Secret identities

[DocQuantum]

I've always had a love/hate relationship with secret identities in the comics. On the one hand, it makes sense that a crime-fighting hero would want to keep his loved ones safe by keeping his identity a secret.

On the other, super-heroes are the WORST at keeping their secret identities.

Take Superman, for example. Far from keeping his true name of Clark Kent a secret from the world, Clark has been outed as Superman countless times in the comics. While Superman has always individually been able to "explain" why he is not Clark Kent, one has to wonder if there's any truth to it based on the sheer number of times Clark has been thought to be Superman. Are people on Earth-1 who believe that Superman is Clark Kent considered "conspiracy theorists" or something? There must be strong social pressure not to go down that road, and of course that kind of pressure would not dissuade everyone.

Not to mention the fact that pretty much every hero with a secret identity tends to associate with the very same people both in and out of costume.

I often wonder if the police forces in the DCU are completely inept at following clues, or if they decided long ago that it was better to have heroes than risk having their identities exposed during a trial. There must be specific laws enabling masked heroes to testify at court trials, though I can't imagine such a law not being challenged all the time.

In golden age stories in particular, heroes are really sloppy with their secret identities. Billy Batson, for example, never even bothered trying to hide the fact that every time he said "Shazam" he would transform into Captain Marvel. I've read a couple of stories in which Billy just said the magic word while standing right next to his boss Sterling Morris, and Mr. Morris always seems surprised to see that Captain Marvel has replaced Billy. It makes me wonder if Shazam set up some magic spell that causes people to disbelieve what their eyes are telling them. If there is such a spell, it evidently doesn't work on everyone, such as Dr. Sivana who figured out the truth very early on. And, of course, Billy started to get a bit more careful about when and where he transformed into Captain Marvel, but so often in those early days he would transform right in front of pretty much anyone, and none of them except Sivana figured it out.

I think Marvel Comics was on to something with the Fantastic Four, who have no secret identities. I'm not suggesting that all heroes should unmask and let their secrets be known, but I do think it would be a lot easier to write than to have to keep track of, say, which JSAers' identities are publicly known (the Flash, Wonder Woman, Hawkman, etc.) and which are still a secret (the Sandman, Dr. Mid-Nite, Green Lantern, etc.).

Speaking of Hawkman, now that everyone knows he is Carter Hall (thanks to Hector Hall spilling the beans during that Infinity Inc. press conference), wouldn't the authorities be after him for all those crooks he used to kill in his early days? Or has he obtained some kind of clemency?

Earth-2 is particularly challenging to figure out secret identities when you throw in the fact that many, if not most, of the JSA members have been rejuvenated or remained young in some ways. I wrote a whole sequence about how Wesley Dodds and Dian Belmont passed themselves off as their own nephew/niece or cousin, and realized how difficult such a charade would be to pull off in the long term.

Anyway, enough of my rambling. What are your thoughts on secret identities, and do you have your own take on how they could work better?

[starskyhutch76]

I think if a lot of these heroes were to reveal their IDs, it would go like the big reveal in the SNL skit Kylo Ren episode of Undercover Boss.




I think the only reason Superman gets by with it is that he and Clark Kent have been seen together multiple times because of robots, doubles, red kryptonite, magic, etc. In one story, I had Jimmy Olsen reveal he had figured it out a long time ago. "C'mon. I'm a reporter, for crying out loud."

It would be funny if that boss of Billy Batson's knew exactly what was going on.

[johnreiter902]

I think saying Superman has been outed countless times is an exaggeration. In his whole career, only a relative handful of ordinary human beings have discovered his secret. Even that old trope of Lois Lane always believing Superman is Clark Kent is really a product of the early silver age. I just finished reading through the entire run of Superman’s Girlfriend, Lois Lane, and around issue 70 she stopped even considering Clark was Superman. I do imagine though that there are many conspiracy branches of superhero fan clubs that try to guess their secret, but most of them are probably miles from the answer. In the early silver age, it was common for SOME hero love interests to suspect their double identity, but this mostly died out I think by the late 1960s. I suppose it finally sank into them that this was no way to treat somebody you claim to love.

As for heroes who associate out of costume, most of them met in their secret identities either before or around the same time as they first teamed up, so their friendship can be easily explained. This is true for Bruce Wayne and Clark Kent, and for Barry Allen and Hal Jordan.

I think it was implied, either on Earth-1 or 2, that Commissioner Gordon is capable of finding out Batman’s true identity (he found out Batgirl’s all on his own) but doesn’t want to compromise his value as a crime fighter. I imagine this is the case for most of the police. I would point out that most heroes (at least on Earth-1 and 2) are (in my opinion) quite adept at confusing people who try to deduce their identities, I have seen it many times.

I am certain such laws regarding the testimony of superheroes exist. One was actually referenced in a story on this site (Snart vs. Central City, probably chosen because he was one of the first supervillain captured in the modern era). I’d love to see a story, set early in the history of Earth-1, coving the evolution of such legislation. It would come at the crux of two issues. In the beginning, villains were either wanted already, or the heroes had to contrive to provide enough evidence for conviction without their testimony. This would make it hard to capture as many criminals as they would like, and I’m sure some heroes considered unmasking in the cause of justice. At the same time, the police and justice officials would be pressuring for a legislation that would allow these awesome crime-deterrents to testify without compromising their effectiveness. In the end, the legal professionals won out. Pity there is no lawyer hero like Perry Mason in the DCU to star in such a story. On Earth-2, of course, J. Edgar Hoover and FDR were probably heavily involved in making the testimony of superheroes legal.

I think you are absolutely right about the magic spell on Earth-S. I was always struck by how little effort Captain Marvel and his family made to conceal their identities. It was thinly explained by everyone being blinded by the lightning, but that obviously makes little sense. Of course, it makes you wonder why Dr. Sivana was able to pierce the spell. It could be because he is a genius. It could also be because, when he saw Billy Transform, it was on an alien planet. Shazam’s magic may be weaker on alien worlds. At any rate, Billy clearly began to lose confidence in the spell as the year wore on, which explains his greater efforts at secrecy in later yers.

I think that, except for the JSAers who have publicly revealed their identities, all the rejuvenated members still use aliases. They just pretend to be sons or younger relatives of the originals. That was my understanding anyway.

As for killing the criminals, most of the JSA have similar skeletons in the closets from their days as mystery men. I always assumed FDR gave them a blanket pardon when the JSA saved Washington.

[jonclark]

Superman has two Kandorians who look just like him, the king of a foreign country, a safe cracker who Clark impersonated, a Robin Hood type who dated Lois, a father who foiled some crooks while dressed as Superman ... I figure Clark is just on of dozens on Earth One who could be mistaken for Superman. And Lois has been made a fool of so many times publically that trying to prove Clark is Superman had become a running joke. Clark is the one person no one suspects at this point because it is so cliché. Plus by the time he reaches Metropolis Clark has had a decade to perfect the act.

I can actually see a comedic scene where someone from Earth-Prime tries to prove Clark is Superman only to have Perry, Henderson, Lois and Lana themselves counter every "proof".

I do agree that the number of JSA era people rejuvenated does make their secret ID's suspect which is why I wish it hadn't been done so frequently on this site. But since it has, I'd probably add in more of it- but with random people. Some sort of de-aging effect that hits Earth-2 so that the heroes and villains are just part of a large group of largely average people who look and act 20-40 years younger.