Lois & Clark Forums Forums General Discussion Superman Related Introducing Archie Clayton, Clark Kent's new secret identity

Clark Kent will now be known as Archie Clayton, truck driver (with no glasses either).

I'm not one to follow the comics scene much, but this popped up on my radar this morning. I know Clark has gone undercover before, but is this the first time he actually put together a new secret identity for himself (when not suffering from Super Amnesia)?

Apparently, Lois Lane outed Clark as Superman (again, I didn't hear why) and so he's had to go into hiding as someone else. I know we on the LnC Message Boards been playing with this idea for many years, due to Alt-Clark, but what do you think? Have you been reading this storyline? Do you think it Archie will be here to stay or, like the author of the above link supposed, only here for a short time?

FYI: I did have Clark as a delivery man/truck driver (ala UPS guy) in my story Green-Eyed Monster, but I'm sure that DC Comics didn't steal the idea from lil' ol' me.

I remember that at one point in the comics, Clark had (obviously, temporarily) given up his Clark Kent identity in favor of that of a fireman with a different name. It may have been from the "Death of Clark Kent" story line from the mid-1990's, but I wouldn't swear to it.

I have not been reading the present story line, but my understanding is that the reason Lois outed Clark was that
Joy,
Lynn

p.s., I just glanced through my "Death of Clark Kent" comics, and I appear to have conflated a couple of stories. In this story, some traumatic events result in his giving up being both Clark Kent and Superman. He becomes a lumberjack named Jordan. I won't spoil the story any more for anyone who hasn't read it; I'll just say that his in-story actions were well motivated.

I am sure I remember another story in which for some reason he stops being Clark Kent and becomes a fireman. I remember that he was very standoffish with the other firemen (there were no female firefighters depicted), because he was afraid that the closer he let them be to him, the more likely they would sense something fishy. As I recall, he had actually engaged in what would now be called identity theft; he took on the name of a real, recently-deceased fireman from a distant location. If anyone remembers more of the specifics of the story, please fill me in. Not being able to remember more is going to bother me now.

I also thought of one other place where Clark/Superman gives up both of his personas, permanently, and starts anew with the name "Jordan Eliot."

Would it be Superman Beyond? I didn't read this comic. I read nearly every comic from the 90's but not much before and after it (and I'm reading Lois & Clark now - and must keep on reading). It looks like this story was more recent and was kind of an AU.

And no, I don't know anything about Archie Clayton (arghhh ) because I hate the New 52 so much that I pretend it doesn't exist. What I know is from forums and articles. I couldn't stomach this reboot. I believe it'll be short time, as must be all the New 52 (bad) idea.

Andreia

Hi Andreia,

Superman Beyond does look like it fits my earlier description, but I don't think that's it. If I recall correctly, it was either a late Silver or else a Bronze age story.

Thanks for trying, though.

Joy,
Lynn

Superman did a lot of weird stuff in the Silver Age (roughly the '50s through the '60s or early '70s). He certainly went undercover a bunch, and I remember at least once where he gave up being Clark Kent and took up a different secret identity. I don't remember offhand what the name was or why, but he wore a blond wig. I'll see if I can find where that happened.

Once in the '60s Clark apparently died (in an explosion, I think?), so he decided to go without a secret identity and moved in with Jimmy. That was a disaster, largely because everyone now knew where he lived, so he figured out a way to bring Clark back without people being suspicious.

There was a story in the sixties, I think, which had Superman adopt a succession of secret identities; he knew he was being watched, so pretended that he had hundreds of IDs and rarely re-used them.