Martha Kent

Martha Kent and her husband, Jonathan Kent, lived as farmers in Smallville, Kansas, until one night they witnessed a comet fall to Earth and adopted an alien baby from Krypton. Raising the baby with kindness, hope and good morals, the couple were instrumental in forming the man who would become known to the world as Superman.

Background
Martha Clark was a young woman born in Smallville when she met Jonathan Kent; a farmer boy who lived on the Kent farm out of town. While the two were sweethearts during highschool, when Jonathan came of age he enlisted to join the armed forces to assist the Allied Nations in World War II. When he was captured by Japanese soldiers and listed as M.I.A, thinking Jonathan dead Martha moved on and married Daniel Fordman; the son of a local business tycoon. Some time after the war, Jonathan returned to Smallville but kept his distance from Martha out of respect. When Daniel died of cancer, he attempted to leave his family fortune with Martha, however, his surviving sister hotly contested Fordman's will. Martha had no interest in family squabbles or Daniel's money and left it all to the family. Martha and Jonathan renewed their romance and six months later Jonathan proposed and the two were married soon after. When Jonathan's father passed away, Jonathan inherited the family farm and Martha moved in with him.

Over the course of several years, the Kents attempted to start a family, but each attempt ended with disaster; suffering through eight miscarriages and stillborn births. Martha non-the-less prayed every day for a child. Two years later, Smallville suffered the worst blizzard the town had seen in over a century. While driving down the highway adjacent to their property, the couple witnessed a meteor shower rain down around them, with one meteor crashing into a field close to them. Curious, the couple ventured to the crater in the field and found a spaceship with a baby boy inside. Martha saw the boy as a gift from the heavens and, seeking to provide the child with shelter, the couple loaded the ship onto their truck, took the boy home. Fearing that the child might have been the subject of a Russian cosmonaut mission, the Kents decided to take him in. The blizzard sequestered the couple to their farm for six months. During this time, Jonathan moved the rocket ship closer to the property and buried it beneath an old barn. When conditions improved and they were able to leave, the Kents presented the child (whom they named Clark) to the community as their own biological "miracle child" and they raised the child as their own.

Raising the child with what would be described as an idealic childhood, and teaching him good morales and discipline, while Jonathan dealt with the problems of Clark's devoloping powers, Martha gave him the love and support to keep him grounded. After rescuing a space shuttle that was hrtling to its doom above Metropolis, an adult Clark returned home in need of guidance and Martha designed a costume for him to wear as a superhero.

Even after Superman became recognized as the World's Greatest Super Hero, Clark still made frequent trips back to Kansas for Martha's famous pies and a chance to unwind. The Kents also willingly harboured other superbeings; including Matrix, Kon-El, and Krypto.

Trivia

 * Martha first appeared in Superman #1 (Summer 1939).
 * Martha is voiced by Diane Perella.
 * Basing her designs on what she had perceived Kryptonians would wear, Martha is the person who designed the first Superman costume. The S-shield originally came from a patch that was embroidered on Clark's blanket when he was in the rocket.
 * The lenses of Clark's glasses are made out of the Sunstone Crystals from his space ship. They were initially given to Clark by Martha to keep his heat vision in check during high school.