>>111891105I guess my thing with Clark Kent is that when they go too much into the "clumsy oaf" direction, then it makes the character seem disingenuous, like he's putting on this act instead of just letting himself be a person. And that makes that Kill Bill villain's interpretation of Superman actually have some validity, and makes him seem like a bit of an asshole making a mockery of all his coworkers and friends.
But when they go too far in the other direction of making Clark Kent this self-assured Chad recognized for his groundbreaking journalism (ala the Byrne version), suddenly there isn't enough contrast between Clark Kent and Superman, and the dual identity is robbed of what makes it fun.
It's gotta be somewhere in the middle. Clark Kent is geeky and mild-mannered and a bit timid, but he's not Steve Urkel constantly dropping shit and tripping over things (unless he's specifically doing it to mask the fact that he's saving somebody, like "bumping into somebody" to push them out of the way of a piano falling on their head or something). He's also not a pitiable coward.
