Comics fandom, as any true fan knows, has always been the thinnest skin of enthusiasm wrapped around a bubbling core of controversy, and this week is no different. The latest tempest to shudder the lid on the comics world is Amazing Spider-Man #604, in which The Chameleon, a supervillain capable of imitating anyone, steals Peter Parker's identity and seems to have sex with his roommate. Many people protested that this was rape and the way it was addressed in the comic was therefore inappropriate.

Although the controversy is ameliorated somewhat in the next issue when it is revealed that The Chameleon only made out with Michelle, the woman in question, a debate sprang up about it that included comic-book-conventions-as-applied-to-reality, arguments about the justice of Massachussetts law, several angry emails, five links on When Fangirls Attack, and at least one cranky cat .gif.

It is strange, though, that other sexual assaults seem to fly below the radar of most internet fans, as well as most comics professionals. Although there have been several explicit rapes of male characters in comics, they have had relatively little acknowledgment, on and off the page.

Don't worry. This isn't a condemnation of internet fans for not being outraged enough, nor is it a ‘what about the men' diatribe. It is simply my observation that sexual assaults, in comics, are treated very differently depending on the sex of the people involved.

The first difference is acknowledgement. There have been three explicit rapes of male character in DC comics, and none of those characters have ever acknowledged what happened to them. The first is an assault on Nightwing, the grown-up Robin, by a female costumed vigilante known as Tarantula. Nightwing, at the end of his emotional and physical rope, collapses on a rooftop, where Tarantula has sex with him. Although not very coherent, he explicitly says, "No. Don't touch me."

The second was back in the eighties, when Green Arrow was shot by Shado, a female assassin. She nursed him back to health. A few issues later, she showed up at his girlfriend's home with a baby in tow. When describing the incident, Shado says that Green Arrow was raving with fever, and thought he was having sex with his girlfriend.

The third, and most recent, was the rape of Batman. Talia Al Ghul, a recurring female character, presents him with her son, Damian, who she claims Batman fathered. She asks him if he remembers a certain night, to which he replies, "I remember being drugged senseless and refusing to cooperate with some depraved eugenics experiment." She says, "You cooperated . . . Magnificently."

These are all rapes. Not one of these men has ever used the word ‘rape' in connection with them. The closest any character within the narrative has come to acknowledging them as such is Green Arrow's girlfriend, who in response to the intimation that her boyfriend cheated on her explained the circumstances of the encounter and said, "Ever wonder how he felt about being raped?"

Yes. I have. But it has become increasingly obvious that no reader will ever find out.
For female characters, rape is often used as a sort of origin story, or a restart for the character. The character will make mention of it, recognize the pain caused by it, and use it as a motivation to build up strength and toughness. For male characters, rape seems to be a by-product of the need to explain the existence of a child by an extremely inappropriate woman. Unfortunately, when modern audiences read the explanation and rightly identify the conception of the child as rape, the creators are hemmed in. They cannot explain it away, and yet they cannot have the characters deal with it. Why?

This, I believe, is the main split between the treatment of female and male characters when it comes to sexual assault.

Like the trauma inflicted on Bruce Wayne by seeing his parents murdered, or the guilt visited upon Peter Parker by, in his mind, being partly responsible for the murder of his uncle, a rape often re-writes a female character; makes her come back stronger and tougher. This is, when looked at realistically, ridiculous. And yet I can see an appeal to that kind of story. Rape is a terrible event, one that often deeply affects the life of the victim. When treated as an origin story, it can be, in a strange way, a catharsis. What comes out of that trauma is a new life, a new identity, and a new person with a metaphorically clean slate. That kind of re-birth can be an alluring concept. And, of course, since most comics writers are male, rape is a comfortingly distant idea, like the over-the-top tragedies of Peter Parker and Bruce Wayne.

The rape of a man, though, does not have the comfort of a distantly harrowing origin story. Creators are, I think, stymied by three important factors. The first is that an acknowledgment and realistic fall-out from a rape would force these characters, avatars of strength and masculinity, to admit to feelings of violation and vulnerability, something most male readers don't want to read. (To be honest, that's something most female readers don't want to read either, which explains some of the backlash against the rape of female characters.) The second is that rape is a thing that generally happens to women, and to be like a woman is to, generally, lower ones status in society. Jobs, interests, sports and hobbies that are associated with women are generally given less respect than those associated with men. Comic book characters are power-fantasies, and generally people do not fantasize about being given less status and respect. The last factor is a simple one; the perpetrators of these rapes are usually women. Part of the ‘origin story' version of rape is righteous and violent retribution against the rapist, and comics creators have always been reluctant to show male heroes beating female characters, no matter what the reason.

