Warning! Spoilers ahead for The Green Lantern #4!
Most superheroes in the DC Universe such as Green Lantern and Superman use secret identities to protect their loved ones and create a boundary between being a hero, and being a citizen with a “normal” life. Though these secret identities are an important part of being a superhero in the DC Universe, a closer look at Hal Jordan and Clark Kent confirms that not all secret identities are equally as convincing.
While other heroes employ elaborate schemes and disguises to conceal their ordinary lives, Superman famously relies on nothing more than a dorky pair of glasses and an awkward demeanor. DC has given countless explanations for how Superman's disguise works so well. Still, regardless of whether it comes down to a change in demeanor or a result of him subtly using his powers, the end result still has many readers rolling their eyes. All of that stands in contrast to Green Lantern brilliantly using his powers to craft an inventive disguise.
In The Green Lantern #4 by Grant Morrison and Liam Sharp, Hal Jordan is undercover in an attempt to get close to the Blackstars, a group of cosmic vampires determined to feast on the stars, and who currently have an informant within the Green Lantern Corps. Hal has arranged a meeting with one of their representatives, and dons a disguise to mask his identity; while the ploy initially works, Hal ultimately gives the game up and is escorted by the Blackstars to one of their worlds to be initiated into the force. Arguably, Green Lantern’s disguise in this issue is nothing crazy. A long trench coat, hat, and a fake beard would be enough to deceive most Earthlings; Hal Jordan’s day-to-day, though, does not involve most Earthlings, and using his power-ring, Jordan gives himself an extra set of arms to pretend to be a non-human alien! Given that the ring and its constructs work with Green Lantern’s mind, the limbs articulate with the natural grace necessary to pull off the illusion of being a completely different species. While the disguise is unfortunately short-lived, Jordan’s wit is on full display as he puts together a convincing disguise.
As one of the few humans in the Green Lantern Corps, Hal Jordan already sticks out when he tackles his cosmic adventures or patrols his assigned sector of space. Knowing this, he puts effort into his disguise to appear non-human. Simply pretending to be another human, so far away from Earth, wouldn’t cut it as he tried to get close to the Blackstars, so Jordan stepped up his game and got creative with his power ring. Superman, though, simply styles his hair and puts on a pair of glasses, ignoring the fact that his superhero persona is one of the most recognizable faces on the planet. A simple pair of glasses alone does not do enough to obfuscate his identity, and neither does a change in demeanor or attitude. While some versions of the character explain Superman’s glasses possess nigh-magical abilities, it is still a lazy disguise that poorly conceals Superman’s identity. Hal Jordan may technically patrol a larger beat than Superman, but Superman is a world-renowned celebrity and should disguise himself fittingly.
Heroes often conceal their identities to protect their loved ones from retaliation and to have some pocket of normalcy in their lives. As a space cop patrolling a large sector of space as its only human, Green Lantern goes to great lengths to go undercover and uses his ring to appear as a completely different species. Not only is this a great showcase of Jordan’s quick thinking, but it also further illustrates how disastrous Superman’s exclusive use of glasses to create the persona of Clark Kent really is.