay, I guess I missed all that, but it does make sense to me. It just bothered me when I last thought about it. Garth, do you have any idea what issue that was?

If I get a chance, I'll try to look for it tonight, but I'm thinking it may have been in either #49 or #50. For some reason my brain's connecting that scene with Krisis of the Krimson Kryptonite, but I could be way off base.

Yeah, it's Superman #49, the first part of the Krimson Kryptonite arc and one month before Clark proposed to Lois.

I pulled that issue out last night. The novel in question was The Janus Contract. Lois notes that Clark is in good company, since he shares the remaindered table with Stephen King and J.L. Byrne.

The other Clark Kent novel titles I've found reference to are The Castellan Agenda (from Whom Gods Destroy) and the aforementioned Under A Yellow Sun.

 

[Davros]

He'd write Batman fan-fiction.

Not Batman slash fiction?

 

[Mike Farley]

It would be Batman fanfiction with a male reporter who is the male equivalent of a Mary Sue. This reporter would constantly be helping Batman solve crimes and get out of scrapes.

 

[Silvercrest]

Dropo: Actually, another reason I thought mystery fiction was it was a tiny dig at Batman ("See, my detective's a better detective than you, so there!")

Then Bruce Wayne takes home his autographed copy and solves the crime in two chapters.

I'd imagine that if Supes wrote Batman fan-fiction, it would mostly consist of Batman slipping on banana peels. I also fully believe that Clark Kent was a secret executive producer of the Adam West Batman show.

That would explain a few things.