If Superman is the hero whose powers we all dream of having, many more of us can probably relate to Spider-Man. Underneath it all, he’s the regular joe whose powers weren’t a birthright but bestowed by accident. Rarely do his good deeds go unpunished, and he has wrestled with the question of how to do the right thing in a world where many don’t trust him.

So what if Clark Kent were a little more like a mega-powered Peter Parker — a teenager who gained titanic abilities overnight and then had to learn to use them for good while constantly weighing the consequences? That’s one of many things that make Kurt Busiek and Stuart Immonen’s Superman: Secret Identity so wonderful, but the analogy doesn’t really do this story justice. With grace and almost flawless execution, they took one of pop culture’s most recognizable figures and reworked his story into something fresh and surprising without compromising the character’s basic nature.

In a clever twist, this version of Clark Kent is a non-super teenager in Kansas whose parents thought it would be a good idea to name him after a comic book character. All his life, Clark been subjected to every lame Superman joke you can think of, and his closet is filled with unwanted Superman paraphernalia that he receives on birthdays. It’s an annoying meme he can’t escape. Continue reading →