Reign of the Supermen #353: Clark Kent's Twin

Source: Superman vol.1 #67 (1950)
Type: ImpostorCrack open the issue of Superman that guest stars Perry Como. Flip to the last story. There you go. It's a tale entirely predicated on this "truism":
Even you believed we all had a "double", you'd also have to believe that 1) a Kryptonian would have an Earth double, 2) that double would also live in Metropolis, and 3) that double would wear the same exact clothes as Clark Kent despite being a construction worker. Joe Polaski meets all those criteria, and after he gets a cinderblock dropped on his head, he gets a bit of amnesia and a bit of mistaken identity, mixed together.
The doctor sends "Clark Kent" back to the Daily Planet to try and regain his memory, and from there it's the usual secret identity story. Lois accuses Joe of being Superman, and he has no reason to not believe it so he jumps out of the window. Because Superman is afraid showing up now will just make it look like he hired a guy to confound her ("proving" Superman really is Clark Kent), he dogs Joe's every step, invisibly keeping him safe and flying. No one questions why "Superman" now fights crime in a blue business suit. And in the end, it comes down to Lois slapping Joe silly and realizing that 1) Clark isn't Super and 2) that must mean Superman has been playing a cruel prank on her from behind the scenes, the jerk! The slap of course resets Joe's memory (voiding his stint as Super-Clark) and he returns to his life, never to be seen again.

Comments

LiamKav said…
I do love how, in the silver age, when someone wanted to check to see if they had superpowers, they always leap out of a window or do something that would result in their death if they didn't.
Siskoid said…
To be fair, he first ripped up a phonebook, and being stronger than Clark Kent is supposed to be (big buff construction worker and all), he succeeded.

If the Bionic Woman can pull that trick in the classroom without blowing her secret, I guess it's possible for normal humans, but it was enough for him to go the next step... out the window!