I thought — hoped? — I was finished posting about the Captain America #25 fallout, but two items today are worth noting.
The first is a solid retrospective in The Wall Street Journal, written by The Weekly Standard’s Jonathan V. Last. I particularly liked this paragraph:
“There is an old joke about death in the comic-book world: No one stays dead except Bucky, Jason Todd and Uncle Ben. Over the years Superman, Phoenix, Green Arrow and a legion of other heroes have perished, only to be resurrected by their publishers in reasonably short order. Even this Bucky Clause of hero death has begun unraveling as both Bucky and Jason Todd (who replaced Dick Grayson as Robin) were recently brought back to life. This was, in fact, the second time Captain America journeyed to the undiscovered country.”
Ah, yes. The Bucky Clause.
The other link comes from The National Review’s blog, which reminds us of an alarmist white paper penned in April 2003 by film critic Michael Medved and attorney Michael Lackner for the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.
The title of said white paper? “The Betrayal of Captain America.”
It’s a Wertham-esque page-turner that accuses Marvel Comics and other publishers of “disseminating comic books that actively promote a destructive cynicism and mistrust of the United States Government.”
As the title suggests, much of the paper centers on Captain America who, Medved and Lackner assert, “provides a startling example of a popular symbol of nationalism transformed into a handy bludgeon of America-bashing.”
I wonder what they think of him, and Marvel, after the events of Captain America #25.
“The Betrayal of Captain America” seems vaguely familiar; maybe I read it four years ago. But it’s worth reading again. You can check it out in PDF form here.
March 13th, 2007 at 11:45 am
Of course, the irony of that Medved rant is that Reiber’s initial storyline was rewritten into incomprehenisbility by Marvel editorial.
March 13th, 2007 at 12:11 pm
When did Cap die the first time around?
March 13th, 2007 at 2:02 pm
When Dan Jurgens and Chuck Austen were writing, obviously. Achachachachacha!
March 13th, 2007 at 2:22 pm
What’s ironic is that I found the conclusion of Civil War, and its treatment of Captain America, offensive for almost exactly the opposite reasons, because to me, they came across as an endorsement of Bush’s America, by saying that starting wars under false pretenses, and taking away citizens’ civil liberties, are both good things.
March 13th, 2007 at 3:51 pm
I think someone should inform both Medved and Lackner that Cap is a fictional character.
Plus, the same kind of “subversive” and “anti-American” story elements described in their paper are present every week in “24″ (e.g. crooked politicians scheming with all manner of bad guys/terrorists), which media conservatives like Medved and Limbaugh lap up with a spoon.
Don’t get me wrong; I like Jack Bauer. But unlike Medved, I am also able to discern fiction from reality.
March 13th, 2007 at 8:00 pm
Wait until Medved finds out about Spider-Man’s private parts in Reign.
March 14th, 2007 at 5:02 am
I think Medved and Limbaugh (or at least the latter, not too sure about the former)like “24″ so much is because the exec. producer is a self professed “right-wing nut” (that quote being from a “New Yorker” article). The actual show is pretty balanced and if we had a president like David Palmer they’d probably hate him.
March 14th, 2007 at 4:56 pm
“I think Medved and Limbaugh (or at least the latter, not too sure about the former)like “24″ so much is because the exec. producer is a self professed “right-wing nut” (that quote being from a “New Yorker” article). The actual show is pretty balanced and if we had a president like David Palmer they’d probably hate him. ”
I agree. The show even dealt with a corrupt “W” -like president. They probably hated that part even more. Anyway art tends to reflect upon the events of the socio-political environment of the time. So Cap is likely to return depending on the 2008 elections. I’m even willing to go with a new person becoming Cap and let Steve Rogers (a man from another era) R.I.P. It worked for Green Lantern when Kyle took over(oh yeah Jordan came back. Nevermind).