Ink Pen by Phil Dunlap for April 18, 2010

My favorite was when superman would just stand there and take the bullets but duck when the bad guys threw the gun.

The official explanation is, that it’s not because Kent wears glasses, but because Superman DOESN’T wear a mask! People assume he doesn’t have a secret identity (especially believable, since he shows up so quickly), and so they never bother to look closely in the first place!

I understand that’s the official explanation, GBG, but it doesn’t completely fly (so to speak). The population at large (and Lex Luthor specifically) might not be motivated to look for Superman’s secret identity, but those who have regular contact with both Clark Kent and Superman (Lois, Jimmy, Perry…) would have to be stupid not to recognize that they’re one and the same. Of course, I don’t know whether they’re still maintaining that these people don’t know the “secret.” Are Lois and Clark still married?

I liked what was established (by Frank Miller?) about Bruce Wayne and Jim Gordon. If Gordon was any sort of detective, he certainly knew from very early on that Bruce Wayne is Batman, but he chose not to disclose his knowledge.

One think I wonder - do Clark’s glasses have prescription lenses, or flat? Obviously Superman wouldn’t need corrective lenses, but would his super-vision compensate for any distortion?

Ah..Superman has long needed supervision…

On the old George Reeves TV show, he played Clark as being self-assured and confident enough that, glasses or no, nobody could possibly miss the fact that he was Superman. That’s what made Chris Reeve’s performance in the movies so much fun; his Clark Kent was convincingly clumsy and awkward to carry off the charade. When he changed from one identity to the other, his voice and posture and mannerisms changed entirely.

I just noticed that the drawing style in this strip somewhat resembles that in Sinfest.

Hamhock’s not convinced, so it may be everyone knows and assumes no one else does.