Secret identities

[Marvel Boy]

For those that may not know, in Mark Waid's current run on Daredevil, Matt Murdock admits in a public court of law to being Daredevil. He is subsequently disbarred in the state of NY and has since moved to San Francisco.

There have been some discussions among DD fans that this is a gross betrayal of the character, that maintaining his secret id is one of the central concepts of the character (in relation to his being a lawyer and his promise to his father in making something of himself and not becoming a fighter like him).

In a broader sense though, I was wondering, has the concept of secret identities become outdated in today's comics? Since Civil War and the Superhero Registration Act, one could argue that a majority of Marvel's heroes have their real identities know either to the general public or to certain government agencies and SHIELD or both. Yet with such knowledge, their world(s) haven't collapsed utterly as some fans would believe. For example, Steve Rogers is still able to go out on public dates with Sharon Carter, Tony Stark is still CEO of Stark Industries.

Granted, I don't think Marvel has ever put such importance on maintaining a secret id that DC has. Let's face it, the FF's identities have been public knowledge practically since day one of the Marve Age. The only exception to this would seem to be perennial Peter Parker. What better way to generate angst than by having someone learn of your real identity?

Thoughts?

[humanbelly]

Jul 24, 2014 13:04:12 GMT -5 Marvel Boy said:

For those that may not know, in Mark Waid's current run on Daredevil, Matt Murdock admits in a public court of law to being Daredevil. He is subsequently disbarred in the state of NY and has since moved to San Francisco.

There have been some discussions among DD fans that this is a gross betrayal of the character, that maintaining his secret id is one of the central concepts of the character (in relation to his being a lawyer and his promise to his father in making something of himself and not becoming a fighter like him).

In a broader sense though, I was wondering, has the concept of secret identities become outdated in today's comics? Since Civil War and the Superhero Registration Act, one could argue that a majority of Marvel's heroes have their real identities know either to the general public or to certain government agencies and SHIELD or both. Yet with such knowledge, their world(s) haven't collapsed utterly as some fans would believe. For example, Steve Rogers is still able to go out on public dates with Sharon Carter, Tony Stark is still CEO of Stark Industries.

Granted, I don't think Marvel has ever put such importance on maintaining a secret id that DC has. Let's face it, the FF's identities have been public knowledge practically since day one of the Marve Age. The only exception to this would seem to be perennial Peter Parker. What better way to generate angst than by having someone learn of your real identity?

Thoughts?

Great topic, MB. It seems like the Golden Age comic book companies latched onto the secret identity convention from the get-go, and it just became the unquestioned model for about 95% of the heroes until, geeze, 'way into the Marvel Age of Comics. A cape, a mask, a day-job, and a secret identity. I've been considerably more aware of it of late because I've been watching SMALLVILLE for the first time-- very near the end of the fifth season now (I recognize that this series seems to be all-but-reviled by a pretty sizable segment of super-hero aficionado-dom-- and I'm here to testify that I don't care a whisker! It's not flawless, but it's just about as endearing and engaging a superhero series that I can think of. I unashamedly surrender to its comfortable charms. But I digress. . . ). The dangers, complications, and truly heartbreaking consequences of maintaining a secret identity are, of course, one of the over-riding themes of the series. The big problem for any hero is that no matter how powerful they are or how much they may try to protect them, their loved ones are a vulnerability that they cannot ever overcome. There will always be some powerful, clever individual more than willing to use any machinations necessary to co-opt a hero's power to their own ends, and the most fool-proof way to do that is through the hero's spouse or parents or children or best friend of boyfriend/girlfriend, etc. They simply will never be safe, and tragedy will inevitably fall-- Aunt May gets shot which sets BND in motion; John Walker's parents are murdered; Gwen gets thrown off a bridge; pretty much EVERY friend or family member in Smallville gets taken hostage by the nutjob of the week who gleans Clark's secret. So yes, THAT is the very real, understandable argument in favor of having a secret identity. It's like a self-imposed witness protection program.

