DC And Secret Identities

[phonogram12]

The difference is that you cannot be directly confronted if you have a secret identity. Think of that scene in Civil War, where a woman confronts Tony over her dead son dying because of him. Do you think that scene would be possible if Tony being Iron Ma wasn't public knowledge?

If Tony was still going with the cover that Iron Man is an employee of his it would've been.

[Caivu]

They're in danger by virtue of being in a superhero universe where villains will target anyone. It's not like the Joker knew who Barbara Gordon was when he shot her.

Barbara's not really a good example to use. She wasn't targeted because she was Batgirl, true, but instead because she was Jim Gordon's daughter. She wasn't picked at random or anything.

[Flash Gordon]

I understand what you're saying. I disagree strongly with it. Being a hero and working for an established authority are not mutually exclusive. As I said, Captain America wasn't always a free agent and was still considered a superhero.

I didn't give my opinion on it. I just said that the success of the ULTIMATES VOL. 1 is why Marvel characters tend not to have secret identities anymore. I'm not sure what you're disagreeing with.

Personally I do not believe that you can be an uncompromising pinnacle of heroism, and an establishment crony, but that's besides the point I was making. Superman is that pinnacle. Batman also is. Neither of those cats could operate as straight up CIA operatives. DC characters also tend to operate on a scale that is vastly beyond any singular, Earthly government.

[ed2962]

It's only an issue if the writers want to make it an issue. I think though it depends on what type of superhero the character is. If you're in the FF or the Doom Patrol and your enemies are aliens and time traveling warlords, secret ID are kinda pointless. If you're a street level vigilante and you have a middle class civilian job, a secret ID might help.

I thought it was kinda of interesting though how subtly it was handled in the Superwoman comic. It's not overtly stated but when Lois and Lana were standing still in a crowd, you could tell they were using their powers to obscure their faces.

[SiegePerilous02]

I'd rather keep them in some cases. It makes sense for Diana, Arthur and certain others, but not in the cases of Batman, Superman or Green Lantern. In the latter two cases, they have an interesting set of characters in their work environments that wouldn't have as much reason to be around if the identities were exposed. Just because Marvel does it, I don't think that means DC should do it. They're not the same company and there is no reason for them to follow each other on everything.

They're in danger by virtue of being in a superhero universe where villains will target anyone. It's not like the Joker knew who Barbara Gordon was when he shot her.

True, but she is the daughter of the Commissioner of police who has a very well known relationship with Batman, and who has himself crossed paths with the Joker on numerous occasions. Had the Joker known she was Batgirl he probably would have gone after her a bit sooner, but in this case it's kind of moot due to who she's related to

[America]

Daredevil may be Marvel's best book right now-and one of the few good ones given all the dumb stuff they're putting out right now-and that title is centered prominently around Matt Murdock's secret identity.

I don't think DC should strive for that. The two universes have always emphasized different things anyways and I'd like to DC to stick to that.

[Green Goblin of Sector 2814]

There are actually a lot of DC characters whose identities have traditionally been completely public: John Stewart, Guy Gardener, Captain Atom, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Steel, Ralph Dibny, John Constantine, Zatanna, Black Lightning, pretty much the whole Doom Patrol, Beast Boy, Starfire, Cyborg, Raven, actually pretty much all the classic Titans save Dick and Wally (though he doesn't have a problem name-dropping in Abnett's Titans)...just to name a few.

There are also a bunch of Marvel characters whose identities are still under wraps, the most obvious example being Spider-Man. And I don't know if this counts, but the current Mighty Thor is all about Jane Foster's identity being a secret.