By d. emerson eddy — It's interesting to think about the passage of time changing perspective. While it's true that personality might not change much, priorities shift, experiences inform events differently, and you have a new outlook on the world than you did before. Some might be little or insignificant, others might be quite profound. It's this shift in perspective that partially informs the take on the idea of a Superboy Prime in the series Superman: Secret Identity by Kurt Busiek, Stuart Immonen, and Todd Klein.

Secret Identity introduces us to a Clark Kent from Kansas, but not Smallville. His parents aren't Martha and Jonathan Kent, by all accounts he didn't arrive here in a spacecraft from Krypton, and he doesn't have powers. Until he does. The story plays with that similar idea from DC Comics Presents #87 of a Superboy growing up in a world like our own, where there are no superpowers and Superman is a comic, but it goes off in different directions. Each chapter covers a different time period as Clark ages, navigating through his teenage years, early adulthood, marriage, and finally a bit older as his children are navigating their own adulthood. Each time period allows for their own unique perspective on Clark's powers, life, and how he fits into the world.

When I first read Superman: Secret Identity, I was navigating that early adulthood myself. I think I had just finished undergrad and was about to embark on the next leg of my journey, moving across country to a large city in an entirely different province, and I came at the story with that same wide-eyed wonderment of possibility and uncertainty as you leave behind your teenage years and get your first taste of the “real world”. I had fond memories of Superboy Prime from Crisis on Infinite Earths and that DC Comics Presents issue and took the story at face value as an entertaining superhero adventure, exploring the troubles of a secret identity in microcosm.

It was entirely different reading it now. It's been almost 20 years. A lot has changed in my life and much has changed in the comics landscape. I'm not sure if “jaded” or “cynical” are the appropriate terms here, but my outlook on Superboy Prime has changed. Even though I know that the Superman that Busiek, Immonen, and Klein present in Secret Identity embodies a lot of the pure heroism inherent in the idea of Superman, mainline DC Universe continuity had me just waiting for the petulant, villainous child to lash out. I'm a little saddened by that thought, because I much prefer the honesty and purity of the original Secret Identity version. The Clark Kent here isn't without his faults, but he's definitely an inherently good person, beautifully capturing the spirit of what it means to be Superman.

This reading now is also partially informed by the new afterword that Busiek provided for the Deluxe Edition published in 2016. It lays bare that part of the concept of Secret Identity wasn't just the dualism between Clark Kent and Superman, not just the struggle of keeping the lives separate and safe from a hostile American government, but more broadly the identity and aspects of ourselves that we choose to share with the people around us. That the connection forged between this Clark Kent and Lois Chaudhari, the secret world that they share, is just as important as anything else, possibly more so, because it's an honest, emotional connection. The kind of real bond that we form in our own lives.

It also highlights the act of reflection, something I didn't necessarily pick up on my first time through. Much of the story is framed in the form of a journal being typed out by Clark, allowing Todd Klein the opportunity to do his wonderful thing of presenting a typewriter typeset for the narration boxes. The act of writing down the memoirs through time helps make the story personal, even as extraordinary things occur in Clark's life.

What hasn't changed, though, is Stuart Immonen's gorgeous artwork. If anything, it only looks more wonderful with time. There's what feels like an effortless fluidity and simplicity to his linework that yields characters that are just a joy to look at. His style nicely straddles that line of superhero and realism, suitable for both aspects of the story. He also took a muted approach to the colors in this series, which helped give the overall feel of the story an atmosphere of reality versus the typical bright four-color fantasies, and it still works.

Overall, Superman: Secret Identity from Busiek, Immonen, and Klein remains one of the best Superman stories out there. It captures the spirit of a Superman as a sole superhero, navigating his way through a world that both venerates and fears him, and gets to the very heart of who do you trust with the secrets most important to you.

Superman - Secret Identity

Superman: Secret Identity
Writer: Kurt Busiek
Artist: Stuart Immonen
Letterer: Todd Klein
Publisher: DC Comics
Release Date: February 2 2016 – Deluxe Edition
Set in the real world, SECRET IDENTITY examines the life of a young Kansas man with the unfortunate name of Clark Kent. All Clark wants is to be a writer, but his daily life is filled with the taunts and jibes of his peers, comparing him to that other Clark Kent -- the one with super-powers. Until one day when Clark awakens to discover that he can fly...that he does in fact have super-strength! But where did these powers come from? And what's he going to do about it?
Price: $12.99 | Deluxe Edition - $19.99
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d. emerson eddy is a student and writer of things. He fell in love with comics during Moore, Bissette, & Totleben's run on Swamp Thing and it has been a torrid affair ever since. His madness typically manifests itself on Twitter @93418.