Holding Out for a Hero, Ep. 2 - Secrets

Originally Published May 2, 2014

The greatest conceit about modern superhero tales is the “mystery” surrounding the identity of the hero. Who is that masked man?  Where does he come from?  

While that all may have been well and good, and more importantly, believable, when comic book heroes first graced the funny pages in the 30s and 40s, the fact is, in our modern society, it’s quite laughable that nobody knows who they are.  Or conversely, they end up being the WORST kept secret. 

With the advent of the 24 hour news cycle, stalker-azzi style reporting and social media where EVERYBODY now has a camera, the notion, the very idea that these costumed crime fighters could disappear into the night without a trace pushes the limits of credibility.  Yes, I am fully aware that the idea of a super-human running around fighting crime while dressed up for Halloween is incredible enough as it is.  But that push to feign a mysterious “dark knight” flying in and out of the gritty inner city without so much as a single police helicopter spotting anything out of the ordinary or even a newscopter catching site of them. Mind you, those of us here in California are all too familiar with Ghetto-birds on an almost nightly basis and if there’s ever a car chase, you can watch it from at least 3 different angles as the local channels race to cover it.  How does a big, black, heavily armored vehicle manage to elude all that coverage in a major city?  

Or the complete opposite of that in most superhero movies: Everyone always figures out who that masked man is. Sure, you can overlook Lois Lane figuring out who Superman was; after all, she’s a Pulitzer winning reporter. But can someone tell me how the hell she can make out with Superman in front of all her other Daily Planet co-workers and when Clark shows up to work the next time they see him, no one recognizes him because he’s wearing glasses?!  How about when the Dark Knight, Gotham’s personal avenger, gets figured out every single time by his girlfriends?  In pretty much every Batman movie since 89, Batman’s love interest and most of his enemies figure out he’s the masked man.  Spiderman’s girlfriends and enemies always figure it out… yet, strangely enough, his Aunt May doesn’t.  Odd, you’d think she would have come across his costume at least once.  I mean, she seems to be a neat freak and just exactly how many teenagers always keep track of their loose socks, never mind a bright red and blue unitard.  

At least there’s been more openness about Marvel’s other heroes and their attitude about secret identities.  Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark declaring at the end of his first movie, “I am Iron Man.”