uperman: Secret Identity was originally serialized as four 48-page monthly issues in early 2004. As the year draws to a close, DC Comics is collecting this critically acclaimed mini-series in a trade paperback.
This story—written by Kurt Busiek (of Marvels and Astro City fame) and illustrated by rising star Stuart Immonen—is not set in the customary superhero universe of the Superman comics. In this world, which is very much like our own real world, Superman is nothing more than a popular comics character. Busiek focuses his tale on someone from Kansas who happens to share the famous name of Superman's secret identity, Clark Kent.
Chapter 1 opens on teenage Clark's birthday, and, as usual, everyone gets him Superman-related gifts. Clark hates everything Superman, but he grins and bears it, waiting until the guests leave to throw everything into a closet full of Superman junk from birthdays past. And then Clark discovers that he has superpowers, just like Superman's. ...
In Chapter 2, Clark is now a young man living in New York City, working for The New Yorker. Wearing a Superman costume, he uses his powers in secret, saving lives. But the government is on the trail of this mysterious superhuman, and Clark is nearly captured. Meanwhile, Clark falls in love with a young woman named—of course—Lois.
In Chapter 3, the adult Clark, now a best-selling author and a married man, managing to keep his real identity hidden from the authorities, reaches a fragile agreement with the government. Meanwhile, Lois gives birth to twins.
The final chapter shows Clark in his waning years, his powers no longer quite as reliable. But are there now other superpowered beings on Earth? Clark ponders his life as the world around him slowly changes.
Magical and wondrous reality
Beginning with his mid-1990s hit series Marvels and continuing with Astro City, comics writer Kurt Busiek has proven himself to be particularly adept at combining the verisimilitude of realism with the classic thrills of superhero mythology. In Superman: Secret Identity, he applies his signature approach—a multigenerational historical canvas, an introspective first-person narration and unabashed love for the superhero genre—to the premier archetype of comics superheroes.
In the 1990s, comics racks were flooded with "superheroes in the real world"—but most of those stories were badly conceived knock-offs and misinterpretations of works by Frank Miller and Alan Moore, equating "realism" with a monotone "grim and gritty" approach. Busiek, though, brings to this subgenre unwavering honesty, a complex emotional palette and a Bradburyesque sense of the magical and the wondrous.
In four chapters, each focusing on a turning point in the life of the "real world" Clark Kent, Busiek explores and shares the heart of his winningly sympathetic protagonist. We're always right there with Clark, inside his head, swept up by his naive charm, empathizing with his frustrations, his loves, his fears, his hopes and his actions.
Bringing Busiek's vision of a "real world" Superman to life is his frequent collaborator Stuart Immonen (Avengers, Shockrockets, Superstar), whose work here is perhaps his most accomplished yet. Providing both the line art and the coloring, Immonen is in complete control of the story's visuals, and the results are impressive. The careful renderings, the subdued colors, the steady pacing and the elegant page layouts all combine to show this world as Clark perceives it, to imbue almost every panel with Clark's emotions.
Readers don't need to know anything about Superman continuity to enjoy this heartfelt tale of an ordinary man with superpowers and to feel involved in the real-life dilemmas he faces as a result.
