History ClarkKenting / ComicBooks

* ''ComicBook/CyberSix'': Cyber 6 goes as high school teacher Adrian Seidelman, wearing glasses and male clothing. It's explained in a flashback that while escaping from Von Reichter, she found a crashed car, in which one of the victims, the real Adrian Seidelman, had a passing resemblance to her, so she buried him away from the crash and took his identification papers and appeared in public as a ConvienientOrphan.

* Generally speaking, Franchise/{{Batman}} kind of inverts the whole idea of Clark Kenting--both are superheroes hiding in plain sight with one being a prolific journalist and the other being a billionaire playboy, where Superman can be considered a mask for Clark Kent, Bruce Wayne can be considered a mask for Batman, and many adaptations of the character have it that Wayne considers Batman to be his true identity rather than a persona that he only takes on while he's wearing the cape and cowl. It still hides his secret identity from the rest of the world, just for different reasons.

* ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'':

** Super Goof (a 1960s parody of ''Superman'') is Goofy in long-johns with a cape and his ridiculous hat with Superman's power set, yet no one could ever figure out why they never saw Goofy and Super Goof in the same place (this was carried over into animation through an episode of ''WesternAnimation/HouseOfMouse''; at the end, Clarabelle thought that Super Goof's secret identity was WesternAnimation/{{Dumbo}}). It's apparently because [[ObfuscatingStupidity nobody WANTS to believe Goofy is Super Goof]]: the one time the Beagle Boys tried to use the police new supercomputer to find out his secret identity, everybody thought the supercomputer was still damaged by Super Goof's earlier sabotage when the computer actually told them it's Goofy (in fact, the Beagle Boys outright said that ''[[WesternAnimation/PeterPan Tinkerbell]]'' was a more believable candidate). Some stories have Mickey Mouse know Super Goof's secret identity, the implication being that either Mickey is that good as a detective or was just open-minded enough to consider and check.

*** Paperinik's CoolCar is also Donald's (uncool) car, disguised by its license number changing to "X".

* Conner Kent, the second ComicBook/{{Superboy}}, is one of the more ridiculous examples. He uses glasses like Clark Kent does, but he ''doesn't wear a freaking costume.'' His "costume" as Superboy is a black S-symbol t-shirt, jeans and work boots. That's right, he takes off his glasses and changes shirts, and no one recognizes him. At least the comics incarnation of Conner tends to wear ''different'' civilian clothes when he's not active as Superboy, unlike his animated counterpart in ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice'' (see '''Western Animation''', below).

* In ''Big Bang Comics'', Ultiman (the CaptainErsatz of Superman) doesn't wear a mask, and his identity as astronaut Chris Kelly is well known to the public. However, he keeps another identity -- that of Carl Kelly, Ultiman's mustachioed black sheep twin brother. 'Carl' and 'Ultiman' are technically co-workers, as Carl is assistant to Ultiman's military superior Gen. Black. Those who know them both think Carl avoids Ultiman because he can't relate to or feels inferior to him, and because Carl's considered something of a bum nobody thinks anything of him leaving work in the middle of the day only to come back as if nothing happened.

** Wonder Woman was engaged in this even ''before'' she left her home island. Her classic origin (recounted in, among other places, ''WesternAnimation/SuperFriends'') had her donning a tiny little eye-mask to "disguise" herself for the iconic tournament, as her [[MyBelovedSmother mother]] had forbidden her from participating. In ''every'' version of the story, it works, even though she's doing it under the noses of people who've known her for her whole life (it's especially silly in her [[ComicBook/AllStarComicsNumberEight initial]] [[ComicBook/WonderWoman1942 Golden Age origin]], where she was the ''only'' one who wore a mask; later versions had ''all'' the contestants masked to avoid favoritism on the part of the judges, and at least one threw a VoluntaryShapeshifting mask into the mix).
** George Perez did away with her secret identity when he revamped the character for [[ComicBook/WonderWoman1987 Volume 2]] following ''ComicBook/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths''. As he saw it, Diana would feel no need to hide who she was, and since she was entering the modern world for the first time she would never have been able to pull it off anyway.
** ComicBook/WonderGirl Cassie Sandsmark originally had the ingenuity to wear a black wig and goggles, though even then her costume was mainly thrown together from what was already in her closet. She ditched them after a situation where she had to chose between maintaining disguise and saving the day, but her lack of secret identity going forward made it difficult for her to find a school willing to take her due to the potential danger to the other students.
** Revisited in The New 52 with Clark and Diana begin dating. Even though Wonder Woman maintains no civilian ID, she is able to go out on a date with Clark in relative anonymity simply by putting on glasses and changing her hairstyle.
** In the 90's Diana's AntiHeroSubstitute Artemis was attacked by a number of [[PoliticallyIncorrectVillain Politically Incorrect Villains]] - the Chauvinist, the Exploiter and Involute the Conqueror. As Diana discovered they were all the same guy - a super-strong actor hired by a PR firm tasked with removing Artemis' HeroWithBadPublicity status, something Artemis herself was unaware of. None of his identities wore a mask, at best he had a bandana or a pair of shades, and yet Artemis still didn't figure it out.

