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Adam Schulman
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 22 July 2017
Posts: 1717
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| Posted: 06 May 2018 at 8:37pm | IP Logged | 1
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Christopher Reeve convinced me that even Lois Lane wouldn't suspect that Clark Kent and Superman are the same person. Different voice, different "body language," the whole bit. Never mind "you will believe a man can fly" -- more like "you will believe a man can act."
Personally I was often surprised that few, if any, people made a connection between Bruce Wayne and Batman -- not that Wayne was Batman, but that Wayne was funding Batman, what with all his expensive vehicles and gadgets.
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Peter Martin
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 17 March 2008
Location: Canada
Posts: 15877
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| Posted: 07 May 2018 at 12:31am | IP Logged | 2
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I have to confess when I wrote about Captain Hero, I was not talking about the Jughead alter-ego, but instead about the Marvel character that 'killed' Iron Fist.
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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 132620
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| Posted: 07 May 2018 at 5:48am | IP Logged | 3
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There are a number of questions which, when asked, serve as a signal that it may be time to stop reading superhero comics. This is one of them.
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Daniel Gillotte
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 11 October 2005
Location: United States
Posts: 2623
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| Posted: 07 May 2018 at 5:16pm | IP Logged | 4
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I'm involved in community street bands and we dress up in costume. I am frequently surprised at how a different hat or some makeup and costume throw people off. I am extremely well known with customers at my work place but can stand right next to them in my costume and be ignored by them. So, I have come to believe that even simple secret identities can work.
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Marc Baptiste
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 17 June 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 3655
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| Posted: 07 May 2018 at 6:54pm | IP Logged | 5
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Has anyone given the Pre-Crisis Wonder Woman's secret identity any thought -- namely, can putting your hair up in a bun and putting on a pair of horn-rimmed glasses overwhelm the gift of the "Beauty of Aphrodite"?
Marc
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Jabari Lamar
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 18 October 2017
Location: United States
Posts: 350
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| Posted: 07 May 2018 at 8:01pm | IP Logged | 6
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Playing along: In this day and age, with smartphones and small cameras and video recorders being so widespread (as much as people mock the "video files" scene in Batman v Superman, I imagine the one with Barry Allen in the liquor store is exactly the kind of thing that would expose some heroes), and satellites, drones, and the internet, I think most secret identities, even ones that involve actual physical changes like Don Blake/Thor and Billy Batson/Captain Marvel, much less simple costumes, would be hard to keep secret for long. The ones that are also public figures in their civilians lives, like Bruce Wayne, would be the first to get exposed, as there would be millions of pictures of them in both identities, eventually someone's going to post a couple of pictures side by side online for comparison. Shoot, there'd likely be thousands of websites and forums and Facebook groups specifically devoted to trying to figure out and expose superheroes' identities (I mean, in real life, there are sites devoted to proving which politicians and celebrities are really reptilian alien agents of the Illuminati, so...).
As John Byrne and Howard Mackie once explained, with enough resources, or even just a lot of free time, even a full bodysuit and face mask can reveal quite a bit. . .
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Wallace Sellars
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 01 May 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 17677
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| Posted: 07 May 2018 at 8:07pm | IP Logged | 7
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I think most secret identities, even ones that involve actual physical
changes like Don Blake/Thor and Billy Batson/Captain Marvel, much
less simple costumes, would be hard to keep secret for long.
—
There is an element of magic that may keep the Billy Batson/Captain
Marvel relationship secret from most.
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Kevin Brown
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 31 May 2005
Location: United States
Posts: 8861
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| Posted: 07 May 2018 at 8:13pm | IP Logged | 8
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As many times as I've read and/or heard people mock or complain about how ridiculous it is that the glasses hide Superman's identity, I always think back to Christopher Reeve's portrayal in the movie and how he proves that it can work. It's not just the glasses, it's the you carry yourself as well..
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Brian Hague
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 14 November 2006
Posts: 8515
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| Posted: 07 May 2018 at 8:59pm | IP Logged | 9
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Curt Swan was well aware of the need for Superman to alter his manner and bearing as Clark...
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Thomas Woods
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 09 June 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 1356
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| Posted: 07 May 2018 at 10:38pm | IP Logged | 10
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How about a thread on how would you handle your secret
identity if you were suddenly a superhero.
Best: Martian Manhunter, although I didn't follow him
much couldn't he shape shift to a completely different
person?
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Eric Smearman
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 02 September 2006
Location: United States
Posts: 5808
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| Posted: 08 May 2018 at 4:31am | IP Logged | 11
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In the superhero milieu, aren’t secret identities supposed to be more
metaphorical in nature? Isn’t the idea that we all wish we had a better,
grander “true self” underneath our ordinary, everyday selves?
“If only my boss/that bully/that girl knew who I REALLY am.”
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Craig Bogart
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 18 June 2008
Posts: 407
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| Posted: 08 May 2018 at 7:11am | IP Logged | 12
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I was in a store a while ago and saw a guy working there whom I had worked with years previously that I really, really wanted to avoid. Luckily for me, he walked right past me and didn't recognize me. Over the course of several visits, each time I saw him, he didn't notice who I was.
The day I had left my glasses at home-- which I had not worn when we had been coworkers-- and encountered him in the store, he immediately recognized me and greeted me.
After that, I was actually sold on the Clark Kent idea.
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