It's Superman! is a novel by Tom De Haven based on the comic book superhero Superman. It was released on September 15, 2005, in hardcover and August 29, 2006, in paperback. The premise tells the tale of Clark Kent's beginnings into becoming Superman, set in the 1930s, where Clark befriends a wrongly convicted photographer named Willi Berg, and is then taken from Kansas to Hollywood and finally in New York where he meets Lois Lane, fights Lex Luthor, as he debuts in his superhero persona. Despite the setting, this is not about the Golden Age Superman also known as the Superman of Earth-2. Rather, it's a Superman period piece set in the 1930s.
Plot In Smallville, Kansas, of 1935, Clark Kent is interviewed by the local sheriff over the death of a wanted man that Clark confronted at the local movie theatre. They believe the man died from his handgun firing backwards, but Clark and his father, Jonathan Kent, know the real truth: the man fired his gun at Clark, and the bullet bounced off Clark's forehead, killing the wanted man instead. Clark is scared over what he is becoming, with his father providing no answers to his questions. To make matters worse, Clark's beloved mother, Martha Kent, dies of a terminal illness not soon after. In Manhattan, Willi Berg storms out from his girlfriend, Lois Lane's, apartment over an argument concerning getting his camera from the pawn shop, so he decides to steal it. Arriving, he discovers several men dead, and gets wounded by the gang when he tries to escape after seeing the face of their leader: Lex Luthor, New York's leading Alderman. Lex frames Willi for the murders, with no one believing Willi's truth of the events. A henchwoman attempts to murder Willi at the hospital when she is stopped by federal agents, led by Meyer Lansky. With their help, and Lois's, Willi goes on the run, finding himself in Smallville as a member of the WPA. He meets Clark, now a reporter for the Smallville Herald Progress, and befriends him after he shows off his superspeed. After solving the crime of a kidnapped child that ends tragically, Clark quits the paper and Willi proposes for them to leave Smallville and travel. Because he wants to see what else is out there, Clark agrees.
In 1937, Clark has a job as a Hollywood stuntman, and is dating costume designer Diana Dewey. Willi meets with Lois' former roommate, Skinny, where he is found by police and is arrested. Clark tries out a costume that was made for a canceled science fiction film: a blue leotard with a red cape and a red and black "S". After he discovers his ability to fly, Clark puts on the costume and frees Willi from the police. Clark and Willi head back to New York where they meet back up with Lois, now a reporter for the Daily Planet. Clark falls instantly in love with Lois, and at their new apartment, they describe their "friend" who freed Willi from the cops: Superman. Lois reveals the case that had been building against Lex Luthor has been dropped, due to the death of the head agent of the case, and the missing evidence. Willi becomes depressed, as the odds his name being cleared for murder now seems impossible. In a shocking turn of events, Lex announces his resignation from his Alderman position, and from his company, LUTHOR Corp., he initiates the construction of weaponized robots dubbed "Lexbots".
On Halloween Night, Clark tries to cheer up Willi as they walk throughout the city. At the same time, Lois joins her former boyfriend, an ex-cop named Ben, when he is called by Ceil Stickowski, widow of one of Lex' old henchmen, who wants to reveal secret information on Luthor's plans. A gun fight occurs outside between them and henchman Paulie Scaffa, who murders Ceil in the process and shoots Ben. Paulie takes off until he is stopped by Clark, wearing his Superman costume. He damages the car to get Paulie out, but it causes a Lexbot to activate from inside the trunk, and attack Superman. After the Lexbot goes haywire, destroying city blocks that leaves several building on fire. a bruised and exhausted Superman finally destroys the robot and escapes when police arrive. Lois is "introduced" to Superman, while they find a piece of the robot with the LUTHOR Corp. logo on it. Thanks to both that and Clark's article on Superman himself, Lex Luthor is called to be arrested, while Clark gets a job at the Daily Planet. Before he is arrested, Superman meets with Lex at his home; as Lex talks about how similar the two are, making them "perfect rivals", Lex forces his assistant to jump from the window. Superman saves the assistant, but Luthor escapes.
In the closing chapter, the central characters watch the play Our Town in February 1938, while Clark reflects on what has happened to him and Superman since that night. While he has saved countless lives, and was given a new more powerful costume with a red and yellow "S" by a still on the run Lex Luthor, Clark sometimes hates his Superman persona because of the pressures put upon him. He is reluctant to have a chat with FDR, and is heartbroken that Lois dislikes Clark but loves Superman. As the play ends, he thinks of what his father said to him just before he died recently; to use his powers for good, as not doing so wouldn't be fair for everyone. Lois notices Clark sobbing in his theater box and, surprised by her own concern, calls out to him. She finally gains his attention by throwing a shoe at him, and when she sees Clark takes off his glasses, she develops the classic suspicion that Clark and Superman are one and the same. At the same time, Clark realizes that he will love her for the rest of his life and that love will fuel him to do his best for the world. He has struggled through the entire book to feel "like everyone else", and now, he is "like everyone else".
