The Washington Post takes note of the “new,” gun-toting Captain America, and talks with writer Ed Brubaker, artist-designer Alex Ross and editor Tom Brevoort about the armed-and-dangerous Sentinel of Liberty:
Brubaker, who has been writing the comic book for nearly three years, says he’s had people from the left and the right tell him what Captain America should stand for. But Brubaker says he’s always tried to emphasize Captain America’s military background. And the truth is, he adds, this isn’t the first time that the Captain has been armed.
“I’ve leaned on the ‘soldier’ part of super-soldier,” Brubaker says. “If you look at Cap in the 1940s, they have him with a shield in one hand and a machine gun in the other, and Bucky [the Captain's World War II teen sidekick] has a flamethrower.
“In the ’80s they started changing his history, saying he’d never killed anyone. A guy who fought in World War II isn’t going to care if terrorists die. I’ve always approached the book as a superhero espionage comic.”
The new, definitely-not-Steve-Rogers Captain America debuts in Issue 34.
October 16th, 2007 at 11:08 am
I dunno about this one. Yes, seeing Cap with a gun threw me for a moment, but Brubaker’s right: he’s a soldier first and a costumed hero second. The gun does raise some interesting questions: Who’s under the mask? The Winter Soldier or some random SHIELD operative? If it’s the Punisher then I’m out (it’s too obvious and really tacky).
October 16th, 2007 at 12:10 pm
After a few days of contemplating, I’ve decided I just can’t condone a belt with no buckle.
I won’t.
October 16th, 2007 at 1:30 pm
Well, Ed Brubaker wanted a belt buckle. I guess everyone else thought it would interfere with the point of the shield design.