I find it interesting that Marvel specifically used to have the philosophy that the most important parts of the 'heroes' was the man under the mask. Anyone could throw on a Spider-man costume or Captain America costume... but nobody could ever truly replace Peter Parker or Steve Rogers. Daredevil was Matt Murdock, the poor kid done good whose unselfish attitudes saved a blind man but cost him his sight... a lawyer who defends the innocent and fights crime at night...
Peter Parker... aunt May... Daily Bugle... JJ Jameson... Robbie Robinson... etc. etc. all were what MADE Peter parker the hero that everyone loved.
Once that's all stripped away??? First the secret IDs went away, then the social circles, then anything outside of the mask... then the mask can be passed around to whoever you want... because once a hero is nothing but action shots then sure, ANYONE can be Captain America and we can have a dozen Spider-men running around.
Secret Identities SHOULD be MANDATORY. The Incredibles hit the right notes on that subject. Heroes NEED to be able to take off the mask and be regular people on occasion. They need to go grocery shopping. They need to walk the dog occasionally... They need to find a date and hope that nobody is going to sniper them from 6 blocks just to be a jerk to you... They need to not have lawyers showing up every time a supervillain throws you through a car...
In this day and age, Secret Identities should be any heroes #1 concern. Now some people like Nick Fury has and always will know everyone's secrets... and Punisher has a military file AND been arrested multiple times... but the average guy on the street shouldn't know who Captain America or Daredevil or Hawkeye is.
Yeah it´s disapointing that now some new and even classic super heroes do not have secret identies anymore.
The juggling of the secret identity and the duties of the heroes being heroes is fun to read and add more thrills to the stories making them more interesting to read.
Gonna repost the poll again for people who missed it. Current tally is 74% (14 votes) miss secret identities and 24% (5 votes) don't.
https://www.strawpoll.me/16181043
Good Marvel characters- Bring Them Back!!!
I don't miss secret identities, especially since they're actually still a thing for plenty of characters. What I miss more is heroes having personal lives. I don't think a secret identity is actually needed for that. Steve Rogers doesn't need a secret identity to have an apartment, to hang out with neighbours, to date a civilian. Even if he's just getting coffee, a hat and sunglasses work well enough for plenty of celebrities.
The other big thing I miss is broke superheroes. I want a hero who has a part-time job they hate. ****, give me a Millennial superhero, working a part-time job to pay off student loans while living with their parents. That's what I want to see. Instead, every hero these days seems to have some sort of independent income that comes out of nowhere. The ones who do work all have really high-profile careers that make them plenty of money. It's a shame that writers have abandoned broke-ass heroes.
Low income heroes were never really depicted with a whole lot of authenticity. It often involved ignoring the fact they had abilities or tools that would have made their financial problem non-existent, making light of working jobs people hated or just not realising that juggling superhero work and a low income job would be impossible. Spider-Man falls into all three categories.
In looking over things I realized that in Marvel I don't care about it but in DC I find myself caring a little tiny bit about it. I mean Marvel has Spiderman and Daredevil as the only guys who stories really depend on it, Thor,Cap America and Marvel, Hulk,Iron Man work perfectly fine without some huge focus on Secret Identity. Where as in DC they still milk the trope to death which is fine because more of their stories have that in the setting and I think Green Lantern and Superman could easily drop the secret identity and the books would be fine. I think Civil War might have taken some of the importance off secret identity in Marvel but I look over the book and it was still only Spiderman and Daredevil that mattered everyone else could have got unmasked it and wouldn't really matter. I think you can develop a good support cast and ground hero as real person with doing secret idenity.
And a note Marvel has very few Domino mask Patriot,Stature,Ms marvel, and Winter Soldier.
Here’s some more change I’m throwing in.....those who are saying guys like Captain America can go out and hang with “normal” friends without a secret identiy and not think he will not be bombarded with fans, attacked by villains, or have said “normal” friends hunted down to be kidnapped or killed are suspending more belief than someone trying to concel their identity with a domino mask.
At least with mask the person is activily trying to avoid being discovered so his friends or family wont get hurt.
Idea's Open Discussion And Growth. Silencing Idea's Confirms Them To Be True In The Minds Of Those Who Hold Them. The Attempt Of Eliminating Idea's Proves You To Be A Fool.
Celebrities, cops, prosecuting attorneys, etc all deal with these things. I think certain types of heroes who are basically vigilantes and are regular people when they aren't being heroes need secret IDs. But when you're on the Avengers or the Doom Patrol and your main thing is fight Kree-Skrull Wars, secret IDs are pretty pointless.
"Blast It!" double post
You guys got it right. Celebutante heroes, on Instagram and Facebook, earning living from followers are lame.Those are not modern heroes or heroes at all. Secret identities are harder to keep but, more important than ever. Not just for reader's fun but, for survival of super heroes in the world of the government trying to control everything. And lack of privacy.Just because, it is harder to remain private does not mean one should give up. I suppose stealth abilities would come in handy nowadays. And the night even more of a friend, like it is to villains. That is one of the reason why I loved the Siege Perilous. I wouldn't want to have most of my thoughts erased temporarily or forgotten by going through it but, not being able to be videotaped, or
recorded or photographed has it's benefits. I could give up the phone, like a snap of the fingers. Keep a "slat" for research, texting, e-mail and information. Turn off that GPS or leave it at home.