Superman: Secret Identity
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Superman: Secret Identity was a four-issue limited series of 48 pages each in prestige format, written by Kurt Busiek and illustrated by Stuart Immonen. The first issue was published in January 2004, and the limited series ran until April 2004. The title was not released under the Elseworlds banner, but is regarded as a non-canonical story. The story describes the life of Clark Kent, a man in a world in which the superheroes are alive only in the comics, who suddenly gains the powers of Superman.
The story
Superman: Secret Identity #1
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SUPERMAN: SECRET IDENTITY #1 (of 4)
Written by Kurt Busiek; art and cover by Stuart Immonen
A Prestige Format miniseries by the critically acclaimed Kurt Busiek (JLA/AVENGERS, ASTRO CITY) and Stuart Immonen (SUPERMAN: END OF THE CENTURY). You’re young, living in Kansas, and you want to be a writer. Your last name is Kent, and your parents make the mistake of naming you Clark. Now life is filled with taunts and jokes… “Hey, Clark! Where’re your super-powers?” Then one day, you discover that you can fly, and you do have super-strength. But how? And what do you do now? (Solicitations from DC Comics)
Summary
A young boy is born to David and Laura Kent, in a small town near Kansas. To them it was only natural to call him Clark, after the fictional superhero Superman, something for which Clark has not been grateful. He receives his always Superman-related gifts with a smile, and puts them in a closet, never to look at them again. He endures the name he has been given, especially in school, where he ends up the butt of many jokes of the local bully Mike.
When home, he usually retreats to what his father has dubbed the 'Fortress of Solitude', a typing machine in a tractor on the fields, where Clark sits and writes. His ambition is to one day become a writer (not a reporter!). When the troubles that his name brings him really get to him, he spends the weekend hiking, and sleeping in the outdoors. On one of those fateful weekends, Clark wakes up from a bad dream, and finds he's floating in mid-air.
Discovering that he now has in fact, the powers of Superman, greatly benefits Clark, as he is able to avoid his tormentors at school (and on one occasion, he uses his X-Ray vision on the girls' locker room), and in his weekends, can fly all over the world. He does not reveal them to his parents, although he starts to quesion his parentage. Eventually, while out flying, Clark happens onto a great flood and proceeds to save someone from drowning, and quickly flying off before he can be spotted. He decides, that no matter how he got powers, he has them now, and should use them.
After a few more rescues, Clark does get spotted in a blurry far-away photograph, and the phenomenon is tracked down to Hopefield, his hometown. Press, as well as government agents question everybody in the nearby area, even him, although he tells them he knows nothing. Nonetheless, with the appearance of a true Superboy, Clark is pestered even more, and the questions about his powers still aren't answered.
He decides to approach Wendy Case, the reporter who wrote the first story on him. He starts giving her interviews, as she tries to investigate the origin of his powers. Clark keeps his secret identity, and at times proves his existence by pulling stunts (at one point, he accidentally creates a sonic boom). The news spreads and everyone is clamoring for the Superboy, and Wendy offers Clark a press deal, where they handle his debut, and they can investigate his powers even better.
Clark doubts but is about to give in, when Wendy breaks their agreement, by bringing a camera to one of their interviews. Angrily, he leaves (not before destroying the camera), but nonetheless decides that he will go public with his powers. So, next Halloween, Clark dresses in an old Superboy outfit he once got for a birthday and goes to the town's carnival. Suddenly, Clark hears a small tick, and a bomb explodes. Putting aside his worries, he starts to rescue the people caught in the blast, worrying only about their safety.
Just as he thinks he has saved most of them, he hears the muffled groan of Cassie, long-time friend, and whom he has a crush on, who has ended up trapped under a beam thanks to the explosion. Clark quickly lifts the beam, so that she can escape, when a group of reporters come near him as he holds the beam, amongst them Wendy. At that point, seeing the maddened Wendy, he decides that it is best to keep his secret identity, and tips over, letting the beam fall. His actions are described as a lucky break and that the Superboy who saved multiple people from the explosion was a hoax.
It turns out that it was in fact Wendy Case that had orchestrated the explosion. Clark became somewhat of a local hero, earning the respect of his former bully Mike, and although he and Cassie become a couple, he is finally content with his life. The government agents leave Hopefield as well, thinking Clark a false trail (especially since he had received injuries prior to getting his powers).
Superman: Secret Identity #2
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SUPERMAN: SECRET IDENTITY #2 (of 4)
Written by Kurt Busiek; art and cover by Stuart Immonen
The Prestige Format miniseries chronicling the life of a real-world Clark Kent who gains super-powers continues! Clark arrives in the big city to pursue his writing career — but his amazing abilities and fantastic feats attract the attention of government agents convinced he may be an American weapon of mass destruction! Is being Superman a bigger responsibility than he can handle? (Solicitations from DC Comics)
Summary
Years later, Clark has now moved to Manhattan, where he has become a writer for The New Yorker. His colleagues tease him with his name from time to time, although he has gotten used to them, and genuinely likes his job. In the meantime he continues saving lives, dressed as Superman, using the idea that nobody would believe someone saying he had been rescued by Superman. Nonetheless, government agents show up at times at the places where his rescues have taken place.
