…but I nevertheless take the force of this Rocky Mountain News letter writer’s point:
The Killing off of Captain America parallels the downward spiral our country is in. The patriotism that used to mean love of flag and country is quickly disappearing. But have no fear, this heroic Marvel comic character will be back…this time as Captain Americana!
Of course, gone will be the trademark winged hat and red white and blue starred shield,—such accoutrements, after all, are the last refuge of the fashion scoundrel—to be replaced by a Benetton V-neck sweater and looseweave cotton button down, khaki cargo pants with canvas belt, and a “shield of trust,” which, rumor has it, is really nothing more than handbag woven from hemp bearing a number to call if Captain Americana does anything that, you know, might offend you.
You did not submit the word exactly as it appears in the image
How am I fighting?
Call (888) 945-6797
Yea… Leonard Pitts Jr. went all “deeper meaning” on poor ol Cap’n, too.
http://www.miamiherald.com/285/story/38640.html
It dismays me that a fellow comic book geek can be such a tool.
Yeesh. And the thing that just bugs the living fuck out of me is that it has to be like this every freaking time there’s a Republican in the white house. I swear, GWB could govern exactly like Jimmy Carter, and there’d be caterwaling about jackboots in the streets.
When, exactly, can I start pissing and moaning about the fact that this kind of bull offends the hell out of me? When can I, like those who don’t buy into this craving for dystopian self-fulfilling prophecies, get to become an officially protected grievance group?
As soon as you buy some tights, BRD.
I have mine!
S.uper
H.uman
M.inimalists
E.nduring
G.randiose
M.etrosexual
A.ttacks.
Now we just need a primary color for our tights and a logo…
I’m feeling a bit uncomfortable. All the tights I own are in colors like black, taupe, nude and so on.
I think there may be a problem … afoot.
The entire comic industry has been taken down a very ugly road – it actually started in the early 90s.
Somehow the industry developed something like a “newsroom culture” where only certain opinions are allowed – although not quite as rigidly enforced.
It started with the trend toward “darker” stories, then characters, then somehow “gritty” became “corrupt,” and some industry leaders went on a quest to remove the “hero” from “superhero.”
I used to be a fan in the 80s, early 90s – now AFAIC there’s hardly anything worth even looking at.
Then again, I shut off my cable years ago and don’t even have an antenna for my TV, so I guess that’s partly my general dissatisfaction with the hollow and degraded tripe we call “pop culture.” Maybe comics went mainstream and I didn’t?
I hear you, Mero… all the writers wanted to be the next McFarlane, all edgy and controversial.
I don’t think they understood they were (and are) driving away the old fans at a far greater rate than they attracting new ones (of the younger, hipper variety).
As an artist, I’m tempted to draw my own superHERO…. with good ol fashioned core beliefs and principles.
Yea, and my arch enemy can be…
HEINZKETCHUPMANN!!!
I think it coincides a bit with an increasing domination of British voices in comics. It may just be the ones I’ve gravitated to lately, but it seems every other one is written by an edgy British guy.
Lobo wasn’t bad.
But don’t tell Mona or the Glenns.
Tights?
Like the kind where you cross your legs and can only manage an agonized cough?
The seven lords a leaping tights?
I think I’ll sit this thread out
There actually were some countervailing voices in comics (at least there were in the late ‘90s, before I stopped reading.) Fabian Niceaza (sp?) and Kurt Busiek come to mind. Busiek in particular managed a great tightrope walk, primarily in Astro City, incorporating realistic human drama without giving in to the cheap cynicism that had become the coin of the comics realm.
Then there was his comic “Thunderbolts.” A group of mostly low-level supervillains pretend to be heroes in order to further their leaders take-over-the-world plot. But after the plot is foiled, some of them decide that being a hero really didn’t suck, and it’s actually rewarding to do good deeds and live a (relatively) virtuous life.
And let’s not forget that the godfather of grim-and-gritty, Frank Miller, gave us 300.
I can see it now: “Captain Americana, by day, a mild-mannered furniture appraiser for Antiques Roadshow…”
Jeff:
The real reason Capt America got whacked was because he called Robin a Faggot.
