Official : Bendis gets both books

[manwhohaseverything]

Bendis nailed it when he talked about how secret identities being out of fashion. The concept is just creepy. A guy wears a costume under regular street clothes and hides a part of himself to all his friends?? That’s just weird. I know it’s been a common part of comics for years but I’d like to see them evolve a bit.

Vigilantes hiding secrets is creepy. What a shocker!

[Ascended]

One could argue that the idea of hiding the secret identity to those close to you is outdated, but revealing your identity to the entire world isn't.

Eh, secret identities are a totally alien concept to people who grew up with social media. I mean, in a world where people share pictures of their food (and trust me, no one cares about your burger or wants to see it) and everyone wants to be internet famous, the idea of hiding how special you are doesn't make sense to people.

No one gives a damn about their privacy anymore, so no wonder secret identities are seen as outdated and weird.

I don't like it either, but that's the social norm now I guess. Me, Im just glad I grew up in the era where we had video games but no internet. The dumb stuff I did as a kid will never come back to bite me in the ass.

[Blue22]

One could argue that the idea of hiding the secret identity to those close to you is outdated, but revealing your identity to the entire world isn't.

Agreed. I've never been a big fan of secret IDs, especially when it means hiding it from your loved ones. That will never not be dumb (especially in something like Power Rangers, where the villains always know who they are and yet most teams are still forced to keep their identities secret from their friends and families). But I can totally see why someone (Clark in particular) wouldn't necessarily want the whole world knowing they're a hero.

Hell, if I were in his shoes or the shoes of most heroes, I'd keep my identity hidden too. It completely erases any shot you have at having a normal life or any sense of privacy. There's no identity to escape to when the world is in love with you one minute and turns on you the next. It does put you and your loved ones at greater risk for supervillain attacks (bet Bane's plan in King's run wouldn't have been nearly as successful as it was if he didn't know Batman was also Bruce Wayne). It just...puts a distressing amount of attention on you that I would absolutely never want. Sure there's the whole celebrity status you're likely to get too but even that can suck.

I just need a reason for why Clark has suddenly decided to forgo his secret identity. Because he's always struck me as the kind of guy who would think the pros to having one outweigh the cons.

[manwhohaseverything]

Eh, secret identities are a totally alien concept to people who grew up with social media. I mean, in a world where people share pictures of their food (and trust me, no one cares about your burger or wants to see it) and everyone wants to be internet famous, the idea of hiding how special you are doesn't make sense to people.

No one gives a damn about their privacy anymore, so no wonder secret identities are seen as outdated and weird.

I don't like it either, but that's the social norm now I guess. Me, Im just glad I grew up in the era where we had video games but no internet. The dumb stuff I did as a kid will never come back to bite me in the ass.

I don't think so. People build fake accounts, don't reveal their face and everything in between. If they really want to stay hidden and their identity kept secret. Its not as alien as you think.
This basically is just following movie ironman's example because it felt honest and pretty ballsy. But Let's be honest, stark can be an attention seeker exact opposite of clark. Sure, what he did was badass and felt like something the character would do. It isn't something clark would do. He doesn't need to say. He is superman. Others call him that.

[Superlad93]

There's no identity to escape to when the world is in love with you one minute and turns on you the next.

The argument here from Bendis seems to be that Clark is in a time in his life where he's done looking for a refuge from the ups and downs of his actions as Superman. He wants to own them honestly all of the time. That's the sound of it anyway.

It does put you and your loved ones at greater risk for supervillain attacks

I have to agree with Bendis here when he makes the observation that Superman has historically done the worst job imaginable of using his secret identity to protect his loved ones. Jimmy Olsen is famously Superman's best friend. It's actual common knowledge that he has a signal watch to call Superman to him. He's very obviously flirted with Lois in public. Sometimes he's even been on dates with her. It's to the point where it's common knowledge that if kidnap her then he's not far behind. The same goes for the Daily Planet. As Bendis points out, most of these people are more famously known to associate with Superman than with Clark.

[manwhohaseverything]

The only loss clark will have at this point is the job and writing articles. He can write articles as the president.

[Superlad93]

The only loss clark will have at this point is the job and writing articles. He can write articles as the president.

It also seems to be implied that he may have to give up all of the awards he got as a reporter.

Hell, this might call into question some of the awards and stories the Daily Planet got about and around Superman. I can't imagine Perry will be too happy about that. I'm actually really interested in his reaction. I also really look forward to Fraction navigating Jimmy's reaction.

[Korath]

I wonder how much of this wll be framed in term of accountability. Superman is indeed seen as the Super-Pope of DC, most of the times. He can do no wrong in the public eyes and is thus held in extremely high esteem, and Bendis has been working on this assumption, especially in Action Comics, from Naomi immediately rushing to him to learn how to use her powers to the common citizens knowing how it goes around Supes and trusting him. But becoming the de-facto elader of a whole backwater and very divised world, inhabited by really agressive monkeys is another thing entirely. Superman's often framed from the point of view of American citizens. Other nations are less defined on their vision of him, and he has become their leader to, in a sense.

