The Mask: Comics and Secret Identities Part 1

Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth.” –Oscar Wilde

It’s a long-standing tradition in comic books for the heroes and villains to wear masks. Everyone from lone rangers (but not Tonto, for some reason) to secret squirrels (But not Morocco Mole) don the mask. The mask is the symbol of the genre. But why?

Different Secret Squirrel

The logical reason is that they need to protect their true identities from the public. They give rationa...