Is Clark Kent the Original Nerd?

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I've been reading Superman comics from the 30s and 50s lately, and boyoboy are they harsh on Clark Kent (ironically, though, since readers know he's really Superman), y'know, like, especially the really early stuff, where Lois Lanes wholeheartedly DESPISES Clark and his mild-mannerisms.
Are there any depictions of archetypal nerds in popular media that predate Clark Kent's 1938 debut?

― Huk-L (Huk-L), Monday, 8 May 2006 19:58 (nineteen years ago)

Buster Keaton?

― Tuomas (Tuomas), Monday, 8 May 2006 20:03 (nineteen years ago)

Nerd, as a stereotypical or archetypal designation, refers to somebody who pursues intellectual interests at the expense of skills that are useful in a social setting, such as communication, fashion, or physical fitness.

The American Heritage Dictionary credits Dr. Seuss as the originator of the word nerd in his 1950 book If I Ran the Zoo [1].

― s1ocki (slutsky), Monday, 8 May 2006 20:03 (nineteen years ago)

Maybe also Stan Laurel in Laurel & Hardy, but he's more of a sissy.

― Tuomas (Tuomas), Monday, 8 May 2006 20:04 (nineteen years ago)

Lois Lanes

bowling alley? indie-rock combo?

― gabbneb (gabbneb), Monday, 8 May 2006 20:05 (nineteen years ago)

No answers here, but just out of curiosity -- nerds are usually portrayed as being wimpy, whereas most (TV/film) portrayals of Clark Kent have shown him as actually being pretty buff under that suit, albeit perhaps retiring or clumsy or 'vanishing' whenever there's trouble. How do the original comics portray him?

― pleased to mitya (mitya), Monday, 8 May 2006 20:06 (nineteen years ago)

i'd say harold lloyd is nerdier than buster keaton.

― s1ocki (slutsky), Monday, 8 May 2006 20:09 (nineteen years ago)

Yeah, probably, haven't seen too many films by either of them.

― Tuomas (Tuomas), Monday, 8 May 2006 20:14 (nineteen years ago)

― electro-acoustic lycanthrope (orion), Monday, 8 May 2006 20:48 (nineteen years ago)

you could probably make a case for biblical nerds.

― -rainbow bum- (-rainbow bum-), Monday, 8 May 2006 20:55 (nineteen years ago)

Clark Kent has always been buff/solid; there's no way to make him be weedy and thin and have Superman be muscular and virile without making Superman into a shapeshifter.

― Dan (Which I'm Sure DC Did At One Point Or Another) Perry (Dan Perry), Monday, 8 May 2006 21:13 (nineteen years ago)

Is Clark Kent the Orginal Nerd?

― Dan (Haha Huk Kant Spel) Perry (Dan Perry), Monday, 8 May 2006 21:14 (nineteen years ago)

remember when superman had a mullet? or how about when he was just energy in some kind of vaguely human-looking containment suit?

― electro-acoustic lycanthrope (orion), Monday, 8 May 2006 21:14 (nineteen years ago)

I think Clark is more supposed to be a naive too wholesome farm boy than Lord Nerdlington.

Me and Slocki very recently determined the origins of the word poindexter and it involves a lawyer unsurprisingly.

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Monday, 8 May 2006 21:16 (nineteen years ago)

I feel like Charles Atlas's "98-pound weakling" was meant to be nerdy in addition to being scrawny.

― jaymc (jaymc), Monday, 8 May 2006 21:32 (nineteen years ago)

If he was so nerdy, how did he have a girlfriend worthy of stealing by the muscleface dude?

― Dan (300 Posts By Morning) Perry (Dan Perry), Monday, 8 May 2006 21:33 (nineteen years ago)

i would guess peter parker to be much more of a nerd, what with solitary hobbies like photography and his prodigious aptitude for science.

― elmo argonaut (allocryptic), Monday, 8 May 2006 21:39 (nineteen years ago)

i take it back about harold lloyd actually, despite the glasses he didn't neccessarily play very "nerdy" characters.

― s1ocki (slutsky), Monday, 8 May 2006 22:58 (nineteen years ago)

"what with solitary hobbies like photography and his prodigious aptitude for science."

not to mention sitting alone in his room coating his palms with a clear, sticky, viscuous fluid.

― Shakey Mo Collier (Shakey Mo Collier), Monday, 8 May 2006 22:59 (nineteen years ago)

everyone does it dude, not just nerds. don't pretend.

― electro-acoustic lycanthrope (orion), Monday, 8 May 2006 23:03 (nineteen years ago)

I dunno about the comics but the "Adventures of Superman" tv series did away with the "Clark Kent as wimp" personna. Kent took on about 90% of the sleuthing action and Superman pretty much showed up for the heavy lifting and clean-up duty. If I recall competently the Clark - Lois - Superman triangle didn't exist because there wasn't any sexing going on in the 50's.

Christopher Reeve really wussed it up as Clark, though. I think there was a bit of a sadistic steak written into the character where Superman toyed with Lois for her rejection of Clark.

― slugbuggy (slugbuggy), Tuesday, 9 May 2006 12:01 (nineteen years ago)

Tom Swift?

― LOL Thomas (Chris Barrus), Tuesday, 9 May 2006 13:04 (nineteen years ago)

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