Captain America is ripped off by a founding father in 1976 (by Jack Kirby)
I haven't seen the right go off yet over
Captain America: The Winter Soldier, which opens April 4. It surprises me, but maybe it shouldn't. Maybe they're just losing the imagination or will to besmirch virtually everything. But it won't last, and when they get started, I expect they'll make up for lost time.
In 2010, one of the most republished blogs was by Warner Todd Huston at Publius Forum (Marvel Comics: Captain America Says Tea Parties Are Dangerous and Racist), which went into hypercritical overdrive about a fictional tea party-like rally set in Boise, Idaho in Marvel's Captain America #602. This was noteworthy enough to get time on MSNBC and the Young Turks (and probably other outlets I'm forgetting at the moment). Marvel caved and when they reprinted the issue (which they often do these days if the first print sells out), they blanked out protestors' signs with slogans like "Tea Bag the Libs Before They Tea Bag You" in the part of the story that involved the rally. This was about as political as the comics had gotten since an issue of Superman in the fall of 2001 in which buildings were attacked by kamikaze pilots after 9/11. Readers complained, but it turned out to be an eerie case of art imitating life. The story had actually gone to the presses before 9/11--the reader can draw her/his own conclusions about coincidence, synchronicity, presentiment, or whatever else that brings to mind.
The issue of Captain America in question, which came after the Winter Soldier storyline that inspired Captain America II, was part of a stellar run on the title by author Ed Brubaker. Brubaker was raised a military brat with an admitted fondness for patriotic heroes, and espionage elements like S.H.I.E.L.D., in Marvel Comics. Along with Mark Millar's Ultimates, you can thank Brubaker at least in part for the direction Marvel/Disney's movies are taking, as well as the S.H.I.E.L.D. TV series.
Spoiler alert (if you don't know the comics): The Winter Soldier as crafted by Brubaker turned out to be none other than Cap's former sidekick Bucky Barnes. The Winter Soldier theme plays off of the elements of memory loss-recovery that are long standing elements of the Captain America oeuvre, given that he was frozen in ice between now and WW II and has to learn about the modern world, creating endless possibilities for social commentary. Instead of being recovered by S.H.I.E.L.D. or the Avengers like Cap was, Bucky is recovered by the Soviets and used as an assassin. I won't say more about that for now, except that another aspect of Brubaker's Captain America that the right riffed off of was how at the time of Captain America #602, the original Captain America (Steve Rogers) had been assassinated and James (Bucky) Barnes was Captain America, leading to unimaginative hyperbole about the Boise Tea Party's Captain America--labeling him Captain Commie, etc.
When the shit starts to fly about Captain America: The Winter Soldier like a flurry of Cap's haymaker punches, if you like this kind of entertainment, try to enjoy the movie anyway. I am anticipating a fun romp. If you like the movies, you'll probably like the Brubaker stories too (they're a LOT better, and available in paperback). But when the inevitable political fallout comes, don't say I didn't warn you.
Mon Mar 24, 2014 at 8:56 PM PT: People liked this enough (thanks!) that's it's probably worth following up soon with a new blog on the sordid details of what the right hates about Cap, including the bizarre attacks on the character in 2010 like it was a real person and not just a comic book fiction. More to keep me occupied (when I'm not teaching or looking for a job with a good nonprofit) til the new movie comes out--then there will be new diatribe to diary about.
Fri Apr 04, 2014 at 11:42 AM PT: Here's the new blog: http://www.dailykos.com/...