If that’s a mass-produced storebought Superboy Identity Detection Kit, Clark’s in big trouble.

§ July 14th, 2011 § Filed under batman, green arrow, superman § 15 Comments

Now, if I were Bully, I’d probably have dozens of examples ready to go, but alas, I am no stuffed bull, and thus only have the two immediately available. But I do so love the occasional chart, diagram, or other collection of evidence used when someone is trying to puzzle out some secret identity or other:


I also liked when the handlettered text is thoughtfully arranged so that none of it would be obscured when someone placed their thumb over the page.

And then there’s this cover detail from one of the earliest Superboy stories I ever remember reading (in a ’70s reprint):


I hope those aren’t a pair of Clark’s glasses made using the glass from his Kryptonian rocket ship that brought him to Earth as a baby. The material for those are in limited supply, and you’d figure Clark would keep better tabs on them.

I wonder if there’s something like this in a Green Arrow comic, with pictures of Oliver Queen and Green Arrow side by side with the notation “Queen’s beard and Arrow’s beard – CONNECTION?”
 

images from Superboy #93 (December 1961) by Curt Swan and Stan Kaye, and Batman #134 (September 1960) by Bill Finger and Sheldon Moldoff

15 Responses to “If that’s a mass-produced storebought Superboy Identity Detection Kit, Clark’s in big trouble.”

  • Tim O'Neil says:

    The only real response to that is to ask whether or not anyone in the entire (DCU) world would really give a damn who Green Arrow was. I’ve read lots of Green Arrow comics and I still think the answer to that one is “no, there is not.”

  • Pietro says:

    Reminds me of that old Brave & the Bold issue when Two-Face and the Joker highjack a plane, Oliver Queen pretends to faint under the seat and comes up as Green Arrow and everyone goes like “Oh my, it’s a totally different guy!”. Cracks me up everytime.

  • J.W.Rollins says:

    And it reminds me of the Green Arrow storyline where Warlord comes to Seattle to settle some kind of mix-up with Oliver Queen, because they both have blondish goatees. I may be mis-remembering it, but it was something like that.

  • Old Bull Lee says:

    I cannot understand why people bother to mock Aquaman when Green Arrow deserves it so much more.

  • Loren says:

    The Green Arrow/Warlord story was a two-parter during Mike Grell’s run.

    In fact, Grell’s run kinda-sorta addressed the matter of Green Arrow’s ‘secret’ identity, in that it was treated like an open secret by anyone who took a moment’s effort to look into it. The feds certainly knew who he was. And after Oliver Queen was framed for being a terrorist and had his face plastered across the national news, he couldn’t really fall back on obscurity.

  • philip says:

    I still have the “Dimensions of Dick Grayson” LP. His rendition of “Bali Hai” is really wonderful.

  • buzz says:

    According to the chart, Batman is pigeon-toed.

  • Dean says:

    I got the impression that everyone in Star City knows that Oliver Queen is Green Arrow, but they either are polite enough not to mention it to his face, or just don’t make a big deal about it.

  • Snark Shark says:

    “or just don’t make a big deal about it.”

    or they don’t care!

    “It’s that NUT with the ARROWS. AGAIN.”

  • Happenstance says:

    Well, GA had his big day when he quit being Batman With Arrows and went full hippie, growing that funky beard, antagonizing his more stridently crypto-fascist fellows (GL, Hawkman, Bats), and having on-the-job love-ins with Black Canary. That WORKED. He was exciting and popular for the time.

    …So naturally, DC ran him into the ground ASAP, blew him up, resurrected him from bits of human-meat still stuck to Superman’s cape long afterward (ew), tried to make him a ninja, tried to make him Punisher, tried to make him Robin Hood, and…oh, who knows. Judging from the cover I’ve seen for Green Arrow Industries, they’re trying to make him Batman Inc. With Arrows with a side order of Peacemaker. The circle draws complete.

    DC Comics: “Is it broken yet? How about now? …Now?”

  • Happenstance says:

    Oh, I forgot: there was a kooky old golden-age story in which a small-time hoodlum discovers Dr. Mid-Nite’s secret identity when post-shower Doc walks past a window with a towel pulled over his head and shoulders, casting a shadow that the hood mistakes for the caped mystery man. (Wow.) The hood then sets up a presentation for his boss much like the “Dimensions of Bruce Wayne” sheet shown above, only it’s wall-sized, highly-detailed, and in full color! A PowerPoint presentation! In the ’40s! What office wouldn’t have hired this guy?

  • Sarah says:

    I like that direction to “Read Other Side.” What mysteries are contained on the reverse of that diagram????

  • Dav-El says:

    IIRC, there was an SNL sketch set around the premise that everyone at the Daily Planet knows Clark Kent is Superman….except Clark doesn’t know they know. Hilarity (or something close to it) ensues.

  • Snark Shark says:

    ” resurrected him from bits of human-meat still stuck to Superman’s cape long afterward (ew”

    O.o

    EW indeed!

  • Arynne says:

    You’d think Supes would do a better job laundering his uniform…