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Clark Kent quits Daily Planet gig in newest Superman issue

Clark Kent quits the Daily Planet in this week's 'Superman' – a move that is both a shock to fans and a blow to the field of journalism.

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DC Comics/AP
Clark Kent – who, as Superman, holds the Daily Planet globe over his head on the cover of 'Superman' No. 1 – will be quitting his job at the paper in issue No. 13.
  • By Molly Driscoll Staff Writer

It’s a rough time for journalism: Even Clark Kent is throwing in the towel.

Superman’s human alter ego Clark Kent will quit his job at the Daily Planet in this week's latest edition of "Superman." Kent quits after becoming angry over what he sees as the industry’s declining standards.

In Wednesday’s edition, which will be “Superman” issue No. 13, writer Scott Lobdell said personal issues will cause Kent to vent his frustrations by quitting his job in front of the Planet staff. A 2011 reboot of the Superman story broke up the marriage of Superman and flame Lois Lane, and Lobdell said that Kent’s feelings for Lane – despite his fling with Wonder Woman – are part of what brings about Kent’s resignation.

“This is really what happens when a 27-year-old guy is behind a desk and he has to take instruction from a larger conglomerate with concerns that aren't really his own,” Lobdell told USA Today. “Superman is arguably the most powerful person on the planet, but how long can he sit at his desk with someone breathing down his neck and treating him like the least important person in the world?”

Kent objects to recent coverage by the Daily Planet, including a story Lane did on a sex scandal which he sees as lowering the standards of the paper.

Lobdell said Kent won’t be applying at other newspapers in town.

“He is more likely to start the next Huffington Post or the next Drudge Report than he is to go find someone else to get assignments or draw a paycheck from,” the writer said.

Writers have tried to move Kent into new media before. In a 1971 plotline, after Galaxy Broadcasting System president Morgan Edge bought the Daily Planet, Edge combined the newspaper’s building with the studios for the TV station WGBS and made Kent the anchor for the channel’s nightly news. At another point, Superman nemesis Lex Luthor bought the Planet, fired almost everyone and created LexCom, a news website.

A new film adaptation of the Superman story titled “Man of Steel” and starring “The Tudors” actor Henry Cavill as the hero will be released this summer.

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