As a professor of Film and Cultural Studies and the editor of Cinema Journal, Dr. Will Brooker is acknowledged as one of the foremost authorities on popular narratives, with particular regard to comics. Well-versed in the entire Batman universe, the inspiration for Brooker’s newest creative project came as he turned his attention to Barbara Gordon, a.k.a. Batgirl. Despairing over the dearth of high- (or even middling-) quality stories, and frustrated by the editorial direction taken by DC with regards to her character, Brooker began an experimental project to reinvent Batgirl. This proposal—a collaborative effort with a number of artists and critics—aimed to finally give Barbara her due as a superheroine in her own right and a story worthy of her talents and capabilities. As a lecturer at Kingston University in London, Brooker was keenly aware of the divide between the intelligent, committed and ambitious women he taught and whose PhD studies he supervised, and the female characters he was reading in mainstream comics; overly-sexualized women who appeared in mainly decorative or powerless roles. Soon, the informal pitch for Batgirl transformed into a more involved undertaking. Rather than simply criticizing the approach taken by most mainstream comics toward their female characters, Brooker realized that they could put their ideas into practice and, by showing how things could be done differently with this creation, perhaps lead by example.
And so, My So-Called Secret Identity was born.
My So-Called Secret Identity (MSCSI) is the brainchild of a large, mostly female collaboration, helmed by Brooker and artists Suze Shore and Dr Sarah Zaidan. The ambitious and entertaining webcomic is updated every Sunday and with the completion of issue 2 scheduled for this coming weekend, there has never been a better time to get acquainted with the host of MSCSI’s intriguing characters. The creative team is passionate and enthusiastic about the project, and in preparing to write this post, the team generously offered their insight into what makes MSCSI such a hit.
Set in the vibrant and complex world of Gloria City, MSCSI is centred around the character of Catherine Abigail Daniels, a smart and funny graduate student. In contrast with the majority of female characters in mainstream superhero comics, Cat’s image—from her physical proportions to her clothing—is realistic and believable. This realism was an idea that the team wanted to highlight, according to artist Suze Shore: “Cat needed to be a person you could picture running into. She’s average height, average weight, on the pretty side but not glamorous (unless the occasion calls for it), and the everyday-ness of her look helps, in my opinion, to emphasize that her power lies in her capabilities rather than who she is on the outside.”
My So Called Secret Identity, Issue 1 Page 2; Art by Suze Shore
The feminist origins of the comic are seen most clearly at the outset of issue 1, wherein we glimpse some of the everyday challenges which Cat faces. From observing just a few of these micro-aggressions, we can sense the societal pressure to hide her intelligence and confidence; reinforcing the idea that without any special talent, she is one of Gloria City’s “little people”. Despite this pressure, however, Cat’s determination is undiminished. This strength should not be such an unusual trait, and yet after years of reading mainstream comics, it is refreshing. It comes as no surprise to discover that Cat’s character was inspired by such smart and fierce forerunners as Dana Scully and Clarice Starling. “Inevitably, as writer,” Brooker told me, “I have based Cat on myself, and the interesting result of this is that she is pretty assertive and socially forward; I didn’t realise at the time that I was writing her, in a way, as behaving like a young man might in terms of things like dating and approaching people in bars. But that makes her an interesting mixture in my opinion.”
Cat is not alone in being developed as a well-rounded character; she is surrounded by people who, although they may play a supporting role, clearly have interesting lives and histories of their own. With such a positive approach taken to the balanced portrayal of women, it is not surprising that MSCSI is sensitive to other issues, with characters of different ethnicity and orientation depicted with similar fairness. For example, even though mainstream comics are catching up with social advances in the real world, in the pages of MSCSI, it is still nice to see someone being called out directly for using a homophobic slur.
Inspiration for Cat came from Dana Scully and Clarice Starling
(© Fox Broadcasting Company and Orion Pictures Corporation)
Despite the social commentary, at heart MSCSI is a superhero comic. While the pace of the story is perhaps slower than we are used to in the superhero genre, MSCSI gradually introduces us to a world where the impossible is a daily occurrence. Costumed vigilantes and super-powered heroes are commonplace; and still, Gloria city is under attack. Yet despite the overt threat of terrorism, a murkier undercurrent can be felt, hinting that there is more to Gloria’s heroes than meets the eye. While laying out a gripping plot, the team also grasps the opportunity to parody some of the established tropes of modern comic-book superheroes—the best example of which is the brilliantly sinister Urbanite (who even has his own twitter account and blog) and his “Man-Cave”.
