According to the Kingdom series, Kal-L had Lois Lane, the Daily Star building, and most of the rest Metropolis in that "Paradise Dimension" with him. So presumably being Clark and showing up for work every day was part of his daily routine.
This is an interesting notion (though for once I agree with Didio...Kingdom should not count!).
The notion being, can a place need Superman and still be considered paradise? Would a "paradise" still suffer from natural disasters, fatal accidents, and...most importantly...crime? On the other hand, could a superhero consider a place paradise if he wasn't needed? Would Superman be happy in a world that didn't need him? Would any hero feel fulfilled and satisfied if he never had to pull on his tights and perform some feat or other?
I think the way it's shaping up...in Kingdom and Crisis alike...is that Kal considers Earth-2 paradise, even with its problems. While some of us might agree, it doesn't paint him as a very heroic character, IMHO, to want the restoration of E-2 above all else. In a way, he's a stand-in for all the readers who say "Change is bad, period." I can't see this series ending with an affirmation of that world view (even if being 40 makes me sympathetic to it, personally!).
Superman's Pal wrote:Has it been stated anywhere exactly how much time they spent in "Paradise"? I've been following the series faithfully (including all the "Countdown to Crisis" series) and don't recall if the time they spent there is specified (then again I have a hard time finding my keys in the morning...)
No, "20 years" is our time (real-world time). It's unclear to me how much time has passed on Earth-Dreck since COIE. But considering one of the first things the morons in DC editorial did after their vaunted "this will solve everything" reboot was to have Superman meet President Ronald Reagan, something very much like 20 years must have passed for our heroes, as well.