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Martha Kent)
| Superman Character
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| Jonathan and Martha Kent
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The Kents have been portrayed at different ages over the years.
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| Publisher
| DC Comics
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| Gender
| Male and Female
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| Species
| Human
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| Creator(s)
| (Original) Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, (Modern Age) John Byrne
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| First Appearance
| Original Version Superman #1 (1939), Modern Age Version, Man of Steel #1 (1986)
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| Profession
| Farmers
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| Affiliations
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| Special Features
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Jonathan and Martha Kent are the adopted parents of Superman in the fictional comic book world of DC Comics. They are sometimes referred to as "Ma and Pa Kent".
Silver Age Kents
In the Silver Age of Comics, Jonathan and Martha Kent found the infant Superman in a rocket that crash landed near their farm. The infant got his powers immediately under the yellow sun, and was flying around even as an infant. The couple left him at an orphanage and came back later to adopt him. The orphanage let the adoption happen with surprisingly little trouble, glad to be rid of the super-powered infant.
The Kents began as farmers, but later retired from farming (around the time that Clark started school) and started the Kent General Store in Smallville. They raised Clark with good small town values, and urged him to keep his powers a secret until he was ready to use them to help people. They continued as good parents to young Clark, and supported him in his career as Superboy, making his indestructible costume from the Kryptonian blankets he was wrapped in during his flight to earth. Unfortunately, they died from a rare tropical disease contracted during a Caribbean vacation, and never got to see their son become known as the full grown Superman.
It wasn't easy for the Silver Age Kents to keep their son's secret.
Modern Age Kents
The Kent's back story in the Modern Age of Comics was first revealed in The World of Smallville (1987) four issue mini-series, issue #s 1 & 2.
Jonathan Kent and Martha Clark grew up together in Smallville, and had always shared a "special understanding". During World War II, Jonathan was stationed in the Pacific and captured by the Japanese. For about a year, his friends and family in Smallville assumed him dead.
During that time, Martha's family got into some financial trouble, and "Old Man Fordman", the richest man in town, was about to take over the Clark General Store. Dan Fordman, the son, interceded with his father and saved the Clark's business. When his father died, Dan proposed to Martha. Martha felt grateful to Dan, and knew he was dying from cancer. With Jonathan presumed dead, she decided to marry him and do what she could to make his last years happy.
The next year, Jonathan turned up alive and returned to Smallville, not knowing what to make of Martha's marriage. When Dan died, Martha had made sure that he left the bulk of his fortune to his family. The only thing he left her was a parcel of farm land. Martha and Jonathan finally married, and started the Kent farm on that land.
The young couple tried to start a family, but after three miscarriages it seemed clear that adoption was their only alternative. When they found the rocket with the infant in it, Martha fell for him immediately, and named him "Clark" by the time she got him home. Jonathan was the first to understand Clark's extraterrestrial origins, having been a fan of the old science fiction pulps. A terrible blizzard isolated the Kent farm for five months and the Kents found that they were able to pass the child off as their own. Martha's doctor felt sorry for them and seemed to go along with the scam, so all the records show Clark as their biological son.
While the infant was clearly gifted from the beginning, Clark's powers developed slowly, the power of flight being the final one. At his point, the Kents filled Clark in on his off-world origin. When Clark returned from his odyssey traveling the world, Martha made Superman's costume and the couple helped the young man develop and recreate his identity of Clark Kent as a disguise to hide the hero behind.
The Kents have supported Clark over the years, and they remain close to him and his wife Lois Lane. The Kents helped by taking in the Matrix Supergirl, helping her to adjust to life on Earth. They also took in the modern age Superboy when he needed to retreat from the world for a while, helping him establish his Conner Kent identity. They treated both these characters as Clark's younger siblings. Martha would also make the costume of the Supergirl (Kara Zor-El) from Krypton, as she did Clark's so many years before.
All in all, the world owes a debt of gratitude to the Kents. They clearly instilled American small town values in their son, allowing him to become the hero that he is today. Kal-El may have inherited his powers from his Kryptonian parents, but Clark Kent clearly received his human heritage from his adopted parents.
Portrayals
- George Chandler and Elvia Allman played Superman’s parents in It’s A Bird, It’s a Plane, It’s Superman (1975) adapting the musical play to television. Irene Tedrow is credited in a later version.
- Eddie Jones and K Callan played Superman’s parents in the live action TV series Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman (1993)
- Swoozie Kurtz voices Martha Kent in the direct to video animated movie Superman:Doomsday (2007)
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