Posts Tagged superman

Book Of The Month – August

Superman: Secret Identity

Written by Kurt Busiek

Art by Stuart Immonen

DC

I think I can safely say that I’m not the biggest Superman fan. However, when written well, he can be the greatest superhero in all of comics.

When people usually think of “good Superman stories”, the Alan Moore, Jeph Loeb, and Grant Morrison ones are the first to come to mind (Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?, Superman For All Seasons, and All-Star Superman). Yes all of those are classics, but they’re not immediately the first ones to pop into my mind.

Several years ago, I first came across the trade in a used book store that was run by the local library. I didn’t know that much about writers back then, but I did recognize the name Busiek from some other JLA and Avengers stuff. So as I flipped through the pages, I was really admiring Immonen’s art because it wasn’t cartoony, it was a more of a serious tone. It only cost me $4, and to this day I still consider it one of my best purchases.

The story revolves around Clark Kent growing up in a small town in Kansas. Not the Clark Kent, but a Clark Kent. For you see, superheroes don’t exist in this world, but only in comic books. This young man just had the misfortune of being named “Clark” by his parents, whose last name is (you guessed it) Kent. Throughout his life he is constantly recieving Superman gifts from friends and family every Christmas, birthday, etc. Even the bullies at school take joy in tormenting him and making sure his life is a living hell. Clark wants nothing to do with the comic book character, and just wants to be left alone.

While out camping one evening, he discovers that he’s inhereted the powers of Superman. That’s it; I’m legally changing my name to “Hal Jordan”. Finally something great happens to him, and he flies around the world as much a possible, totally taking advantage of these newly accquired powers. But where did these powers come from? Parents? Is he truly an alien survivor from a doomed world? He just doesn’t know. What he does know is that he’s going to be like Superman, and use his powers for good.

He helps out by rescuing people from floods, fires, and more, eventually starting to gain a reputation as a mysterious flying boy by witnesses. Reporters start to snoop around, and Clark decides to talk to one of them and give her the facts so more tall tales aren’t created. Eventually, the reporter betrays his trust and he goes back into hiding, only to re-appear at the town’s Halloween festival when said reporter starts an explosion. He hides in plain sight with a Superman outfit on, and rescues dozens of people while keeping his profile on the down-low.

The thing I enjoy about this series is that no super villains of any sort are introduced, but more realistically, the Government is.

As the years go by and he’s a writer (not journalist) in New York, he meets a Lois after his friends try and set them up. He explains to her that he’s been set up with Lanas, Loises, and even a Kat Grant throughout his entire life. They grow close and eventually fall in love and become the “Lois & Clark” after they’ve been avoiding the comics label all their lives. During this time, Clark’s on his way of becoming a well-known author after several good articles at The New York Post, and thanks to his editor is set-up with a publisher.

The Government have been keeping tabs on his rescues, and finally get crafty enough to take him down. Clark awakes in a labratory where they’ve been running tests on him, and others like him. Clark breaks free and burns the place down to the ground, vowing never to be captured again. He has to explain to Lois why he’s been missing for a few days, and to make it up to her he tells his secret. She accepts him for who he is.

Over the years they get married and Lois is pregnant with twins. Clark doesn’t want to keep running from the government forever, especially since he’s about to start a family, so he makes a deal with them; he’ll help out with big disasters, but nothing political. Agent Malloy, his ‘handler’, agrees and the two work together for many decades. During this time the twins grow up and lead lives of their own. It’s revealed in the fourth act that they’ve inhereted his powers, and have been stopping disasters too for some time.

Throughout the four acts we get to witness Clark go from young boy, to grizzled old man. Because of the realistic tone of Immonen’s art, it all fits beautifully. The shading is wonderful, and the facial expressions really help tell the story.

This isn’t your DC Comics Superman, it’s a guy with the same powers making lemonade out of the lemons the universe has given him. It’s not entirely clear, but it’s believed to had been meteors that crashed in Kansas that gave him the powers.

Later in the end of the book, the Government have their own super-beings, and even Clarks grandkids have inhereted the abilities as well. It’s a fitting end Busiek gives us as we observe Clark doing something he’s always loved doing; watching the sunset. And once it’s set, he can fly east and watch it happen all over again.

So if you’ve never read Superman: Secret Identity, I highly recommend you do so if you’re ever fortunate enough to come across it. Like I said before, it’s my favorite Superman story, and I congratulate Busiek and Immonen for the great job they did on it.

Discuss this pick on the forum!

Book Of The Month – June – LOCAL

Book Of The Month – July – Sub-Mariner: The Depths