In response to the previous entry, I’ve received a couple of emails pointing me to Superman #330 (December 1978), in which the writers at DC Comics finally decided to tackle the question “Why does anyone fall for Superman’s hokey disguise?”.
I remember reading that issue in the ’80s and having a good laugh at its hokey explanation. The Reader’s Digest version: Superman emits a low-level hypnotic effect emitted from his eyes. People perceive Clark Kent as being more frail and less handsome than he actually is. The effect is a manifestation of his wish that nobody makes the Clark Kent/Superman connection and is amplified by the lenses in his glasses. The lenses themselves are made of “indestructible Kryptonian plexiglass” from the rocketship that carried him to Earth, which coincidentally shattered into convenient glasses-sized circular fragments during the crash landing.
Even in the world of superhero comics, this explanation was so lame that it’s never been referred to again in the continuity of Superman comics. You can experience the explanation in its full lameness by visiting this site, which has the “meat” of the story, The Master Mesmerizer of Metropolis.
When one of your most powerful enemies can repeatedly be defeated by tricking him into saying his name backwards, your critical thinking skills will tend to atrophy.
I believe that the current explanation for why nobody makes the Clark Kent/Superman connection now stems from the Superman half of his identity: when in his Superman persona, he vibrates his face so that he photographs as a blur. It’s not as lame as the “hypno-glasses” explanation, but still…!