There is, of course, one last, ugly factor in these storylines; the rapists. When male characters rape or abuse female characters, they are often tainted forever and given their comeuppance in later stories. Female rapists receive no such treatment. Of the three rape victims, Nightwing comes closest to punishing his rapist. (Interestingly, he is the least ‘alpha' of the three heroes.) He breaks free of her influence, regains his confidence, beats her up and puts her in prison. He does all of this, though, for the murder of another character, not for the crime committed against himself.

Green Arrow has briefly met his rapist again, in the midst of events too complex to explain, and never mentioned his rape. The woman herself is treated as a villain, but a villain more honorable than most.

Batman's rapist receives a stomach-churning treatment in the text. Never rebuked by Batman or anyone else, never criticized, she goes on to play a semi-heroic part in the later storyline. Dick Grayson even remarks that he can see why Batman is interested in her. Such a thing would never, could never, happen with a male rapist and a female victim. Imagine a man crowing about the fact that he raped a woman, it felt good, and he enjoyed it, and then being treated as a hero later in the story. Never happen.

In the end it is interesting that, while sexual assault on female characters is most often used as a plot device in comics, it is sexual assault on male characters sadly, unintentionally mirrors the reality of sexual assault in life. After all, many assaults and rapes are never reported. The victims bury the event and try to continue their lives stepping around the consequences of the assault. The perpetrators go on with their regular lives as well, sometimes coming to a bad end, sometimes being celebrated. And the taboo continues.

Secret identities are sort of a messy idea. The definition is apparently a "persona developed in order to keep the true identity secret," which, okay, is a workable definition until you start asking questions like, "If Clark Kent developed Superman to protect his loved ones, is Supes the secret identity?" And, "After Ralph Dibny told the world he was Elongated Man, does that make his secret identity just an identity? And does that mean it's okay for his foes to call him Ralph when he's in costume?" Because as bad as it is being taken down by a guy who goes by "Elongated Man," it's probably even worse being brought to justice by some guy named Ralph.

So I was going to talk about why certain heroes use certain identities, but the more I thought about it, the more I feel that the real question how a superhero finds a way to make his hero identity and his everyman identity (because sometimes it's hard to tell which is really the secret one) work in tandem with each other.

(I'd like to apologize in advance if this list takes a decidedly DC-centric bent; I'm afraid I'm not as much of a Marvel person as I'd like to be yet.)

Exhibit A: Where the Two Identities are Essentially the Same Person
Let's start with the obvious, and look at Clark Kent and Superman. Whereas the opposite may have once held true, since the '80's or so, it's been generally accepted that Superman is the mask and Clark the real person, to simplify it a bit. At the same time, they're both fundamentally the same person, body language and projected self-confidence aside. And as to why Clark Kent chose to be a reporter, some people explain it away as being the natural choice, because it's easy to write stories about yourself. (This also being the general explanation for Peter Parker's chosen profession as well.) I think that's selling Clark (and Peter) a bit short, though. I much prefer the explanation that states that in his quest for Truth, Justice, and the American Way, Clark/Superman feels the need to do more than just punch things. Off an on, Superman will mention the fact that he wants to be more than just a blunt instrument, and perhaps working in a more investigative field as Clark Kent helps him feel he's reached this balance between brawn and brains.

Other superheroes who fit the category of essentially being the same person both in and out of their tights include people like both Green Arrows (especially Oliver Queen, who might just be the worst out there at keeping his secret identity plausibly secret). Actually, a very high proportion of the costumed crime-fighting community can probably be lumped into this category, probably because it's easier to consistently write characters that are a little more consistent with themselves. But if we choose to ignore the man behind the curtain, so to speak, we could probably say it's because they all want to protect their friends and loved ones by putting on a mask, thereby preserving their own identity, which, nine times out of ten, they had long before they took up superheroics.

