Metropolis/Smallville, fictional homes of Superman/Clark Kent
Superman was already an adult when he made his debut in 1938, and his Clark Kent alter ego was a reporter for the Metropolis Daily Star. He didn't start at the Daily Planet until after his radio interview. His backstory included details of his childhood in Smallville, but those specifics didn't start until the 1940s. It was mentioned that Smallville located in the Midwest, in a sleepy farming town. Smallville and Metropolis are now only a short drive apart thanks to later improvements. A significant metropolis, Metropolis had a port, airports, sizable railroad terminals, several newspapers, and radio stations. Was New York the setting? Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, who created Superman, were both from Cleveland, Ohio, and it was there that the character first appeared and developed.
Despite the fact that the city is obviously in the United States, Toronto, Canada, was a major influence on Shuster's original skyline for Metropolis. The initial comic strips were created in Cleveland with the intention of having them printed in a neighborhood newspaper. The imaginary Metropolis was developed when the comic strips were instead published as comic books. The location of Metropolis in New York State was established in Superman #2, which was published in 1939. However, there have been a variety of assertions made about Metropolis' real location, including one from the 1970s that put it in Delaware, across the bay from Gotham City, with bridges connecting the two. DC Comics officially acknowledged Metropolis' location as New York in 2019. Fans continue to argue.
Metropolis is unmistakably based on New York City, regardless of whatever state it is located in, as it features the Statue of Liberty in its port and the United Nations among its many other institutions. Smallville has also relocated on occasion, sometimes being located in Iowa or Kansas and other times being just a few hundred miles from Metropolis. Smallville was designed to instill Clark Kent/Superman with midwestern American values, whereas Metropolis served as the large, dangerous city in the original Superman stories. Since then, he as well as his fellow superheroes and the settings in which they function and live have all undergone numerous reconstructions.
- Location: fictitious location