BUT-- the all-or-nothing manner in which the convention was handled for, like, its first fifty years really did a serious disservice to the characters, and showed an alarmingly shallow grasp of human nature on the writers' parts. As an adult, it is VERY difficult to go back and read a lot of early issues (particularly Spidey) where the heroes are in the unfathomable position of being forced to constantly, reflexively, and habitually lie- day in and day out- to the very people they love, cherish and trust the most. Their wives, parents, kids, lovers, friends, etc-- and it's always done with a blanket justification of, "I hate to lie, but it's for Aunt May's own good-- she'd never understand" or "I hate to lie to Lois, but she may get hurt if she finds out"-- that sort of thing. For decades that kind of thing just got glossed over as part of the "way it is"-- except. . . except. . . there's no getting past the fact that all of these relationships are built on a foundation of serial lying. And where does the line get drawn when "lying for their own good"'? Y'know-- at the base of it, the heroes are telling these lies in an effort to not get caught, as it were. Not getting caught. That's exactly what the bad guys are usually trying to do, right? A true, trusting, loving relationship doesn't have a prayer of surviving if, for one party, it only exists at all in one side of a double life.

And my god-- what's the message being sent to the younger readers-- back when there were younger readers?? Power Pack, much as I usually enjoyed it, was the book that turned the convention irreversibly dark for me-- even before I became a parent myself. These were little kids-- VERY little kids-- who'd had a dangerously physically transformative experience, and were sneaking off into space battles after being put to bed at night. Effectively, it was telling the targeted younger readers that it was okay to keep huge, scary, traumatic experiences secret from their folks, and to lie about doing things that they certainly shouldn't have been. I mean, this was exactly why on Sesame Street they changed Snuffy from being an "disappear when adults are around" character to one who could be seen by everyone-- to encourage kids to confide in their parents, not to go to lengths to keep them out of the loop for the big stuff.

Ahh, I'm rambling OT a bit-- gettin' a bit sleepy!
Okay, I'll call it a rant, right there, eh?

HB

[Marvel Boy]

That's a good point, serial lying. At what point does it become almost rote for them to do so? They put their loved ones at risk, they don't tell them of this potential risk, and what's worse, if these loved one do come under attack, they have to save them without revealing their identity to them! So, in some ways, it's like a guilty pleasure. They kept their loved one safe, without even letting them know the truth and yet they immediately go back to lying to them about it all.

I would think that if they told them the truth, their loved ones would be better prepared in case something dire happened (that way Peter, you don't have to worry about Doc Ock moving in with Aunt May). Maybe they're afraid of rejection though, that their loved ones wouldn't accept or understand why they had to do this.

Currently I'm re-reading Byrne's run on FF which featured an interesting reversal of this typical scenario. Reed and Sue go to great lengths to take on secret identities, moving to a new house, setting up false identities, Reed 'going to work' every day to the Baxter Building, Sue being a normal housewife, all in servitude of trying to live a 'normal' life for Franklin's sake. In this case, Franklin is aware of his parents' actions though he may be a tad too young to fully grasp the extreme range of danger those actions punt upon him. But Reed and Sue do, so the fact that they've never outright lied to Franklin about those risks and worked hard to try and minimize them shows how to turn this classic comic trope on it's side.

As for the current DD, Matt is working around this problem as well. Foggy, of late, has been sick with cancer. He needs his treatments to continue but how can he when he's known as DD's law partner now? Well, Matt managed to fake Foggy's death. So when Matt moved to San Fran, Foggy moved as well in secret. But the strain of living in an almost witness-protection like environment is causing Foggy some stress so we have to wait and see how this plays out.

(On a side-note HB, I love Smallville too. I was against the idea of the show for so long but then Geoff Johns had to show the LSH in an episode so I gave in to watch them. It's a soap opera featuring superheroes, some of it is cringe-worthy to a degree but I've found every episode has that one moment, that shining epiphany of drama or emotion that makes me go 'Wow'. Terrific stuff there.)