Exhibit B: Where the Secret Identity Isn't All That Secret, After All
As previously mentioned, Ralph Dibny could be said to be the poster boy for the Public Secret Identity, being the first Silver Age superhero to go public with his civilian identity. To take a step like this puts him firmly into the category of guys whose two identities are the same person, but now that that's literally true, it's near impossible to draw any sort of line between Elongated Man and Ralph, since everyone knows they're the same person anyway. Maybe this is the most dangerous way for a superhero to go on the secret identity path, but you have to admit, it takes real guts. Take John Stewart, for example, the Green Lantern who chooses not to wear a mask because he feels he doesn't have anything to hide. Plus we've got Tony Stark. And the only people who don't know he's Iron Man are pretty much either dead or . . . Actually, you might have to be dead not to know.

Exhibit C: Where the Secret Identity Isn't Actually Anything Like You
This is where Batman comes in. About the same time that the world decided that Clark is more real than Superman, they also decided that Batman was more real than Bruce Wayne, which is probably a good thing, because I don't trust Bruce Wayne, flaky playboy extraordinaire, to do a very convincing job at pretending to be Batman. Meanwhile, Batman, crafty genius that he is, can do a very good job at faking playboy billionaire. (Perhaps the only Batman and Bruce really have in common is the billionaire part. Bruce is very good at making sure Wayne Enterprises keeps making money in order to continue funding Batman's very expensive hobbies.) In this case, of course, Bruce is the mask adapted to keep those closest to Batman safe from his veritable legion of certifiable foes. This delineation gets a little messy, though, when you think about the fact that those closest to Batman mostly all know he's Bruce Wayne, but the Bruce Wayne that they know can be described more as "Batman when he's actually being nice to people and not trying to scare them half to death."

At the moment I'm hard pressed to think of another superhero who does what Batman does to the extent he does it, but on a totally different note, Billy Batson is absolutely nothing like Captain Marvel, in that he's a kid and Captain Marvel is the man he becomes, making Billy's life pretty much my childhood dream. (Although I guess I didn't want to spontaneously turn into a man.) In this case, however, he's a completely different person physically when he's a superhero than when he's a kid. And in terms of superheroes whose super identity is the guise, I can't help but always want to bring up the Blue Raja from Mystery Men (who was not, as far as I can tell, part of the original Mystery Men from the Flaming Carrot comics), because he adopts a British accent while in costume, despite being American-And I'm sure for a fact that there are less ridiculous examples out there, but I love Hank Azaria.

Exhibit D: When You Become a Superhero First and Get the Identity Later
It's the Superclan that has the best track record of doing this, I feel. For someone whose home planet is supposed to have been destroyed, Superman sure ends up with a lot of wayward Kryptonians who turn up on Earth, being all flashy and super, and have to retroactively have civilian identities created for them. Power Girl (Kara Zor-L) created Karen Starr, Supergirl (Kara Zor-El) became Kara Kent, Nightwing (Lor-Zod, not Dick Grayson) acquired the name Chris Kent, and the latest guy to become an honorary Kent, Mon-El, took up the name Jonathan Kent in last month's Superman. At this rate, Clark Kent has a ridiculous number of surprise cousins, all orchestrated on paper in order for their pre-existing superheroics to continue.

More interestingly, though, is John Jones, secret identity of J'onn J'onzz, secret identity of the Martian Manhunter. Because he can shapeshift, he's able to pose as John Jones, a human detective, which doesn't seem like so much of a break from his usual line of work, but doing this is probably mostly a case of having somewhere to blend in and get out of the Manhunter costume. (And who can blame him? It's an awkward costume.)

I don't want to blanket-statement here, but I can help but feel that they're mostly right when they explain the necessity of keeping a secret identity as a safeguard against total insanity. After all, nobody can be super all the time. (Even if Batman would really like to try.) Sometimes you just need to be the girl who spends her lunch break balancing her checkbook. Or the guy who plays Scrabble in the park. Besides, there's always gotta be more to a person than their job. Just because you're a Green Lantern doesn't mean you can't also be an artist or architect, and just because you're Black Canary doesn't mean you can't do a stint as a florist. So while the invention of the "secret identity" is an interesting side effect of the superhero genre, it's pretty much unavoidable.

Besides, Zorro and the Scarlet Pimpernel did it far before these guys, and it worked for them.

Admittedly, the solicitation text doesn't really reveal a lot about the new Batman. Take the advertising copy for Batman #687:

This 40-page issue explores the final moments of the Battle for the Cowl as the new Batman learns that winning the Cowl comes at a high price! Witness the new Batman taking to the streets of Gotham City for the first time! Putting a new man inside the Bat-suit was the easy part – now the fun begins! Guest-starring Superman and Wonder Woman, this issue is a must-read for any Batman fan.