** ComicBook/WonderGirl Cassie Sandsmark originally had the ingenuity to wear a black wig and goggles, though even then her costume was mainly thrown together from what was already in her closet. She ditched them after a situation where she had to chose between maintaining disguise and saving the day, but her lack of secret identiy going forward made it difficult for her to find a school willing to take her due to the potential danger to the other students.

* Played for laughs in ''ComicBook/TheUnbeatableSquirrelGirl'': Doreen's efforts to hide her secret identity often manifest as a SuspiciouslySpecificDenial.

** In the 90's Diana's AntiHeroSubstitute Artemis was attacked by a number of [[PoliticallyIncorrectVillain Politically Incorrect Villains]] - the Chauvinist, the Exploiter and Involute the Conqueror. As Diana discovered they were all the same guy - a super-strong actor hired by a PR firm tasked with removing Artemis' HeroWithABadPublicity status, something Artemis herself was unaware of. None of his identities wore a mask, at best he had a bandana or a pair of shades, and yet Artemis still didn't figure it out.

** Spoofed [[UpToEleven harder]] by ComicBook/BetaRayBill, who on one occasion reverted to his pre-SuperSoldier form and toured New York City with an overcoat and a set of false glasses with rubber nose and mustache. The alien race Bill was born to, although roughly humanoid, are all hairless, lack external noses or ears, and are ''bright orange''. The narration chalks this up to "[[CityOfWeirdos New York being what it is]]".

ClarkKenting in comic books.
----

--->'''Starfire:''' ''[The Teen Titans are in the Kent apartment]'' That "S" on your chest means that you're a big advantage.\\

** Wonder Woman was engaged in this even ''before'' she left her home island. Her classic origin (recounted in, among other places, ''WesternAnimation/SuperFriends'') had her donning a tiny little eye-mask to "disguise" herself for the iconic tournament, as her [[MyBelovedSmother mother]] had forbidden her from participating. In ''every'' version of the story, it works, even though she's doing it under the noses of people who've known her for her whole life (it's especially silly in her initial Golden Age origin, where she was the ''only'' one who wore a mask; later versions had ''all'' the contestants masked to avoid favoritism on the part of the judges, and at least one threw a VoluntaryShapeshifting mask into the mix).

** Super Goof (a 1960s parody of ''Superman'') is Goofy in long-johns with a cape and his ridiculous hat with Superman's power set, yet no one could ever figure out why they never saw Goofy and Super Goof in the same place (this was carried over into animation through an episode of ''WesternAnimation/HouseOfMouse''; at the end, Clarabelle thought that Super Goof's secret identity was Disney/{{Dumbo}}). It's apparently because [[ObfuscatingStupidity nobody WANTS to believe Goofy is Super Goof]]: the one time the Beagle Boys tried to use the police new supercomputer to find out his secret identity, everybody thought the supercomputer was still damaged by Super Goof's earlier sabotage when the computer actually told them it's Goofy (in fact, the Beagle Boys outright said that ''[[Disney/PeterPan Tinkerbell]]'' was a more believable candidate). Some stories have Mickey Mouse know Super Goof's secret identity, the implication being that either Mickey is that good as a detective or was just open-minded enough to consider and check.