Although Clark loves his powers, he feels something is missing, and is one day called in by his boss. Fearing that he is getting fired, he is instead pleasantly surprised when his boss has gotten him an appointment with a publisher, who thinks he has potential to write a book. She also points out however, that his work is 'all head, but no heart', and that he is like an alien observer.
She tells him to get out more and mix it up a bit, and still reeling from this, he decides to accompany his colleagues to a café for beers and burger. Too late, he notices that they have set him up, and they introduce him to a woman called Lois. She storms out and he follows her, telling her that he's quite familiar with the usual set-ups, being named Clark Kent, and she introduces herself as Lois Chaudhari. He decides to ask her out, and at the end of the evening, the two kiss, and Clark has fallen head over heels for her.
The two go out again and start a relationship. Life is going great for Clark, but he can't live with not telling Lois of his secret, and decides to tell her soon. Instead, seeing a civilian in danger, Clark is lured into a government trap and is captured. At a government facility, he is experimented on, and they have found others like him, who now lie in the morgue. Although constantly sedated, a small moment of clarity allows Clark to escape and he completely destroys the building, tearing and burning it down.
Afraid, Clark hides in his apartment for four days before being forced to go out into the world again. As a precaution, he decides to start wearing glasses, much like Superman, so that he can't be recognized from a distance by those that experimented on him. He continues his work, and gets an agent, even publishing a book. People state that he has gotten a more 'alive' tone to his writing without losing his unique perspective, but Clark remains troubled.
He continues his rescue work, but is more cautious and remains weary of Superman sightings on the Internet. After a row with Lois, Clark angrily leaves, but now feels more alone then ever. He patches it up with her, revealing his secret in the progress. She swears to keep his secret and the two are more in love than ever, and Clark is no longer alone, ready to face whatever lies ahead.
Superman: Secret Identity #3
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SUPERMAN: SECRET IDENTITY #3 (of 4) Written by Kurt Busiek; art and cover by Stuart Immonen
The miniseries chronicling the life of a real-world Clark Kent who gains the powers of the Man of Steel continues! Pursued by agents of his own country who want to “draft” him into service, Clark has one overriding concern beyond his own freedom: The safety and security of his wife and children! (Solicitations from DC Comics)
Summary
Years later again, Clark's life is really hitting the high road, with the last two of his books hitting bestseller status, regularly giving lectures as well, and he and Lois are building their dreamhouse. In her he can confide it all, his powers as well as the Clark Kent-jokes, as she knows how it is, and can roll her eyes along with him. He's still out rescuing people, now working mostly in Africa, where he protects packages from the Red Cross, meant for the civilians, from the soldiers.
In the meantime, the government still keeps track of him, and it has become a game of cat and mouse, as Clark knows how to evade them, although he remains ever cautious. His world is turned up side down when Lois returns home and reveals that she is pregnant. Although the first few days Clark can't stop smiling, after a while he starts to worry about the effects of his powers on the children. He restarts his research on his parentage, looking for UFO sightings around the time of his birth, and checking things like his blood, by setting up a fake ID and getting tests in countries such as Norway.
Although he has all of Superman's powers, somehow, things like needles can still penetrate his skin. When Lois and him learn that they are in fact getting twins, and the birth is nearing more and more, Clark starts to worry about the threat of the government. For a short time he thinks he might have to give it up and retire, but Lois convinces him that he could not live with himself like that.
Ultimately, he decides that he needs to make a deal with the government and decides to go for one of their set-ups, which they still regularly pull, where he meets Agent Malloy. The first meeting is a disaster as Clark flinches for a moment when Malloy asks him why he wants this deal, and the government agents around them attack Clark and he is forced to flee.
Seeing that he will have to try again, he ultimately leaves a message in the office of Agent Malloy with specific co-ordinates for a meeting. Until the meeting, he pulls a number of stunts, such as switching out government documents with Superman comics, as well as messing with a live speech of the President, where it is replaced with an old Superman cartoon, or placing statuettes in offices.
Clark and Malloy meet at the top of the Washington Monument. The two arrange a series of meetings, and although they try to track him from time to time, slowly a deal comes in place, where he will do the occasional mission for them (contacted through an ultra-sonic signal and no political missions), as long as they leave him alone. Just as the twins are about to be born, Clark is called and reluctantly goes, and he is nonetheless forced into a political mission, saving a group of hostages that he could have saved a week before. He ignores the problem, focusing instead on saving people, and grudgingly accepting that this is the way it will have to be.
Although he misses the birth of his children, he can hear it happening, and when his mission is over, he rushes back to the hospital, where he joins his wife and his two daughters. Cradling his two daughters, he swears that not only will they not receive the names 'Kara', 'Lana' or 'Lori', he will keep them safe, no matter what it takes.
