Pop Culture

SPIDER-MAN UNMASKED

The Weekend Australian, 9 September 2006

It was promoted it as “the most shocking event in comic book history”. Long-term readers of the publisher Marvel Comics, well-acquainted with hyperbole, probably took the announcement in their stride – but in a medium where popular heroes are regularly killed (and usually resurrected), and controversy is not unusual, many were still surprised by what happened in one edition of the seven-part series Civil War.

            It was not violent or lurid, but it was still contentious. In the final pages, Spider-Man, one of America’s most popular super heroes for the past 40 years, revealed his secret identity – photojournalist and high-school teacher Peter Parker – to a large media throng. As the press corps went wild, his friend Iron Man congratulated him: “Soak it up, Peter. You’re bigger than Elvis now.”

            Not quite – but Civil War is currently America’s top-selling comic book, moving some 400,000 copies per issue. Along with the super powers, the tight costumes and the moral code, secret identities have long been an essential part of comic-book folklore, suggesting to comic-book readers that they too can be super heroes. This secrecy also has practical value. “It protects their families,” says Canberra comic-book fan Mik Bennett. “They have villains the way policemen don’t. Spider-Man has had to fight Dr Octopus about a thousand times.”

            Since Superman debuted in 1938, disguising himself behind spectacles as mild-mannered reporter Clark Kent, super heroes have gone to extraordinary lengths to protect their identities from the public, even from their loved ones. For a time, Superman even used robot doubles, so that he and his alter ego could appear together. In many stories, the protection of his identity seemed more important (and more ingenious) than his actual crime-fighting.

            Spider-Man has also faced identity problems. When a villain was on the rampage in London, he could not change costume in case anyone noticed that Peter and Spider-Man were both in Britain. In another story, his face was snapped by a paparazzo while he changed in a closet. He spent the rest of the comic tracking down the photographer before the picture was sold.

            As Marvel editor-in-chief Joe Quesada recently noted, Spider-Man is “a comic-book taboo”. Naturally, his fans reacted strongly to his unmasking. In one blog, US comic-book retailer Ryan Higgins called it “the biggest mistake in the history of modern comic books.” Within days, the internet chat rooms were filled with stunned comments like “Spidey sold out!” One poster, ‘sherlockbones’, even asked “how can somebody working at a newspaper be so stupid?”

            But not everyone was against the idea. “He can't exist in a timeless bubble while the rest of the … universe grows and changes,” said ‘Effect’. “Spider-man has to change as well. I understand a lot of people want the Spider-Man they grew up with but … didn't you change growing up?”

            The angrier fans can (at least partly) blame the World Trade Centre attacks of 2001. With the heightened fear of terrorism, mysterious vigilantes wearing masks are no longer as cool as the used to be. Since 2001, three other long-running Marvel characters have also unmasked: Daredevil, Iron Man and Captain America.

            Spider-Man’s revelation reflects the post-9/11 world even more. Civil War is a political allegory. The first edition (published in May) began with a superhero battle in which an insane villain literally explodes, killing hundreds of innocent people. This tragedy leads to an huge anti-superhero sentiment within the public, provoking President Bush (who appears in cameo) to enact the Super-Hero Registration Act, which requires all superhuman people to reveal their identities to the Government and register as “living weapons of mass destruction”.

            The heroes are divided over the SHRA, and Marvel promotes the comics with the question “Whose side are you on?” With its similarities to the Patriot Act, the question certainly has stirred vigorous political debate in the chat rooms.

            “What side are the writers and artists on?” might be easier to answer. Civil War seems decidedly anti-SRHA, with the noblest of heroes, Captain America, refusing to assist the Government in what he sees as violating the civil rights of his colleagues. Instead, he leads a resistance of like-minded heroes, who become outlaws in the bargain.

            Spider-Man, meanwhile, agrees to publicly unmask himself to encourage other heroes to register. “The Registration Act gives us a choice,” he tells the assembled media. “We can continue the trend that Captain America advocates and have people with powers completely unchecked… or super heroes can go legitimate and earn back a little public trust.”

            Two months later, however, he is already having second thoughts. In upcoming comics, he will be reminded of why he wore a mask in the first place. He can no longer hide from criminals behind his innocent, everyman guise. His wife and other loved ones are now in danger. Old friends, shocked that he was hiding a secret for so long, don’t react well. Soon, like many of his fans, he may ask himself why he did it.

            While post-9/11 culture is part of the reason, he can also blame another aspect of 21st-century life. Because of changes in technology, comics no longer have the novelty of previous decades. Thanks to digital effects, super heroes now work even better on the big screen. Also, when computer games can provide hours of enjoyment, why fork out $5 for a 23-page comic book?

            For now, Civil War has provided enough excitement to lure some people back to comics. Quesada says that some of the later events in the seven-part series (including deaths, retirements, and possibly even a divorce) will get even more hate mail than Spider-Man’s unveiling.

            Bennett is not convinced that it will last. “I have never known anything [in comics], especially something this big, to be permanent,” he says. Without wanting to give ideas to Marvel’s writers, he sees that there could be another media conference where the unmasking is “explained” as a hoax, in which Peter posed as Spider-Man to help the pro-SRHA cause.

            “I could be wrong,” he adds. “The secret identity is a big part of being a super hero, but people like the Fantastic Four [first published in 1961] never had secret identities, and they are definitely super heroes.”

            Other fans are speculating that perhaps Dr Strange or one of Marvel’s other magical do-gooders will cast a spell to make everyone forget Spider-Man’s identity. At a comic-book convention last month, Quesada denied that this would happen. Spider-Man will remain outed. “There is no going back after Civil War,” Quesada said. “We use these events to modernise our characters.”

            It seems unlikely that DC Comics, Marvel’s main rival (and home to Superman and Batman), will allow their more recognisable heroes to follow in Spider-Man’s footsteps. DC once allowed the super-speedy Flash to reveal his true identity to the world, in a scene not unlike Spider-Man’s unmasking. Some years later, with his family constantly in danger, his secrecy was magically restored by a powerful cosmic being.

            Marvel’s intention is to mirror the current political climate in its comics, so its own heroes might not be so lucky. For them, one lofty comic-book tradition might soon be a thing of the past.