History ComicBook / SupermanSecretIdentity

* KryptoniteFactor: The only weapon shown to be truly effective against Clark is an electricity cannon the US government uses against him. The first time they hit Clark with it he's knocked unconscious.

** Reconstructed. Clark wears large glasses as a basic disguise in case he walks past someone who worked in the lab where he was held captive. Clark knows that the glasses won't stop a government worker from recognising him if they meet face to face, but he figures that's relatively unlikely. He just has to stop them recognising him through the corner of their eye if they pass in the street.

** When he starts working more closely with the government, Clark uses facial inserts and other stage make-up to subtly change his appearance, and burns his fingerprints off glasses with low-power heat vision. [[spoiler: Malloy still figures it out eventually, but keeps it to himself.]]

* TheGreatestStoryNeverTold: Even after TheUnmasquedWorld in the DistantFinale, Clark states that he is keeping his superpowers secret, [[spoiler: along with the rest of his family]], apparently just because he likes having a quiet life.

* IfIWantedYouDead: Through several mostly harmless pranks with national security, Clark makes it blatantly clear to Malloy that he could have taken the entire government down if he wanted to, and is more useful as an ally -- lest the government pushes him into becoming what they fear him to be.

* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Malloy, albeit not at first. After Clark demonstrates [[IfIWantedYouDead what he could really do if he wanted to]] via a series of mostly harmless pranks, he takes Clark's suggestions onboard and becomes this as his contact, later apologising for attempts by his colleagues to discover Clark's identity as it's "new blood at the home office". He's also under no illusions about Clark's happiness with their arrangement, apologising to him for it, and telling him that he would like to think he wouldn't have been involved in the attempted vivisection Clark underwent had been working there at the time. It's not just token gestures, either. When he retires, and Clark with him, he reveals that he's known Clark's real identity for decades because, for all Clark's precautions, Malloy is ''very'' good at what he does, and kept it a secret. In fact, he's just ruefully amused at how Clark hid in plain sight.

* SanitySlippage: In the first book, Clark contacts a reporter named Wendy Case so he can have an outlet to express himself to the outside world about who he is and what he wants to do, but he cuts ties with her when he realizes she tried to videotape him without his knowledge. Sometime later, it's clear that the fame and hunger for making this story hers got to Wendy's head, and she [[spoiler:stages a bomb scare. The last we hear of her is that she was getting psychiatric evaluation.]]

** Subverted with the teasing Clark gets from his friends and coworkers about his name. He truly finds it annoying but at times tries not to let it bother him. By the time he meets Lois Chaudhari he'd been set up in almost two dozen blind dates with a bunch of Loises, Lanas, and at one point a Cat Grant. [[spoiler: After he's abducted by the government and nearly vivisected, Clark very nearly gives one of his coworkers a beatdown after hearing another Superman joke.]]

** The art shifts at the end, including one in the style of [[Franchise/{{DCAU}} Bruce Timm]].

* ADateWithRosiePalms: Played for laughs. Clark [[spoiler:sees his daughters using their superpowers]], but decides not to discuss the situation with them. Lois is shocked at his passivity and says that what he witnessed isn't like "your mom walking in on you in the bathroom with a dirty magazine". Clark, embarrassed, replies "[[ComicallyMissingThePoint My mom told you about that]]?"

* HappilyMarried: Clark's parents were closely-knit couple, and later Clark and Lois form their own happy family, with the presence of Clark's powers [[spoiler:that are later inherited by his daughters]] enriching their lives.

* {{Reconstruction}}: Of the superhero genre and ''Superman'' in particular. It goes over the obvious trials that would obviously come with someone discovering they had Superman's power set, especially in a universe where he's an in-universe fictional character, but these hang-ups never lead Clark down a dark path. Instead, he overcomes them, becomes a hero worthy of the character he was named after, and gets a happy ending.

* NeverHeardThatOneBefore: Clark got really sick of people constantly bringing up how he was named after Superman's secret identity. "It's not funny. It never was."

%%ZCE* HappilyMarried: Clark's parents were this, and later so is Clark and Lois.

%%ZCE* NeverHeardThatOneBefore: "It's not funny. It never was."

%%ZCE* {{Reconstruction}}: Of the superhero genre and ''Superman'' in particular.

* AscendedFanboy: Well sort of; Clark ''isn't'' a fanboy - in fact, the constant teasing has pretty much put him off comics.

* CelebrityParadox: A {{deconstruction}} of the trope, in a sense.

* HappilyMarried: Clark's parents were this, and later so is Clark and Lois.

* KryptoniteFactor: The only weapon shown to be truly effective against Clark is some of electricity cannon the US government uses against him. The first time they hit Clark with it he's knocked unconscious.

* TheMenInBlack: The government agents are portrayed as this, with Malloy being the ultimately reasonable version.

* NeverHeardThatOneBefore: "It's not funny. It never was."

* PhlebotinumBattery: Subverted. When Clark's powers start weakening slightly in middle age, he tries to copy the comics and flies close to the Sun. He just gets an impressive winter tan.

* {{Reconstruction}}: Of the superhero genre and ''Superman'' in particular.
* RousseauWasRight
* SanitySlippage: Not on Clark's end. In the first book he contacts a reporter named Wendy Case so he can have an outlet to express himself to the outside world about who he is and what he wants to do, but he cuts ties with her when he realizes she tried to videotape him without his knowledge. Sometime later, it's clear that the fame and hunger for making this story hers got to Wendy's head, and she [[spoiler: stages a bomb scare. The last we hear of her is that she was getting psychiatric evaluation.]]

