The Gradual Loss of the Mask and Secret Identity in Superhero Comics
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“There’s Just Me!”: The Gradual Loss of the Mask and Secret Identity in Superhero Comics by Leah Smith A Senior Project Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Major in English and the Bachelor of Arts Degree Stetson University, DeLand, Florida Advisor(s): Prof. Rusty Witek, Prof. Lori Snook, and Prof. Grady Ballenger December 4, 2015 Smith, 2 The secret identity, a familiar aspect in the superhero mythos, is an element that is jealously protected by the heroes. When superheroes willingly reveal their secret identities to someone it is a sign of trust, since those who are told the truth also become the protector of the mask and the identity it conceals. The mask was precious, it was an honored thing in the beginning of the comic book age. However, today’s comic heroes live in a time where both the physical and metaphorical mask is a symbol of distrust and fear, resulting in the heroes losing their masks along with their secret identities. But what happened? What has led the heroes into this predicament where their hidden lives are being forced out into the open? Changes in the industry can be correlated with the shift of comic book ages, sets of times that have been accepted and are recognized in the comic book community: the Golden Age (1938-1950), Silver Age (late 1950s-1970), Bronze Age (1970-around 1985), and the Modern Age. Comic book events occurring within the ages caused the gradual perception of the “mask” to change, with many of these events influenced by actual ones the readers were experiencing. As comic book writer Grant Morrison puts it, these characters are part of “. fictional world(s) haunted by the all-too-familiar injustices of the real one” (5). Affairs such as World War II, the Cold War, youth drug abuse coupled with an energy crisis, and 9/11 caused a shift in American trust, culminating into the issue of privacy invasion and the loss of an individual’s personal life; of having their mask ripped away. The birth of the superhero came at the most despondent time that America—and a large percentage of the world—has ever faced. With the fall of the stock market the U.S. was reeling from the sudden poverty that gripped a large portion of the population. To make situations worse, a power hungry dictator in Germany had taken Austria and was planning his domination of Europe. One month later a hero came in the form of an orphaned baby—who was not from around here— who would bring a beacon of hope back to America and the rest of the world. Superman, along with other Golden Age Smith, 3 superheroes like Batman, Wonder Woman, and Captain America, was brought into existence when people needed them most. The world was collapsing around them, and not even the President of the United States could stop it. What is interesting about the beginning of this genre, a genre famous for its masks, is the lack of one on Superman, instead using the alternative identity Clark Kent as the mask. This scenario reflects the “masks” worn by the new additions to the American population at the time, including the creators of early superheroes. Most were first generation American Jews, and the idea of a secret identity began with them: the creators of Superman, Jerome Siegel and Joseph Shuster (alias Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster), the godfather of comics who created Captain America among many others, Jacob Kertzberg (aka Jack “The King” Kirby), and the man responsible for making Marvel the giant that it is, Stanley Martin Lieber (or more commonly known as Stan “The Man” Lee). The concept of a pen name was a very common practice at that time, although for many comic book creators it was also used for something else: self preservation. As he mentions in his documentary With Great Power . The Stan Lee Story, “I didn’t want to use the name Stanley Martin Lieber because I was saving that for the great American novel for which I never wrote.” However, the mask does eventually come off as he honestly speaks about the great comic book protests from the early 1950s which brought an end to the Golden Age of comics: I didn’t want to admit what I did, and I would say something like ‘Oh, I’m a writer’ . ‘What do you write?’, ‘Um, stories for children’, . ‘What kind of stories?’ at some point I had to say comic books, at that point he would turn around and walk away. The masks that comic book creators made for themselves protected them from public shame, but also tied back to their origins. Since a majority were first generation Americans they struggled to balance between becoming “American” and honoring their culture. Smith, 4 This is why Superman became so critical in the thirties and forties. Before he became a champion for the Allied forces he was a symbol for immigrants, being the ultimate immigrant himself, as they struggled to find themselves in this new world while remaining proud of where they came from. Danny Fingeroth, a former comic book writer, editor, and comics writing teacher at New York University and several other schools, states that Superman is the essence of the immigrant mindset: “The simultaneous need to blend in and to stand out, echoing the immigrants’ insecurities and self- confidence, are there in the Man of Steel” (56). Every Clark Kent wanted that assurance that inside they are Superman. The lack of a physical mask allowed anyone to believe that they were a superhero, and everyone would know the truth if they just looked beyond the glasses. The first superhero was soon followed by an onslaught of heroes and although some were maskless, the majority possessed a physical mask. For many of the popular masked heroes of the thirties and forties—Batman, Captain America, The Flash, Captain Marvel (who owned a full body mask in his ability to transform from 12-year-old Billy Batson to the adult superhero)—their identities became a way for them to recreate themselves, to shed a weaker form and be the person they always wanted to be. Bruce Wayne wants to lose the feeling of helplessness he has felt since his parents’ murder, Steve Rogers likewise does not want to be frail and unable to defend his country on the frontlines; one loses emotional weakness, the other physical, and both dons a mask in order to represent their transformed selves. Transformation was a constant theme the world was facing in the Golden Age. In a time where the people in power may not always be trusted, who wore masks to disguise the cruel dictator, the crippled President, and the conniving emperor, hidden identity was a familiar occurrence. In his book Comic Book Nation, Bradford W. Wright, an associate professor with the University of Maryland University College European Division says that, “Even as comic books celebrated the common man, they evinced a more conservative warning about the political corruption and populist demagoguery” (24). Smith, 5 Unfortunately, the number of evil masks (at least in the minds of America at the time) outweighed the good, so when these new super powered beings appeared and fought for justice—even naming a team after it (The Justice Society of America)—the public was ecstatic. These heroes would protect them, would help solve all their problems. They wore masks but they were good, fighting for truth, justice and the American way. That was all that mattered. Then World War II ended. The great villains attempting to take over the world were defeated, soldiers came home, and the great superheroes who had encouraged American unity for freedom and justice, who led the people to rally behind the war effort, who taught the children the difference between good and evil, were no longer needed. Toward the end of the forties, the identity that had made the superheroes so relevant to society earlier on had been taken away. With the defeat of the Axis powers, the greatest villains at that time, their relevance was void, the ideals they had taught before “a loosely defined Americanism synonymous with lofty ideals like democracy, liberty and freedom from oppression” (Wright 42) had no place in this post war era, and as America went into the fifties, they wanted to move on from the war. Reading comics about the evils they no longer faced did not help with this goal. Only three superheroes were able to survive the war: Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman. For these three characters, the fifties were not good to them. A new belief that comic books were poisoning the minds of children emerged, headed by psychologist Dr. Fredric Wertham, and triggered protests via comic book burnings and court trials. As a result superhero comics became stale and dull, and the ensuing Comic Code Authority which was created to appease the concerned parents helped in making the equivalent of the dark ages for the superheroes. A mass of pressure was placed on the comic characters who were desperately trying to fit into the new world of the fifties because “the superhero—more than even the ordinary fictional hero—has to represent the values of the society that produces him” (Fingeroth 17). A new revival—a sort of Renaissance—would not occur until the sixties, Smith, 6 the same time a redefining of American culture was being attempted to the dismay of a great number of the population. The arrival of both these events can be attributed to a result from World War II that had increased the strife in American culture: The Cold War.