So, I think he needs all the acocuntability he can get. You can't impeach him. You can't mount a political charge against him to force him to change the way he'll craft the UP and the place of Earth in it. And we know from Millenium that the Earth will suffer several catastrophies in the future, so he clearly isn't a tyrant, he let people makes mistakes. By revealing his public identity, he makes a leap of faith, in a sense. He presents himself, the man, with his successes and mistakes, for the world to see and judge. I just wonder if it'll have a ripple effect on other suepr-characters like Supergirl (once she's cleared of her Infection).

[manwhohaseverything]

I wonder how much of this wll be framed in term of accountability. Superman is indeed seen as the Super-Pope of DC, most of the times. He can do no wrong in the public eyes and is thus held in extremely high esteem, and Bendis has been working on this assumption, especially in Action Comics, from Naomi immediately rushing to him to learn how to use her powers to the common citizens knowing how it goes around Supes and trusting him. But becoming the de-facto elader of a whole backwater and very divised world, inhabited by really agressive monkeys is another thing entirely. Superman's often framed from the point of view of American citizens. Other nations are less defined on their vision of him, and he has become their leader to, in a sense.

So, I think he needs all the acocuntability he can get. You can't impeach him. You can't mount a political charge against him to force him to change the way he'll craft the UP and the place of Earth in it. And we know from Millenium that the Earth will suffer several catastrophies in the future, so he clearly isn't a tyrant, he let people makes mistakes. By revealing his public identity, he makes a leap of faith, in a sense. He presents himself, the man, with his successes and mistakes, for the world to see and judge. I just wonder if it'll have a ripple effect on other suepr-characters like Supergirl (once she's cleared of her Infection).

If we go by doomsday clock, clark is the only one trusted to cross borders. He did relinquish his us citizenship. Essentially, he isn't a citizen of any nation on earth.

[Mago dos Gatos]

It also seems to be implied that he may have to give up all of the awards he got as a reporter.

Did Clark won any of these awards on the page or its was off-panel?

[Superlad93]

Did Clark won any of these awards on the page or its was off-panel?

It's off-panel. In the Superman: Leviathan special it noted Clark as being award winning, and I think it even specifically said he won an Emmy.

[Desmark]

I wonder if he will still go by Clark or is he abandoning the identity altogether. If he does abandon it wonder how Bruce will react to the reveal under Bendis given Supersons. it would be something ooc like he visits him like Clark did in fugitive and thinks he has lost his mind......
You should have CONSULTED me and the League before you took this step!!! I am the GODDAMNED BATMAN!!!!! and no one does anything before they get my approval!!!
*Starts throwing batarangs at him.*

[lotchj]

I like Superman secret ID, Clark Kent!! I think Dc is making a mistake taking away SM secret ID!! I don't get what's so great about social media?? Some act like social media is the greatest thing since slice bread!! It's not!!!

[manwhohaseverything]

I wonder if he will still go by Clark or is he abandoning the identity altogether. If he does abandon it wonder how Bruce will react to the reveal under Bendis given Supersons. it would be something ooc like he visits him like Clark did in fugitive and thinks he has lost his mind......
You should have CONSULTED me and the League before you took this step!!! I am the GODDAMNED BATMAN!!!!! and no one does anything before they get my approval!!!
*Starts throwing batarangs at him.*

How can he abandon clark kent. Clark kent is who he is. Superman is something that people call the real clark as. If you mean the act or clumsy clark persona. Then that's going away.

[LordUltimus]

Eh, secret identities are a totally alien concept to people who grew up with social media. I mean, in a world where people share pictures of their food (and trust me, no one cares about your burger or wants to see it) and everyone wants to be internet famous, the idea of hiding how special you are doesn't make sense to people.

No one gives a damn about their privacy anymore, so no wonder secret identities are seen as outdated and weird.

First off, how is it in character for Superman to want to be famous?

Second, if that was so true than everyone here would paste their faces and use their real names. There are plenty of people who use anonimity on the web for genuine reasons such as closeted people, people trying to hide from abusers, etc. Hell, if anything, the whole "must keep my identity a secret to protect my loved ones" has been proven to be true, given the many cases of Doxing of internet celebrities and activists in the last few years.

On a much smaller scale, even innocent stuff like writing fanfiction can get you fired if your workplace hears of it (and these days, pretty much all workplaces check your social media accounts). I heard about a job meeting where they were reluctant to hire a guy because his latest FB pictures showed him making funny faces at a family barbecue, which according to them meant that he could be written off as an idiot. You can't even joke around in your free time anymore.

Not to mention there are those of us who just don't think it is anybody else's business who we are. I want to cling to my last shred of privacy, right to the very end. We should be allowed a private life, no matter what our public lives are.