Main characters Clark Kent is the protagonist, who later goes by the alter ego of Superman. The adopted son of farmers Jonathan and Martha Kent, Clark is a shy, quiet and insecure young man who feels "there" in society because of his alienation. He possesses "talents" such as super strength, speed, flight, and much more. No matter how many people he is surrounded by, he feels alone. This is because he feels that they can not relate to him (ironically the only person who does is his nemesis, Lex Luthor). Unlike most mythos, Clark is given a more "human" approach, much like an "everyman", that subjects him with the same humane actions and temptations that would go against his comic book counterpart, while still not astraying from his "boy scout" image. Examples include an angsty brooding nature more reminiscent of Batman than Superman, and moments where he breaks the law and uses his powers to his advantage. Also unlike the mythos, Clark is unaware of his Kryptonian origins. Instead, he at one point recalls a dream where a planet is dying of old age and a scientist and his wife send their son off to a rocket ship. Plus, he is jokingly told by his father that he came "from a "wagon", suggesting it might have been an airship that dropped a bomb (under this assumption, they do not understand why a bomb would contain a baby), but it is Clark who suggests to his denying father, that he must be an alien from another planet. Willi Berg is a photographer, Lois Lane's ex-boyfriend, and, eventually, Clark Kent's best friend. Known for his past of getting into trouble; no one believes him when he is accused of murder, saying he was framed by Lex Luthor, New York's alderman. He is saved by the FBI, and with the help of Lois, gets a job with the WPA, where he meets Clark. It is because of Willi that Clark develops his powers, leaves Smallville, and he and Clark together create Clark's dual-identity, making Clark and Superman two separate people. It is alluded that Willi intended to use Clark and his abilities for his own purposes to get him out of the jam he was in, but went against that idea as he was starting to like Clark. Willi dyes his hair red while on the lam, making him reminiscent of the Daily Planet's red-headed photographer, Jimmy Olsen (who does not appear in this book, though was going to be Willi's false identity when he was on the run in the original proposal). Lois Lane begins as a student at Columbia University journalism school, before becoming a reporter for the Daily Planet. Described as a "pistol" by the novel's reviewers, Lois will do anything to get the story, including getting the dirt on Lex Luthor, and will not let anything or anyone stop her in the male-dominated journalistic world. Her intelligence, self-confidence and beauty attract an impressive number of men, including Willi Berg and Ben Jaeger. She is an army brat; with the man she grew up being a hard-nosed retired army captain (in the comics, he is a general). She occasionally fears she will never meet a man where the relationship lasts, and she isn't put down because she is a woman. Her relationship with Clark is complicated; as she knows she can easily have him, she expresses disinterest and sometimes scorn when he asks her out. She always makes jokes about him, but she does not mean it, and she is not as cold-hearted as she makes herself appear. Lex Luthor is the main antagonist, an alderman in New York, and in charge of his company, LUTHOR Corp. Luthor is the man responsible for framing Willi Berg after he is spotted at the murder scene of a pawn shop owner. Under his respectable disguise of an alderman, Lex secretly runs a criminal empire from within Manhattan, his connections allowing him to evade the long arm of the law. Lex's criminal actions are motivated, at least in part, by trying to outrun the memory of his father, himself a fugitive who lived in fear of being caught. Lex is embarrassed by his drunken, painfully honest mother, so much so, that after her funeral he confesses to her headstone that he never loved her. Despite his ruthlessness, Lex is the epitome of social grace; no racial slurs or coarse language are tolerated in his ranks. The connection between Lex and Clark/Superman is founded on how similar the two characters are revealed to be; not only in the outward "face" each presents to the world but the feelings of isolation which motivate those deceptions. Jonathan and Martha Kent are the owners of their self-named farm, as well as the loving parents of their adopted son, Clark. Before Clark came into their lives, the Kents could not conceive, and Jonathan felt happy about that, due to his past with his own father to whom he disrespected. Because of Clark being "different", Jonathan could not help nor understand what must have been going in Clark's mind to answer his questions, making Jonathan feel as if he had been a bad father. All evidence, however, points to him as the opposite: a patient and loving man who gives Clark his moral conscience (and a few grammar lessons). Jonathan's encouragement becomes one of the reasons he becomes Superman, and why he stays being Superman even after experiencing some fears. Martha dies early in the novel, but her presence is still felt through the minds of both Clark and Jonathan, mentioning her background, her faith, and her past as a pioneer woman. Jonathan follows suit near the end and dies too; just like his wife, it appears to be of natural causes, hastened, it appears, by the loneliness brought on by Martha's death and Clark's departure for the wider world.
Other characters Sheriff Bill Dutcher, is the Sheriff of the county in which Smallville, Kansas is located. His duty is dealing with the crimes that occur in the unincorporated county area surrounding Smallville, two of which feature and involve Clark Kent. He is sometimes accompanied by other law enforcement officers, such as Doug Parker, Smallville's local Chief of Police, and later with FBI Agent Foley.