Taking the coward's way out

Several years ago (early-to mid ‘90s) So youngster got his hands on a Marvel trading card for the Red Skull that identified him as a Nazi. Well being a bright and curious lad, he asked his father what a Nazi was. Well, surprised and shocked the father took exception to Marvel having the audacity of using something so innocuous as a trading card and supervillain to teach his precious, and innocent youngster about the worst villains from the 20^th Century (especially something that he would eventually learn about in history class), and complained to Marvel.

Well, as you can imagine, Marvel chose to — instead of standing on principal and who the character had been for half a century — chose instead to whimper and cower in the corner. They issued an edict that — moving forward — The Red Skull would simply be referred to as a really bad man, and any trace of his former atrocities would simply be wiped from his history.

Well, move forward 20 years and, yep, it is happening once again, and (interestingly enough) once again in the pages of Captain America:

In issue No. 602 of Captain America, the hero and his ally the Falcon find themselves at a rally where protesters hold signs that read “Tea Bag the Libs Before They Tea Bag You!” and “Stop the Socialists!” Captain America remarks that the assembly appears to be an “anti-tax thing,” and the Falcon, who is black, says he probably would not fit in with “a bunch of angry white folks.”

The sequence incited complaints from Tea Party officials who say it is an unfair criticism of their movement. In an interview with FoxNews.com, Michael Johns, a board member of the Nationwide Tea Party Coalition, called the characters’ apparent jabs “juvenile,” adding: “The Tea Party movement has been very reflective of broad concerns of all Americans. Membership is across ethnic, religious and even political lines.”

Some irate Cap fans have pointed out that during his heyday, Cap’s comic upset members of the German American Bund (in 1941). At that time everyone from publisher Martin Godman (who was usually given to flight rather than fighting when profits were involved), to NYC Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia encouraged creators Joe Simon & Jack Kirby to stand their ground and not compromise.

Unfortunately, these days the company has chosen to swallow its corporate and creative pride over what amounts to a single throwaway panel that (save for the accurate spelling of all the words on the various protest signs) accurately depicts the sentiments and slogans of the Tea Baggers.

One can only hope that Stephen Colbert (to whom Joe Quesada himself once Captain America’s fallen shield), will become aware of this, and lampoon it for the idiocy that it is. Go get ‘em Stephen!

This Week’s Funnybooks

I’ve been reading the Avengers/Invaders mash-up this past decade or so (actually, it has only seemed that long with the ponderous and meandering storyline that Writer Jim Kruger has been trowling about. Seriously, after all this time, nothing of note has occurred (OK there were two minor linchpins that get pulled out at the end, but seriously, This whole thing could have been told in a Giant-Sized special, and told much better.

By comparison, let me tell you that I sat through two hours and 42 minutes of Transformers which had way less storyline than did Avengers/Invaders, but seemed to take up way less of my time. No I realize that it my not be fair to compare the two, but seriously, A/I (which contained characters that I love), just seemed interminable while Transformers (about which I care not in the least), was really enjoyable. The only thing that i can think of was that Kruger had a point to make and then decided what size sledge hammer he needed to pound it in, while Michael Bay simply wanted to entertain me.

Needless to say, I hate Norman Osborn with the whit-hot passion of an exploding sun (hate hate hate), yet I've been reading Dark Avengers by Brian Michael Bendis (who I consider to be a very talented hack — no offense Brian) but is certainly writing the Hell out of this series, and actually is making me care about Osborn as a person (and I totally hate Bendis for doing this. I want to hate Osborn, but for the first time in like 40 years, I actually feel sorry fo the guy — Osborn not Bendis)

Now that is seriously good writing!

Ms. Marvel is a hit-and-miss character for me, but the last couple of Spidey appearances in her book (#40 being the most recent) have been pretty decent, and I’m enjoying her storyine as we wind through the Dark Reign scenario. (Oh, can anyone tell me if the Moonstone/Ms. Marvel we’ve been seeing in the Thunderbolts/Dark Avengers is the same Moonstone from back in the day who was the bald chippie in the Avengers during the Celestial Madonna storyline? Just wondering.)

