What ever happened to the secret identity?

[DrNewGod]

From Superman's debut, the protagonist leading a double life was a key trope of the superhero genre. There were exceptions, like the Sub-Mariner and (for a while) Doctor Fate, but even dead guys like the Spectre had secret identities.

These days, especially at Marvel, not so much. Admittedly, even from its early days, Marvel seemed less hung up on the secret identity than DC. But now, even the X-Men - who were in hiding so people wouldn't assassinate them for being mutants - are publicly known. Spider-Man's now the rare exception to the celebrity superhero, and they even tried it with him during Civil War. Over at DC, you could even argue that Batman's anonymity was undermined by Batman, Inc, and he was the absolute poster-boy for the secret identity.

So, what happened? Does this say more about the way the genre's changed, or the way that we've changed?

[cranger]

It is certainly something I miss. Even when Bruce Wayne is shown out of costume he is usually still doing something directly related to the Batman story. The couple times I have seen Bruce Wayne show up (e.g. recent Green Arrow arc) it does not even feel like him because Bruce Wayne out of costume and not doing something Batman related has no presence, so it could really just be any rich guy in the scene.

[Agent Z]

DC still has most of their heroes with secret i.d. Marvel is the one that has mostly abandoned this concept.

[DrNewGod]

DC still has most of their heroes with secret i.d. Marvel is the one that has mostly abandoned this concept.

Marvel's definitely gone more away from it. DC has maintained it, to some degree, more so since the NuDCU-boot. Still, Diana Prince=gone. Wally West was out until the reboot. Green Lantern (Hal)'s was full of holes until the reboot, and Stewart was out. Green Arrow was out. Donna Troy. Vic Stone. Gar Logan. All of Infinity Inc. Black Lightning. The list goes on.

My question is "why"? What happened to comics, or comics creators, or us that's turned characters and stories in this direction.

[Michael P]

It's less and less relevant an idea in a world where more and more people have no trouble sharing every detail of their inner lives with complete strangers, whether it's a good idea or not.

[Agent Z]

It's less and less relevant an idea in a world where more and more people have no trouble sharing every detail of their inner lives with complete strangers, whether it's a good idea or not.

These characters have reasons not to share certain details of their lives with total strangers. And given the dangers of doing such a thing in real life, I'd say it's still relevant.

[Spike-X]

I guess there's only so many, "How will the hero protect his secret identity this month?" stories you can tell before the concept gets a bit worn out.

[Marvel_Is]

Laziness. Sorry, but that's the real reason. Writers have become the hip thing and they know they can get away with a provocative story instead of a more crafty one involving concealed identities.

[lancerman]

It's become a cliché and there is less drama in it. It's more interesting to learn about how Tony Stark adapts to the world know who he is, than Superman trying to trick Lois Lane for the millionth time.

[Spike-X]

Laziness. Sorry, but that's the real reason. Writers have become the hip thing and they know they can get away with a provocative story instead of a more crafty one involving concealed identities.

Yeah, those hotshot writers are so lazy, wanting to come up with new and different stories, instead of regurgitating the same tired old tropes, issue after issue, year after year.

[ed2962]

Thing is, many superheroes don't have a good reason for having a secret ID anymore, some do ( Spidey, Moon Knight, DD, heroes of that sort), but many don't. The ID was kinda influenced from the pulp days when the heroes were basically vigilantes and their activities were against the law. Many characters also were leading double lives and had day jobs and loved ones they could lose. But most superheroes these days don't fit that mode so the writers stopped pretending.

Heck, you can go back to even the 70's...the FF didn't have IDs, over half the Avengers didn't have IDs, sure the X-men were feared in their world, but folks not knowing exactly where they lived was enuff ( the only one who wore a mask was Logan).

[Agent Z]

Thing is, many superheroes don't have a good reason for having a secret ID anymore, some do ( Spidey, Moon Knight, DD, heroes of that sort), but many don't. The ID was kinda influenced from the pulp days when the heroes were basically vigilantes and their activities were against the law. Many characters also were leading double lives and had day jobs and loved ones they could lose. But most superheroes these days don't fit that mode so the writers stopped pretending.

Heck, you can go back to even the 70's...the FF didn't have IDs, over half the Avengers didn't have IDs, sure the X-men were feared in their world, but folks not knowing exactly where they lived was enuff ( the only one who wore a mask was Logan).

I'm curious which characters you think shouldn't have secret i.ds. Wonder Woman, Captain America, the FF are some examples I can think of but I think there are still some that need it.

[Transmit Him]

I think part of the erosion of the secret identity was when comics started to get more post-modern, especially with writers like Mark Millar. I always remember reading his run on Wolverine, which has (brain-washed) Logan attacking Daredevil in his flat, taunting him with details of his private life. Now, fair enough, Murdock had been outed as DD by this point, but Wolverine was acting with the knowledge of a long-time reader (talking about Matt's past relationships) rather than a character in the universe. A lot of writers tend to treat these long-established characters as being as familiar with each other as readers are, partly for narrative simplicity.

The other thing like that which bothers me is when Batman villains and supporting cast talk about the Bat-Cave. Why would anyone outside of Batman and his sidekicks know that even exists?

[DrNewGod]

I'm curious which characters you think shouldn't have secret i.ds. Wonder Woman, Captain America, the FF are some examples I can think of but I think there are still some that need it.

Shouldn't have a secret identity? Hm.

At Marvel: Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch come to mind. Perhaps the Vision, and maybe Wonderman. The Pyms (if you think about it, the Wasp was really the original celebrity superhero, perhaps even more so than the FF members). Black Panther. Hercules. The Hulk.

At DC: Aquaman, Booster Gold (although you could claim that his origins versus his public persona were a secret ID). Cyborg (that's pretty hard to disguise). I'm not sure if Wonder Woman should or not; if she does, the stories based on it should probably be about her trying to learn about the outside world.

[Anodyne]

Shouldn't have a secret identity? Hm.
I'm not sure if Wonder Woman should or not; if she does, the stories based on it should probably be about her trying to learn about the outside world.

Isn't that what George Perez did with the post-CoIE Diana, with Julia Kapatelis as her guide and mentor?