Spider-Man Outs Himself to the Press

[ctheokas]

NEW YORK (AFP) - For a comic book hero, it's the ultimate taboo.In the latest edition of the Marvel comic "Civil War" on sale, Spiderman does the unthinkable and removes his Spidey mask to publicly reveal his hidden identity.

"I'm proud of who I am, and I'm here right now to prove it," the legendary webslinger tells a press conference called in New York's Times Square, before pulling off his mask and standing before the massed ranks of reporters as newspaper photographer Peter Parker.

"Any questions?" Parker asks in the final panel of the issue, amid a barrage of camera flashes.

In a statement, Marvel trumpeted the revelation as "arguably the most shocking event in comic book history."

The seven-issue "Civil War" series, launched in May, sees Marvel's writers taking on the topical issue of civil liberties.

Following a showdown between a group of superheroes and supervillains in which hundreds of innocent civilians are killed, the government passes the Super-Hero Registration Act, requiring all superheroes to reveal their identities and register as "living weapons of mass destruction."

Marvel's roster of invincible crime fighters is split into two bitterly opposed factions, with one camp -- championed by the likes of Spiderman -- in favour of the new law and the other, including Captain America and his ilk, refusing to relinquish anonymity.

"It's about which side you are on and why you think you are right," said Marvel Comics editor-in-chief Joe Quesada.

What gets me is that he's on the side of heroes who want to register with the government. He doesn't strike me as the type to go on that side of the fight.

[NebariNookiee]

I'm still blown away by this. That took some balls for Marvel to flip the status quo on its head like that. Spidey does strike me as siding with the Registration Act. He probably feels it helps legitimize him. By choosing to go through with this, he probably feels that he can now get the respect he’s craved since his first web-slinging days. (not to mention the Government's backing in case one of said villains decides to come acallin') Of course, I’m less concerned about how the villains will use this information as I am about what’s gonna happen to JJ Jameson. I mean, he’s gonna be the laughing stock of the Marvel Universe -- to find out that he's had Spidey working for him all these years. Talk about a slap in the face. Do you think Pete’s gonna have a job at the Bugle after this?

[SpeX]

Is this happening in the real comic universe? Or is it like Marvel's old "What If?" series? I stopped buying comics in'89,so I'm out of the loop.

[NebariNookiee]

No no, this is cannon! This is main title full-blown Marvel Universe cover to cover "you-must-be-outta-your-frelling-mind" kinda stuff! The status quo of Marvel Comics is shifting. Captain America and Iron Man fighting amongst each other, Fantastic Four split right down the middle, Avengers fractured and hero VS hero kinda stuff!

[Mazinkaiser]

I don't think Marvel likes secret identities anymore.

[Kurt_eh]

My money is that the Watcher just had a nasty case of indigestion before going to bed! ;)

[SpaceSlut]

/sucks.
the whole romance of a super hero is the secrets
without them
he's just another man in tights....

[TalynLives]

Was there something like that in DC comics? I remember reading a Superman comic during the Infinite Crisis period, and there was a flashback to earlier in the Earth-2 Superman's life where World War II paranoia causes the government to demand that superheroes reveal their identities. Superman states that he vehemently opposes the act but to show that he has nothing to hide, he reveals himself as Clark Kent.

I'm not sure if that actually happened in Earth 2's continuity though, or was it just an artifact of the two Supermens' histories clashing.

[malachilenomade]

I haven't picked up a Spidey comic in YEEEAAARS, but let's face it this is something that you knew was coming anyway... in the Spidey canon, his identity is a pretty big issue and you KNEW they were going to do this one day.

Either way, gimme Poison Elves and nothing else and I'll be happy :)

[wa11z]

Go Cap! Although, doesn't S.H.E.I.L.D. already know who he is?

[marandken]

uh, is it me or have we seen this already? It's called The Incredibles.

[wa11z]

I haven't picked up a Spidey comic in YEEEAAARS, but let's face it this is something that you knew was coming anyway... in the Spidey canon, his identity is a pretty big issue and you KNEW they were going to do this one day.

They did the same thing with Daredevil a few years back. Probably a way to market the new movie without "marketing the new movie."

[SpeX]

Frank Miller did it with "The Dark Knight Returns" back in '86.

[ctheokas]

The Flash outed his identity a few years ago. Then recently, everyone in his city lost their memory (about him anyway), including the Flash himself (so he didn't know who he was for a while). That way, they could start back at square one with the whole secret identity thing.

[wa11z]

I haven't read the Flash in years, but I've heard that Geoff Johns has done a really good job with it. For me, however, if it's not Barry Allen, it's not the Flash.

[woolhoss]

Although I knew the story b/c of some Yahoo! headlines.....the title on this thread made "Spiderman tells the Press that he is gay" the first thing that came to my mind.

[marandken]

and I thought it was either spidey (not likely) or Tobey

[uisceboo]

Yeah, they did that in the Incredibles. And you know how that turned out.

[NebariNookiee]

I think the difference between how the Incredibles did it and how Marvel is doing it now is that in the Incredibles the Superheroes (Yeah, I said it! So sue me! Snoogins) sort of took it and went into hiding without really challenging it. The Marvel Universe has become so politically polarized that the Superheroes (Oops I said it again) are at odds with each other. The FF have split, the Avengers have split, friends, brethren and long time allies are now feuding and on opposite ends of the issue.

The whole Spidey revealing himself is only a small piece of the larger issue. The idea of security over freedom – the same issues that we’re dealing with today. Marvel brought the issue to the forefront of their stories and is basically asking you which side you’re on.