My guess is that what they were going for was: The person in the foreground was supposed to be distressed completely independently of Superman’s actions, and the way he undresses was supposed to signify, that the situation is so dramatic, Superman is even willing to immediately switch into costume, jeopardising his secret identity.
I could see him being aware of superman but being so upset that he cant turn to face him, maybe just tells him what happens or he saw/headd what happened, lowkey looks like a dont beat your kids superman will get you
There is no other reason they drew it this way, what other implication is there
My guess is that what they were going for was: The person in the foreground was supposed to be distressed completely independently of Superman’s actions, and the way he undresses was supposed to signify, that the situation is so dramatic, Superman is even willing to immediately switch into costume, jeopardising his secret identity.
I could see him being aware of superman but being so upset that he cant turn to face him, maybe just tells him what happens or he saw/headd what happened, lowkey looks like a dont beat your kids superman will get you