I want to see what’s up in Captain America (Yeah the Steve Rogers is back hype got to me, and while I still think that Marvel missed a way-cool opportunity to put Sam Wilson in the suit, I still want to be there when Cap comes back.

Also, while I’m still on the fence about the whole Timestorm thing, I can’t help but to point out that the 2099 Universe into which Spidey and Wolverine have been pulled isn’t the same one from way back when. Not sure if I’m liking this, but it isn’t entirely bad, and I want to see where they go with it (Plus it is way better than A/I)

Haven’t read the Sinister Spider-Man (staring Scorpion/Venom) or Mr. Negative minis yet, and well, I’m still POed about BND, but with #600 of ASM coming up, I’m hoping that they will put the whole thing to rest (Still, I’m not afraid that they are going to wait until #666 to put a fork in it, which will seriously wind my clock.

OK, time to get back to (paying) work.

Cap is Back

As I reported the other day, some two years ago (real time, one year in the comic) Captain America was shot to death on the steps of the courthouse in lower Manhattan as he was being brought in chains to his trial for being a traitor.

To be sure, he wasn't really a traitor, he just chose to defy Tony (Iron Man) Stark in the Marvel Civil Wars. Anywho, Marvel played with us for an issue or two whyle they “debated” who would be Captain America.

Clint Barton’s name was tossed into the cowl in Fallen Son, but he backed away, and we finally settled on Bucky (now Buck) Barton;l Cap's former teen sidekick from WWII (who had been cryogenicly frozen, then revived and corrupted by the Red Skull into believing himself to be the Winter Solder).

While I always knew that Steve Rogers would be revived and will eventually put back on the uniform. I still think that Marvel missed a huge opportunity to do some truly innovative storytelling by not putting Sam (“Falcon”) Wilson into the Red White & Blues. I truly believe that an African American Captain America would have stirred up a hornet’s nest of controversy that would have truly raised the bar for most-excellent story-telling in Comics.

Seriously, can you imagine it, a Black Cap? (Sure I know all about Isaiah Bradley (from Truth) and his grandson Elijah, but neither of them were real Cap. I think that you could have done a whole riff with the Sons of the Serpents, the Klan, and other “White Pride” hate groups decrying the bogus Cap, while he is formally welcomed into the White House by President Obama.

Yep, Marvel totally missed out on a great potential story. Too bad.

Still, Cap #600 (they compiled all the various Cap comics, added their numbers together, and renumbered the Kit and Kaboodle to come up with this number). Now, with issue #600, we learn that like the guy in Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Cap “isn't quite dead yet” and the team of New Avengers are going to revive him in the upcoming mini series Captain America Reborn. One of the other very cool aspects of this issue is that it reintroduces the Rickie Barnes character from the Rob Leifield run of Captain America when he was shunted off into that other dimension after Onslaught.

So, while Marvel may have missed a really cool story by not giving us a Black Cap, they still might have some nice chops left in where they do intend to go with his rebirth. Truth, I’m now buying Cap again for the first time in over a decade.

Cap is a dead man, miss him, miss him

That’s right kids, Captain America is dead. Shot dead earlier today by an assassin’s bullet on the steps of a courthouse as he was being brought to answer for his part in Marvel’s recent Civil War Event:

After close to 60 years in print, Marvel Comics has killed off Steve Rogers, A>K.A. Captain America, one of its most famous and beloved superheroes amid an already controversial story line, "Civil War," which is pitting the heroes of Marvel's universe against one another.

(The rest of the above passage can be found, here on CNN.com.

Which of course brings up, a couple of questions, (some of which I posit and answer here) and others which include if Bucky turns down taking over the role of of his mentor by becoming the new Cap (as the Marvel Previews books would have us believe) then who will become the new Cap (hey, the licensing gods must be served, eh?).

A couple of names that have been put up for consideration are well, Cap’s “other” partner Falcon (is America ready for a(nother) Black Cap?), with The Punisher coming in as a close second. Don’t gasp, if you read the last couple of Punisher War Journals, you would see that this is not that far fetched).

Still, that is all off in the (near or distant) future. Today, we all mourn a fallen hero. Captain America is dead. Long live Captain America!