Minerva Kent

Miss Minerva Kent aka Aunt Minerva

The bespectacled, white haired old lady, often referred to as Aunt Minerva, who is the younger sister of Jonathan Kent, Clark Kent’s foster father, see Jonathan and Martha Kent, and therefore the aunt of Clark Kent, the man who is secretly Superman. Basically a goodhearted woman, Aunt Minerva tends to be somewhat motherly and overprotective, and to treat her nephew Clark as though he were still a small boy.

In September 1951, Aunt Minerva arrives in Metropolis with her white cat and pet parrot and announces that she is moving in with Clark Kent “permanently.” “We’re the last of the Kents,” says Aunt Minerva sternly, “and families must stick together, I always say!” Kent is crestfallen at this turn of events, for he realizes that the longer he is forced to share an apartment with his meddlesome aunt, the more likely she is to discover that he is secretly Superman.

Indeed, for a time, the well-meaning Aunt Minerva drives Kent to the brink of distraction, insisting that he wear an overcoat even in eighty-degree weather and that he go to bed early every night to safeguard his health. Soon after her arrival, however, Kent learns that his aunt’s real reason for coming to Metropolis was to escape the attentions of a persistent suitor named Zachary Barnes, a charming fellow who is hopelessly in love with her. "You see, I’m sure she loves me,’ Barnes confides to Superman, “... but at her age she’s afraid to admit it!”

Despite his aunt’s protestations to the contrary (“The old pest’s proposals are what made me leave the Coast. ..and he’s still at it! Don’t pay any attention, Clark!”), Superman suspects that Barnes is right, and ultimately, through an elaborate ruse, he succeeds in persuading his maiden aunt into acknowledging the love she feels for Barnes. Even so, however. Aunt Minerva rejects Barnes’s proposal of marriage: ‘No ... we still can’t be married,” she replies, “because my first duty is to look after Clark! He needs my care, and I can’t leave him!”

‘Wait! I think I can solve that problem for you, Miss Kent:” interjects Superman hastily. “You go ahead and marry Zachary and let me look after Clark! He’s a good friend of mine... I promise to take the best of care of him, from now on!”

“Oh, wonderful!” exclaims Aunt Minerva happily. “Now I’ll be able to marry Zachary and know that Clark is in even better hands than mine!” (Act No. 160: “Superman’s Aunt Minerva!”).