** In Italian ''WesternAnimation/DonaldDuck'' comics, Donald has a superhero / AntiHero alter ego called Paperinik, who is Donald with a costume based on [[GentlemanThief Fantomius]] with a domino mask and Donald's signature hat, yet ''nobody'' noticed in spite of people knowing their resemblance. It's explained, as in the previous case, due a combination of people not wanting to believe the lazy Donald is the city's idol and [[TheDreaded scariest person]], Donald and Paperinik having appeared before people at the same time (due either robots taking Donald's place or volunteers replacing Paperinik), and Paperinik being a MasterOfDisguise who has disguised himself as Donald multiple times (or, in one memorable occasion, as [[ItMakesSenseInContext a monster disguised as Paperinik disguised as John Rockerduck disguised as Paperinik]]). The rather obscure video game adaptation, ''PK: Out of the Shadows'', reinforces the difference by adding the fact that, as Paperinik, Donald uses a voice modulator to disguise his voice (while Donald is still voiced by Creator/TonyAnselmo, Paperinik's voice is done by Creator/RobPaulsen).

* [[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks Golden Age]] superhero Captain Battle stretched the trope to the breaking point. In his civilian identity, he was William Battle, a World War I veteran who used to be a captain in the army. It didn't help that he didn't wear any disguise whatsoever while operating as a superhero. It doesn't help that he wears an eyepatch in both identities. One wonders how the intros for those stories went. "In his civilian guise, he is William Battle, the retired Captain! But when crime rears its ugly head, he puts on no disguise and becomes Captain Battle, man of mystery!"

* ''[[ComicBook/DCRebirth Rebirth's]]'' ComicBook/{{Superboy}}, Jon Kent, is also a terrible offender. Aside from wearing a baseball cap and fake glasses, Jon makes no attempt to alter his voice or mannerisms or even change what jeans he's wearing in his uniform. This is only further compounded by his status as a BadLiar who can't come up with a good excuse for all the things he's doing. This issue gets [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded heavily]] by Beast Boy.
--->'''Starfire:''' ''[The Teen Titans are in the Kent apartment]'' That "S" on your chest means that you're a big advantage.
--->'''Jon:''' [[BlatantLies "S"? What "S"? I'm just a normal kid...]] that [[Characters/{{Robin}} Robin]] happens to know...
--->'''Beast Boy:''' We know who you are. Your SecretIdentity is more obvious than ''mine''. And I'm '''''[[LockedIntoStrangeness green!]]'''''

** There's also the Iron Man secret identity itself. The armor covers his whole body so it's not a straight example of this trope, but for years in the comic book Tony maintained the pretense that Iron Man was a separate person from Tony himself, a bodyguard with a secret identity. Having Tony and Iron Man appear together was easy enough thanks to stand-ins and robots, but such occasions were still so rare, and Tony was so rarely seen when Iron Man was busy being a superhero, that it's surprising so few people figured it out.

** ComicBook/WonderGirl Cassie originally had the ingenuity to wear a black wig and goggles, though even then her costume was mainly thrown together from what was already in her closet. She ditched them after a situation where she had to chose between maintaining disguise and saving the day. In the version of Teen Titans starting in 2003, she does not have a secret identity, which caused problems finding a school that would take her.

** George Perez did away with her secret identity when he revamped the character following ''ComicBook/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths''. As he saw it, Diana would feel no need to hide who she was, and since she was entering the modern world for the first time she would never have been able to pull it off anyway.

** Likewise, Mary Marvel looks just like her alter ego Mary Batson, though DependingOnTheWriter, her superhero identity may be a "grown-up" version of her ordinary self. A bigger problem might be the fact that both identities ''share the same first name''[[note]]Albeit one of the most popular names in the English language[[/note]], though this was avoided in the 1990s "Power of Shazam" series. In that version, "Captain Marvel" was treated (like, e.g., Franchise/GreenLantern) more as a ''title'' than a unique name. Third parties would usually distinguish Mary from her brother by referring to her as "the lady Captain Marvel" or something similar.

** ''WesternAnimation/SuperFriends'' once did a segment on Wonder Woman's origin. She put on a tiny little eye-mask and yet no-one knew her, despite both being a princess and the fact she's lived around the same people so much that they should be able to tell it's her.