(of course anyone who cares about Capt America is a Fag………….not that there is anything wrong with that)
Tights are so last era. These days the superheroes have gotta wear baggy pants that sag down around their hips.
Hell, it hasn’t been Captain America since Stan Lee reamed Jack Kirby out of Marvel…
Heidi McDonald, who used to write for Fantagraphics and edited for a time at vertigo before it turned into a welfare program for epicene brits who can’t draw, once described it, “comics are now written by adolescent boys who are now thirty-five…and have very nasty minds indeed.”
New wagering opportunity:
How long before some nitwit makes Gore a superhero?
Additional wagering opportunity:
How long after they draw him in tights will it take me to recover my eyesight?
BALLERINAMAN!
MY MENTAL RETINAS!!! THEY’RE BURNING!!!
Even worse… Gore in tights acting like he did in that episode of South Park.
“I’m CEREAL, guys!”
He’s pretty fat for a Vulcan.
I can see it now: “Captain Americana, by day, a mild-mannered furniture appraiser for Antiques Roadshow…â€Â
So which one is it? Leigh or Leslie Keno?
Maybe both? That way, they can be in the same place at the same time…
Father forgive us for what we must do
You forgive us and we’ll forgive you
We’ll forgive each other ‘til we both turn blue
Then we’ll whistle and go fishin’ in Heaven.
— John Prine
SB: play78
TBS did that years ago, Teddy Turner’s just got to bring the image up to today’s Superhero standards and make him look like Gore. You may remember him with green hair, spouting environmental propaganda, and always fighting against those that would damage our planet such as say, evil companies trying to you know…provide jobs and stuff. Now he’ll do the same, but he’ll be pudgy and sanctimonious. Captain America is dead, long live…(drum roll)…Captain Planet!!! (And the nutjobs go wild with ecstatic applause).
Depends on how close you get wishbone (think Carmen in ”The Sweetest Thing”
TW: must86…
Miller – gritty
McFarlane – asshole
I could be wrong, but Miller was (and is) about complex human drama and painful choices, whereas McFarlane was about stripping good qualities from the field and stealing role-models and virtue from the market.
I am dreading the new Iron Man movie. I doubt it will in any way reflect the hero of old.
Mero,
So , so true about Ironman. I fear it’s going to be a 2 hour AA meeting with 30 seconds of CG and ending with Tony Stark looking at his suit and saying “rosebud.”
maybe I missed it in the above comments- but assuming nobody has said it, I’m disappointed in this site’s collective nerd-fu. It appears that the new Captain America will be…Frank Castle (aka “The Punisher” to those not in-the-know).
Picture posted to the marvel website w/o comment.
Whoever wins, we lose.
Captain Planet!
Lamest. Superhero. Evah.
His only superpower was the “Power of Heart?”
I remember thinking, “Get the f*** outta here with that weak assed crap.”
A reflection of the PC ‘ness of comics was the decision by the new “Superman” movie writers to leave out “…and the American Way” from Supe’s motto.
Where, oh where is the non PC kick ass jihadist bashing superhero? I guess I’ll just have to settle for Task Force 145.
Our country is being stolen? Stolen rights? Are peoples’ lives so dull and predictable that they have to invent a high drama just to give themselves a twinge of adrenalin?
I guess so. Mr. Pitts is quite17 the drama queen, isn’t he?
As an old Cap fan, I figure I’ll point out the odds of Steve Rogers being dead are extremely low. Marvel has been hinting that he’s not dead for the past month- the death of Captain America, similar ot the death of Superman in the 90’s, is primarily a publicity stunt.
IE, it says nothing about our country other than shock value sells comics.
I don’t like the editorial slant of the Punisher as Captain America. Not at all surprised, though. I mean, who’d have thunk a bunch of guys in New York would think that an armed, violent ex-Marine vigilante would be an appropriate modern Captain America?
Well, me, for one.
I remember a time when edgy described someone dripping with sweat, bulging eyes shifting back and forth, nervously chewing a cigarette, jumping at an engine’s backfire, etc.