The pros and cons of "coming out"(revealing your secret identity)

[Fantasyartist]

Has anybody noticed that one of the issues in the recent Marvel Civil Wars was whether or NOT the Federal authorities could be trusted to safeguard the identities of heroes/heroines?

My guess is NO: In a polity where CIA agents such as Valerie Plame are "outed" in real life, where the Mafia infiltrates the Witness Protection Programme and the KGB/FSB penetrates the CIA and FBI( Aldrich Ames and Robert Hansen respectively), I can only conclude that to the determined, there will ALWAYS be a weak spot( Dr Doom, The Red Skull or Magneto can offer enough to make a potential turncoat wealthy beyond the dreams of avarice).
Some heroes have always been "out" ( Fantastic Four, Wasp, Wonder Man et al) but as villains are not averse to threatening family members of heroes( such as Tigra's mother), my advice would be: STAY IN THE CLOSET!

Terry

 

[November Rain]

I think if you come straight out if you are powerful or smart enough to handle it.

if you are simply a vigilante then stay hidden as you have far enough to lose.

Personally, i've never understood why a character like supes should have kept a secret identity for this long.

I do however like team interactions with well known superhero identities and some still protected by some sort of disguise...

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Actually, the federal authorities aren't privy to the heroes' identities, if you're talking about Civil War. The registration information is held by SHIELD, and I think only Iron Man is able to access them in most cases. He specifically says toward the end of Civil War that he took the position as Director of SHIELD because he couldn't trust anyone else with the heroes' identities. It doesn't really make sense because SHIELD is an international organization and the registration act is a United States law, but it's comics so whatever.

 

[DoomJester]

Heh. Is SHIELD still being treated as an international organization though? Or is that something that changed a while ago and no-one bothered to officially retcon it? But you're right, comics, w/e.

As far as the skepticism over whether you'd be safe... if you gave your identity up, well, it depends on the safe-guards, if it were just on a computer system that Stark developed, or that was on SHIELD, I'd imagine it would be safe, most computer info is stolen in transit (ie a phishing website or something). With decent encryption hacking attacks like Ghost in the Shell are just that-- for animes/comics. So, your info would be on a hard-drive that probably would be on a closed system, that only three people could authorize. That sounds reasonable.

You could always be caught and unmasked or have your mask shredded by an explosion, the only difference is whether you will have SHIELD and the cops on your side or not!

 

[Blader5489]

"The only people who know your identity are you, God, and Tony Stark."

Or something like that.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Heh. Is SHIELD still being treated as an international organization though? Or is that something that changed a while ago and no-one bothered to officially retcon it? But you're right, comics, w/e.

SHIELD is still a UN organization in the 616 universe. It's a US organization in the Ultimate universe and Bendis and Millar, having come from the Ultimate universe, tend to treat it as a US organization in the 616. Although that might also be due to the fact that most comics cover some part of the US, so we just see SHIELD interact with the US more than anywhere else.

 

[DoomJester]

Ahh... thanks. That's a really interesting concept and its a shame that writers haven't really used it much... they are more interested in making good characters go evil and seeing aliens in every shadow. Oh well.

 

[Manic]

If you have anyone in your life worth protecting, and they can't protect themselves in some way, you need to hold on to your secret identity. It works for the Fantastic Four and X-Men because everyone they know can defend themselves, and the Richards children have a reinforced panic room. And when it wasn't being blown up every other week, Xavier's Mansion had an automated defense system (as does the Baxter Building, I think).

If there's no one in your life the bad guys can get to, there's really no reason to keep your identity secret.

Personally, i've never understood why a character like supes should have kept a secret identity for this long.

Superman? I always assumed it was a psychological thing. I think holding down a job and walking around in normal clothes are the only ways Clark can feel normal. Plus, you know, Lois is probably a lot safer when the bad guys don't know her husband is Superman.

 

[storyteller]

Superheroes with family and friends shouldnt reveal when their enemies can take advantage. To be nice, the Heroes families arent targeted often. But get a bad guy with nothing to lose.....
Superman is in a worse situation. People think hes a god. Imagine coming home toa bunch of worshippers.

When your like Tony Stark, who really has no one, its alright to reveal who you are. It might be easier for some situtation(yeah perry gotta save the city again), but for privacy and safety, things go to hell.

 

[hippie_hunter]

SHIELD is still a UN organization in the 616 universe. It's a US organization in the Ultimate universe and Bendis and Millar, having come from the Ultimate universe, tend to treat it as a US organization in the 616. Although that might also be due to the fact that most comics cover some part of the US, so we just see SHIELD interact with the US more than anywhere else.

At least the Knauf's explained why it is often treated as such because of the United States providing SHIELD the vast majority of its funding.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Yeah, I'm okay with the current presentation of SHIELD. They should have some kind of presence in other countries, but I liken them to Doctor Who's UNIT--they're international, but so much s*** goes down in the UK that they just devote most of their resources there. Same for SHIELD only substitute the US for the UK.

 

[SLVRSR4]

Actually, the federal authorities aren't privy to the heroes' identities, if you're talking about Civil War. The registration information is held by SHIELD, and I think only Iron Man is able to access them in most cases. He specifically says toward the end of Civil War that he took the position as Director of SHIELD because he couldn't trust anyone else with the heroes' identities. It doesn't really make sense because SHIELD is an international organization and the registration act is a United States law, but it's comics so whatever.

US runs U.N. US runs SHIELD

 

[UK_Stu]

eh? The US can only wish it ran the UN...

 

[Vanguard07]

on the plus side if you do reveal your identity and it backfires you can always just make a deal with the devil to take it back.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

[Marvel company line]It wasn't the devil, it was a fictional supervillain; no religious connotations. Also, Mary Jane made the deal. (That means you should hate her instead of Peter.)[/Marvel company line]

 

[Vanguard07]

I read that as [marvel company line] we're stupid and we dont like people who read comics.... also we have poor personal hygene and our mothers dress us funny [marvel company line]

 

[Manic]

I know this was originally written as a commentary on how Nintendo is treating its hardcore fans, but I think the comparison fits with Marvel...

http://www.vgcats.com/comics/?strip_id=271

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Well, it's not as extreme for Marvel as it is for Nintendo, but it was funny.

 

[Anubis]

Ha!!!

 

[Pluto]

The whole civil war event was exciting at first but seemed to get sad far too fast.