Everything in Gloria City, from its newspapers and advertisements to the music scene, hints at a world where superheroes are an established part of society. The influence of Alan Moore‘s work can be seen in the depth and complexity of the world of MSCSI. Along with the early 1990’s work of writers such as Grant Morrison, Peter Milligan and Neil Gaiman for Vertigo comics, Brooker was influenced strongly by Moore and his collaborators: “More than anything, I was probably thinking of Watchmen in terms of creating an alternate world with its own adverts, brands, bands, shops and fashions.”
With this in mind, and taking inspiration from Brooker’s script, Suze Shore created a vibrant and detailed environment for Cat and her friends. She said: “I wanted the world of MSCSI to be, like Cat, believable; the more real-life detail I can put into a scene, the more readily people will be—or so I’m hoping—immersed in it and more greatly invested in the story. Gloria and her inhabitants are vastly complex with a multitude of overlapping dialogues, and I felt that art has to match that complexity if it ever hopes to properly convey all the interesting levels in Will’s writing.”
Augmenting the complexity created by Brooker’s script and Shore’s art are the mind-maps crafted by Sarah Zaidan, who also paints the cover images and colours the interior art. These are probably my favourite aspect of MSCSI—multi-layered, tactile spreads which really bring to life the arena in which Cat is the star: research. An incredible amount of work goes into the creation of these layouts; Zaidan usually begins the process a month in advance in order to collect and combine the textures, ephemera and drawings that make up the mind-map.
“For the mind-maps,” Zaidan told me, “my main influences are real-world objects and textures, as well as Suze’s artwork on the other pages of the comic, since they are the lens through which the reader views Cat and her world. The collaborative aspect of the project is particularly compelling to me; the reader is provided with different representations of the same world.”
Mind-map by Sarah Zaidan
The mind-maps are a great example of the advantages of MSCSI’s webcomic format. Reading on a computer screen, it is possible to zoom in and explore the detail of the art in a way which would be difficult in print. Producing the comic on the internet has other benefits, not least the ability to expand its readership beyond the comic community. Brooker highlighted this advantage: “[The web format] has been a great way of reaching people who don’t read comics. Many of our fans are not conventional comic readers at all, which was absolutely the point of MSCSI.” The team’s decision to target a broader audience can also be seen in the design layout of the website and even in the colour palette used, which distance MSCSI from the appearance of traditional comics. In this regard, the comic has been a great success: the early issues of MSCSI have generated positive responses and garnered rave reviews from mainstream media and comic aficionados alike.
MSCSI is a work of passion for Team Cat; in fact, Brooker writes the script free-of-charge. The comic is funded through donations which go toward covering the artists’ minimal costs, with the excess donated to a woman’s charity. Currently, the charity benefiting from MSCSI donations is A Way Out—an outreach and prevention charity which seeks to educate, support and empower vulnerable women and young people. If you enjoy reading MSCSI, donate; not only will you be supporting a great comic, but you’ll also be supporting a brilliant cause and getting rewarded for it! Every donation is rewarded with sketches, deleted scenes, videos, or even with the incorporation of your name or image in a future comic. I can testify after having the awesome Easter Eggs mailed to my inbox—it was money well spent.
So what does the future hold for Cat? The current story arc will play out over issues 1–5, with a further two story arcs planned in volumes of five issues each—and eventually, the team hopes to arrange a print collection of MSCSI. Following the completion of Cat’s three story arcs, Brooker suggested the exciting prospect of exploring some of MSCSI’s other characters through miniseries and one shots. “Personally,” he said, “I see MSCSI as a world, a kind of franchise, with the potential for us to follow other people and other periods, as well as Cat. I would like to rejoin Cat in 2013 at some point, when she would be in her forties, as I think that would be a pretty unusual type of superheroine.”
Well, I don’t know about you, but I’m sold.
writings on the fourth wall 
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