Sunday, September 14, 2014

Ma and Pa Kent

You know what I'd like to read? An account of Martha and Jonathan Kent's time before they found Clark.  An account of why they were childless - are they infertile or did they have miscarriages or did they lose a child (children?) towards the end of a pregnancy?  I doubt they lost a child in late pregnancy because I don't characterise them as a couple who would deny that Clark had a sibling.  If a writer were to retcon that in, I'd have problems.  However, I can see that they never fell pregnant or that they had repeated early miscarriages.

In short, I'd like to read about who they were before they became Ma and Pa Kent, and how trying for a child affected them and how they dealt with it.

Has there been a story like this and if so where would I find it?

The Super family books have a lot to say about grief and familial connections and at some point I'll probably write something about Clark, Kara, Ma and Pa Kent, the Els and Linda Danvers.  But not today.

2 comments:

James Ashelford said...

Like most anything in DC continuity it sort of seems to swing between interpretations but most versions I've read that come from the recent period when comic characters were allowed even implied, marital sex lives suggest they were trying to conceive but couldn't.

I think the Morrison Action Comics run has a flashback that refers to Martha going through an unsuccessful IVF course but I couldn't swear to it.

Nobile said...

Yes, Morrison did write that story early in his New52 AC, a very touching one, I must say. John Byrne also quickly adresses the fact in his "Man of Steel" miniseries first issue, talking about - if I recall correctly - "two miscarriages and a dead-born baby" (!)
So yes, post-crisis Superman actually had three unborn elder siblings and he also ignored until becoming of age that Jon and Martha weren't his biological parents.