Superman: Secret Identity #4
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SUPERMAN: SECRET IDENTITY #4 (of 4) Written by Kurt Busiek; art and cover by Stuart Immonen
The miniseries chronicling the life of a real-world Clark Kent concludes! The new Superman is close to the end of his life…his power ebbing and the world changing around him. Can he face one final challenge? (Solicitations from DC Comics)
Summary
Many years later, the two daughters, named Carol and Jane have come home for the holidays, bearing of course, Superman-related gifts to tease their father, who is now fifty-seven. Clark has become an accomplished writer (and Lois a famous designer), and Carol's boyfriend Howard is even something of a suck-up, while Jane will leave the following morning to spend time with her boyfriend Mike's family. Clark steps out for a moment to fly around, one of his Christmas traditions, as Lois sits outside waiting with eggnog for him, her Christmas tradition.
Both Lois and him have noticed his powers fading, and Clark still has not uncovered the origin of his powers, although he tries to get a recharge by getting close to the sun, only to find it is not the source of his powers. At one point, he is called by Malloy, and although the government continues from time to time to try to discover his identity, it has become more of a game. Malloy and Clark have even almost become friends, although he is constantly reminded of the torture he went through when he was captured.
He is called less and less often, and Clark believes they might have gotten their own superpowered agents. This spurs him to continue his research and in the years he has slowly assembled a book about his research in his origins, partially from classified files, but it is a book he never plans to publish. Clark himself has almost stopped caring, although he wants to know for his children, what effect it has had on the girls. He discovered on government records, that there were series of eugenic programs dating before the World War II, nerve gas accidents, chromosomal changes reports, anomaly on the solar changes, and discovers the strongest possibility of the origin of his powers, were meteor strikes around the world in 1988, including Kansas. The meteor showers released some unknown chemical compounds and radiation released into the water table. Clark was thirteen during that time, which was around the time he discovered his powers. Clarks wonders, if it changed him somehow, and he subconsciously shaping his powers based from the famed comic book icon.
As the girls grew up, Clark and Lois would sometimes test to see if they had gained any powers but eventually stopped, thinking it unfair to their children, and believing they had no powers. The girls became successful in their own jobs, but in a different area as well. When Clark is investigating a freak tornado in South Australia, he hears the faint sound of two laughing girls.
Clark comes to the conclusion that is in fact the twins, who have developed powers like himself, and he and Lois invite them over, as he leaves a manuscript of his book on superhumans on the table. Ultimately, nothing is revealed in the meeting, but Clark still doubts and worries. He think about the government, and about exposing them, but decides that if something was truly amiss, if they were abusing people like him, he would've heard and be able to put a stop to it.
Clark continues his superhero business but in one accident his powers prove to have faded too much, as he has trouble carrying a train that is falling into a ravine. He is helped by two extra sets of hands, who reveal themselves to be his daughters.
Travelling home, they reveal that like their father their powers had manifested in their teens, but instead of being alone, they had each other and were quickly cautious of the government. The situation had changed since then, and the two were able to easily negotiate the same kind of deal Clark had years before. The three frequently teamed up, although Clark was usually not necessary and got to feel how Lois had felt for him, worrying for his superpowered daughters.
The next surprise in store for Clark was the retirement of Agent Malloy, who also revealed that he had uncovered Clark's identity, although he had never told anybody. With the superhuman situation changed, Clark would retire alongside Malloy, with no new 'handler' assigned to him. He would no longer be contacted, and he was finally free, to be left alone. The two left each other on good terms.
Next Christmas, the girls are again present, and instead of Clark going out to go flying, the two girls leave to 'stretch their legs'. He wonders if Jane has told Mike, who she will be marrying the following year (Carol herself between boyfriends), but decides that after all, it is none of his business. Clark can only smile as he accepts his role and how proud he is of his daughters.
Many years later, Clark lives in a world that has openly accepted the superhumans amongst them, and they have resulted in advancements in every area of science. Clark has since become the grandfather to Perry, Jimmy and Clark (Jane's children), noting that as ever, the Kent sense of humour breeds true.
Clark has finally turned in his last book, the one he could not publish for so long, although he has kept his family out of it. He still flies with his girls, as well as Perry at times, who has since also discovered his powers, even though Clark's own have faded even more. Clark looks at the sunset, retired from the superhero work, and he looks back on his life, content, and flies to the east, to look at another sunrise.
Superboy of Earth-Prime
On the world of Earth-Prime, there lives a Superboy akin to the Clark Kent of this world. Both are brought into a world without other superheroes, and they become the first and only (although Clark would later be joined by others).
Kurt Busiek, the writer of Superman: Secret Identity has stated in the introduction to the collected volume of this series, that his inspiration for this story was the original appearances of Superboy-Prime in DC Comics Presents during the events of Crisis on Infinite Earths.
External Links
- The Superman Database - Full list of every issue of “Superman: Secret Identity” ever published w/ Cover Art and more.
References
Toonzone Comics Solicitations DC Comics January 2004
Toonzone Comics Solicitations DC Comics February 2004
Toonzone Comics Solicitations DC Comics March 2004
Toonzone Comics Solicitations DC Comics April 2004