Masks are a tradition?!

[Satyrquaze]

I apologize if this was already brought up.

So I was re-reading Civil War #1 and in there Falcon says "The Masks are a tradition."

I'm wondering what tradition is he talking about, I was under the (possibly false) impression that everything that has happened in the MU from Fantastic Four #1 onward has happened over the past 10 years... which is why guys like Tony Stark, Peter Parker, and Johnny Storm haven't aged all that much. Sure Captain America and Bucky were wearing masks in WWII, but from WWII onward until probably Iron-Man noone of any serious note was making a career of wearing a mask.

So unless he was talking about Lucha Libre...

[Markavian]

I apologize if this was already brought up.

So I was re-reading Civil War #1 and in there Falcon says "The Masks are a tradition."

I'm wondering what tradition is he talking about, I was under the (possibly false) impression that everything that has happened in the MU from Fantastic Four #1 onward has happened over the past 10 years... which is why guys like Tony Stark, Peter Parker, and Johnny Storm haven't aged all that much. Sure Captain America and Bucky were wearing masks in WWII, but from WWII onward until probably Iron-Man noone of any serious note was making a career of wearing a mask.

So unless he was talking about Lucha Libre...
But Many Modern Heroes have had Secret ID's The Hulk did for awhile.. The Xmen did for ages .Spiderman Daredevil many others did as well. Henry Pym did for 4 or 5 years then when he married Janet in which case his name was reveled for all the world to see. I see no reason why the Goverment cant mostly be trusted with the truth.They Knew about the Beyonders coming ,They didnt revel it ..They had possesion of the Cosmic cube for years and didnt Abuse it or revel it to the General public.But of course there is always a risk of exposure..The Good thing is under the SHRA if someone does expose a Hero's Identity Its a FELONY Now I believe .Unless the Hero choses to revel it on his own.Thats a Good thing so in fact Heros secrets will have more protection than before .:D

[Satyrquaze]

When you say the X-Men have had secret ID's for ages.. you mean the last ten years... which is hardly a 'tradition'.

[lima_bean]

When you say the X-Men have had secret ID's for ages.. you mean the last ten years... which is hardly a 'tradition'.

Depends on the context, but I can think of many in which people would consider 10 years plenty to establish a tradition.

[dreyga2000]

The tradition of using costumed secret identities to fight (or commit) evil had long existed in the Marvel world (for example, with the medieval Black Knight) but it came into prominence during the days of the American 'Wild West' with heroes such as the Phantom Rider. During the 20th Century, the tradition was reinvigorated, first by Captain America in the 40s (not the first costumed hero of the time, but the most influential) and then by the Fantastic Four in modern times.

[JoJangles the Lizard Monster]

I wouldn't put an exact amount of time between now and back then, in fact I'd have to go to say that an x amount of time has gone by: characters don't have to really age or stay old, but tons of stuff can still happen to them.
As for the masks being a tradition, seeing as how half of everyone in the "superhero community" still wear masks (even if everyone knows who they really are), masks have been worn since WWII and the x or ten or 45 whatever amount of years.
So I guess that it must be a tradition.

But I think that they'd probably be really itchy, and there's also the thing about people posing as superheroes to do whatever.
So they could also be a bad thing.

Plus they look goofy.

[StoneGold]

When you say the X-Men have had secret ID's for ages.. you mean the last ten years... which is hardly a 'tradition'.
No, he means the first 10 years. Well, maybe a little less, but there was a reason Hank wore the mask.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/92/Uncanny8.jpg