Superman: Secret Identity written by Kurt Busiek (author of Marvels and Astro City) and illustrated by Stuart Immomen is our #3 book. The interesting part about this book is that it’s about Superman and Clark Kent at the sametime that it has nothing to do with Superman or Clark Kent. It’s a different look at a the Superman mythology with a teen named Clark Kent who hates Superman due to his family treating his name as a joke. But his life changes when he becomes Superman. Busiek is famous for showing familiar characters from a slightly different angle and Superman: Secret Identity is one of his better stories.

Clark Kent is your average Mid-Western teenage boy who’s named after a famous literary character. His family has a quirky sense of humor (as evidenced by his name). Clark gets Superman toys and cards as gifts from his family and it has made him hate Superman. Other than his name, Clark loves living in a small town. His favorite thing to do is going camping out in the woods. That’s what he’s doing, when he wakes up flying in the air. For unknown reasons, Clark Kent is now Superman and has to deal with it.

When he tries to come out to a reporter, it turns out bad. But he finds that he can save people and do good and that is enough for him. As he grows up and becomes a columnist for the New Yorker, he has to deal with other people pulling Clark Kent jokes (including setting him up on blind dates with girls named Lois). But when the joke backfires and Clark and Lois fall in love, Busiek makes it seem real, not just like he’s following the Superman script. And then when the government starts trying to track Superman down, Clark is forced to make hard decisions that will affect his future.

Busiek does a wonderful job of replicating parts of the Superman mythos, while making it seem fresh and new.  This Clark Kent isn’t Superman, but yet he is. There are no supervillains, no Lex Luthor to make Superman’s life miserable. The only villain is the government who is seeking to find out what made him Superman. The ending does the whole story justice and follows from what was shown all along. Superman:Secret Identity is a worthy contender in the Superman mythos and another feather in the cap for Kurt Busiek as a superhero writer who can make the same old story fresh and exciting.