Similarly, the solicit for new series Batman: Streets of Gotham doesn't help much:

As a new Batman rises on the streets of Gotham City, the heroes, villains and citizens take notice. How will the police feel about this new Batman, and can he control the crime in Gotham the way the old Batman did?

If nothing else, the solicitation for a second new series - All Star Superman's Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely's Batman and Robin - tells us about their mode of transport and promises answers:

The new Dynamic Duo hit the streets with a bang in their new flying Batmobile as they face off against an assemblage of villains called the Circus of Strange. They also tackle their first mission investigating a child who's been abducted by the mysterious Domino Killer. But will everything go smoothly? And who exactly are the new Batman and Robin? The newest era of The Dark Knight begins here!

(Honestly, anyone who doesn't get a little bit excited or amused by "their new flying Batmobile" is a little bit dead inside.)

If you want a real clue who the new Batman and Robin are, however, it's better to just talk to Morrison himself, whose hints are just a little bit too easy:

I don't want to give away who they are just yet with [writer-artist] Tony [Daniel] still doing "Battle for the Cowl." But what we've got is a more light-hearted, more spontaneous Batman and a real bad-ass, violent Robin. So I think people are going to enjoy it. It's a very different dynamic between the two characters... It's the classic buddy thing. It's the original partnership. And it's always worked. And I think it's going to work in even more interesting ways in this book. Their personalities are very, very different. So where we saw Batman before in a leadership role, a mentor role, this shows Robin as having some big ideas of his own. It's the sparks that fly between the characters in this incarnation that makes it very interesting. It's a real fresh kind of feel.

A light-hearted Batman? A bad-ass violent Robin? That sounds ridiculously like Dick "Nightwing" Grayson is taking over as Batman (a hunch accidentally confirmed by one of DC's writers in his blog - thanks, Rajiv!), with Damien, Bruce Wayne's slightly psychopathic son, taking on the Robin guise. But if you're wondering where that leaves Bruce Wayne and Tim Drake, the former Batman and current Robin, then I'd suggest that new series Red Robin may be the place to look:

Someone believes that Bruce Wayne may still be alive…and that someone is Red Robin. But who is wearing the Red Robin costume, and why is he traveling the globe looking for a dead man? Whoever he is, he's not alone in his search!

Never mind the flying Batmobile, this may be the series to follow for science fiction thrills. After all, we know that Bruce Wayne is alive, and trapped in the past... and Morrison himself admits that "We're not really entertaining the notion that Bruce won't be back at some time. This isn't like 'Captain America' with the Winter Soldier story and Cap's really gone." Open the sci-fi closet, Alfred. Strange times may be ahead.

DC Comics in June [DC Comics]

With the final chapter of the storyline pushed out again (It's now due next Wednesday, although that again may be subject to change), USA Today is reporting that the story doesn't end with the death of Batman at all - Just a retirement:

Batman #681, due Nov. 26, wraps up writer Grant Morrison's Batman R.I.P. story line, in which the crimefighter is so shaken by a secret from his past that a new Batman must be found.

What's interesting is that DC's solicitation for the last issue of Batsidekick Nightwing's series is much less vague about Batman's fate:

As Robin, Dick Grayson fought alongside Batman as part of the dynamic duo, the greatest crime-fighting team in history. As Nightwing, he teamed up with his peers to combat injustice in the Titans and the Outsiders. Now, Dick Grayson faces the most important battle of his life. Batman is dead. The Mantle of the Bat must be passed, but it will require all of Dick's training and skills to carry out the last wishes of Bruce Wayne and protect Gotham City.

Yes, there's some wiggle room in saying that "Batman is dead" - after all, if Bruce retired, then Batman is "dead" in a sense - but adding in "the last wishes of Bruce Wayne" certainly adds to the suggestion that Batman's disappearance is a lot more permanent than just being "shaken." So is this an example of overenthusiastic ad copy, or is there more going on than USA Today knows about? And, either way, what is the secret that will leave the caped crusader so upset?

It may be a long week filled with disinformation before we get to find out. Batman #681, the final chapter of Batman RIP, hits stores a week tomorrow.

Neil Gaiman to design a demise for Batman [USA Today], Nightwing #153 [DC Comics]