Super Supporting Characters

For about a decade and a half spanning the early 70s to the mid 80s, Clark Kent worked not as a newspaper reporter, but as anchorman for WGBS-TV. WGBS was located in the same office tower as the Daily Planet, allowing Clark to stay in contact with his regular supporting cast, folks like Lois Lane, Jimmy Olsen and Perry White...and of course, Connie Hatch, "the Planet's PUZZLE EDITOR!"

Who knew the Daily Planet had a puzzle editor? I suppose it makes sense that a major metropolitan newspaper would have one, but it's still a little strange to see one playing a role in a comic book story. And yet, odd little details like this enhance the verisimilitude of even the most outlandish stories.

As seen here, Connie inadvertently manages to provide the insight Clark needs to solve Superman's current problem. I wonder if DC or Warner Brothers ever thought of partnering with Ideal to create an S-shield variant of the Rubik's Cube?

In the story excerpt above, Clark references his nominal boss, news director Josh Coyle. Coyle made many appearances in the 70s and 80s, but vanished after Superman's character - and the world he inhabits - was rebooted by John Byrne in 1986.

It's a shame, because I've always had a soft spot for the antacid-popping Coyle. Imagine trying to produce a nightly news show with an anchorman who always showed up at the last second, or who vanished during commercial breaks.

Of course, Coyle needn't have worried, since with Superman's speed, Clark Kent could always handle emergencies and anchor the news, virtually at the same time - but Coyle wasn't privy to Kent's dual identity. Poor Josh, needlessly plagued with ulcers, all thanks to Superman!

To my knowledge, neither Connie nor Josh were ever transformed into werewolves, kidnapped by Metallo, mind-controlled to do a villain's bidding or suffered any other of the various twists and turns of fates suffered by Superman's more famous supporting characters. They were just ordinary folks in an extraordinary world, grounding some pretty crazy stories with just a touch of reality. Comic books wouldn't be the same without them.

P is for Principles...and Perry White

While re-reading my old Superman comics, I came across this panel from Action Comics #670, published back in 1991, during the last recession. Here, Daily Planet Managing Editor Perry White expresses his outrage, disgusted by the owners' decision to freeze wages and lay off workers - including Jimmy Olsen. Even Lois Lane and Clark Kent, newly engaged, lost their staff positions and were forced to do freelance work for the paper.

Perry's outrage certainly captured the zeitgeist of the era. I was just out of university and struggled for years to find meaningful employment, and of course others were even worse off. I finally landed a job at a non-profit in the mid-90s and started selling some freelance articles and haven't really looked back since, though like most people I've suffered my own economic ups and downs. Now Albertans (among most others in the world) are facing tough choices in the wake of high unemployment, wage freezes, rollbacks, unfavourable contract negotiaions...the same old 90s story all over again. Perry White wasn't just speaking for reporters, but for people like the public sector workers of Alberta, the teachers and nurses who sacrificed so much during the Klein years. Many of them left, including some friends of mine, and Alberta is certainly feeling their absence - despite the current downturn, we're still dangerously short of health care professionals.

You don't balance the books by breaking the backs of your workers. Seems like common sense to me, but it seems we have few political leaders willing to take the long view.