* SecretSecretKeeper: Malloy reveals on his retirement that he's been this for years, if not decades, as while Clark took precautions, he is ''very'' good at what he does. This and his matter-of-fact acknowledgement that Clark has only ever been working with them to ensure that he's left alone makes Clark decide that he probably will get him a bottle of scotch as a retirement present after all.
* SecretKeeper: Lois. It's also eventually revealed that [[SecretSecretKeeper Malloy found out "Superman"'s real identity years ago]], but didn't tell him or anyone else.

** Clark is explicitly named after the fictional Superman's public identity. Guess what powers he ends up with.
** Semi-Justified/Handwaved: Clark mentions something about how he may have subconsciously molded his latent powers to fit his moniker.

* TheyWouldCutYouUp: The government actually try to, after doing the same thing to plenty of others, including a baby. Clark's relationship with the government gets better eventually, partly because a later administration is less paranoid about superhumans.
* ThisIsReality: Just about throughout the whole thing. To further drive the point home, each issue opens with a page from an old ''Superman'' comic, contrasting with the "realistic" collage-like art of the main comic. (For bonus points, each of those opening panels is an in-universe object -- a Superman-themed gift someone gives to Clark, much to his annoyance.)
* TimeSkip: The first issue is set while Clark is a teen, probably around 15 or so. The second and third are both set while he is in his mid-twenties to early thirties. The fourth starts when he is probably in his early fifties, and fades out with [[spoiler: him being so old he can't fly unassisted]].
* TheUnmasquedWorld: The finale. However, Clark and his family keep their identities a secret - if nothing else, Clark likes a quiet life.

** Also the pranks Clark plays with the government to [[IfIWantedYouDead hammer his point]] to Malloy, like replacing classified papers for a meeting with old ''Superman'' comics.

* FromBadToWorse: Averted. You ''expect'' it to, but it never does. If anything, the opposite!

* LampshadeHanging: Clark constantly notes how implausible his powers are.

* TheMenInBlack: The government agents are portrayed as this.

* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Malloy.

* TheUnmasquedWorld: The finale.

** Clark also takes care to hide his face when in the costume without making a mask. He uses [SuperSpeed his speed]] to quickly arrive and disappear from rescue, he tries to stick to shadows and away from eyewitnesses, and his costume distracts attention away from this face. The latter also leads most people to dismiss the stories about him out of hand.

** Averted, and as such, Clark has to take care to hide his face when in the costume. This is made easier by his SuperSpeed and costume - the latter leads most people to dismiss the stories about him out of hand.
** When he starts working more closely with the government, he uses facial inserts and other techniques to subtly change his appearance, and burns his fingerprints off glasses with low-power heat vision. [[spoiler: Malloy still figures it out eventually, but keeps it to himself.]]

* FromBadToWorse: [[spoiler: Averted. You ''expect'' it to, but it never does. If anything, the opposite!]]

* HappilyEverAfter

* TheyWouldCutYouUp: And actually try to - after doing the same thing to plenty of others, including a few kids. (His relationship with the government gets better eventually.)

''Superman: Secret Identity'' is a 2004 {{Elseworld}} story based on the idea behind [[AscendedFanboy Superboy-Prime]] from ''ComicBook/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths'', but executed as a standalone non-canonical story without ties to the larger DC universe.

On an Earth much like our own, where superheroes don't exist but ''{{Franchise/Superman}}'' comics do, Mr. and Mrs. Kent decide to name their newborn boy Clark, as a homage to the fictional superhero. He is frequently bullied in school (and later in his life, at work) for his non-existent powers, and people try to jokingly hook him up with girls named Lois. One day on a weekend trip, however, the teenage Clark discovers that, seemingly out of nowhere, he has acquired real superpowers that seem to match Superman's in all aspects.

* SanitySlippage: Not on Clark's end. In the first book he contacts a reporter named Wendy Case so he can have an outlet to express himself to the outside world about who he is and what he wants to do, but he cuts ties with her when he realizes she tried to videotape him without his knowledge. Sometime later, it's clear that the fame and hunger for making this story her's got to Wendy's head, and she [[spoiler: stages a bomb scare. The last we hear of her is that she was getting psychiatric evaluation.]]

''Superman: Secret Identity'' is an 2004 {{Elseworld}} story based on the idea behind [[AscendedFanboy Superboy-Prime]] from ''ComicBook/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths'', but executed as a standalone non-canonical story without ties to the larger DC universe.

* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Malloy

* ShoutOut: The art shifts at the end, including one in the style of [[Franchise/{{DCAU}} Bruce Timm]].

* StevenUlyssesPerhero: Clark is explicitly named after the fictional Superman's public identity. Guess what powers he ends up with.

* {{Troll}}: A non-malicious version. Clark's daughters love giving him Superman gag gifts during Christmas and his birthday just to mess with him, though the both love him dearly.

* {{MIB}}: The government agents are portrayed as this.

** Subverted with the teasing Clark gets from his friends and coworkers about his name. He truly finds it annoying but at times tries not to let it bother him. By the time he meets Lois Chaudhari he'd been set up in almost two dozen blind dates with a bunch of Loises, Lanas, and at one point a Cat Grant. [[spoiler: After he's abducted by the government and nearly vivisected, Clark very nearly gives one of his coworkers a beat down after hearing another Superman joke.]]