My So-Called Secret Identity

Many webcomics authors use strategic production and branding processes to gain a niche audience and establish an online identity. In the case of My So-Called Secret Identity, authors Shore, Brooker, and Zaidan effectively use digital design and partnerships to capitalize on female audiences. The comic’s tagline #smartisasuperpower, the chic design of the website, and the deliberately female creative team all serve to appeal to female comic book fans [1]. Two design choices of note include the creation of an interactive “lookbook” with the inspiration behind the costuming of the characters and the layering of images and text to create scrapbook-like panels. This image shows the interactive lookbook, which reveals the signature bow in the title of the webcomic, feminine colors like pink and purple, and prototypes of the main character, Cat Daniels, with each woman wearing dramatic makeup and girly clothing. The authors utilize such stereotypical female preferences throughout the webcomic, relying heavily on the fact that scrapbooking is typically a female hobby.

Also, by targeting feminist, geeky venues such as The Daily Dot, The Mary Sue, and Geeked Magazine, the authors strategically brand the webcomic, utilizing “attention engineering” to gain recognition in the online economy [2]. Last, the webcomic appeals to women because female readers can project themselves onto the main character, Cat, an intelligent, powerful, and successful woman. Reading the webcomic provides a sense of empowerment, which can distract women from the limitations and expectations they may feel with regard to their gender [3]. As seen in the artifact, the bold, confident expressions of Cat inspire women to embrace their womanhood and capitalize on their strengths. All of these elements enable the webcomic authors to create a story around a strong female identity and relate to female comics readers.

1. Bethan Jones. "Producing and Branding Gender in Comics: My So-Called Secret Identity and the Ambivalence of an Alternative Address," Palabra Clave (2017), 1073-1104. http://dx.doi.org/10.5294/pacla.2017.20.4.9.

2. Richard Lanham, Economics of Attention: Style and Substance in the Age of Information (Chicago/London: University of Chicago Press, 2006), 1-23

3. Janice Radway, Reading the Romance: Women, Patriarchy, and Popular Literature (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1991), 86-97.