Greetings!
If you’re planning to read Captain America: Steve Rogers #1 and haven’t yet (and amazingly haven’t had it spoiled yet), don’t read this post.
You have been warned.
I’m not happy. Actually, I’m more than not happy. I am absolutely royally pissed at the moment.
In Captain America: Steve Rogers #1, good old Cap turned out to be not so good when he hurled a teammate out of a ship and did this:
I’m sorry, what?! The author has since come forward and said that this isn’t brainwashing, this isn’t a clone, an alternate universe, or any of the expected (and hoped for) twists that have been used before.
This is so wrong on so many levels. First off, let’s take a look at the origin of Captain America in the real world. He was created by Jack Kirby and Joe Simon (Born Jacob Kurtzberg and Hymie Simon, respectively), who were both parts of Jewish families and created Captain America as a sort of political standpoint. He stood for what was right and good. His first comic, on sale December of 1940, a year before the bombing of Pearl Harbor, showed him punching Hitler in the jaw. He fought for the Allies, but greater than that, he fought for true justice.
Turning Steve into a Nazi, which is 100% opposite of what he was created to be, is disrespectful to his creators, and incredibly contradictory to it all. What would they think, if they knew about this?
On the fictional level, it’s so messed up. There are way too many plot holes, inconsistencies, and things rendered utterly meaningless from this. First of all, who would stand up for what Captain America has stood up for and defend what he’s defended if he’s been a Hydra agent this whole time? He basically destroyed it all anyways, so how does that make sense? What about Red Skull? That rivalry doesn’t play out. His friendship with Bucky Barnes is made entirely empty and useless, and that is not okay. Also, have you seen Steve Rogers pre-serum? Nobody wants that. He would be the last choice of the last choices. Like, the kind of person you choose to be a soldier or spy only if he’s literally the last person on the planet.
Steve Rogers is supposed to be a good man. Brave, loyal, courageous, not afraid to stand up for what is right, and ridiculously full of perseverance. He is a symbol of so much to not only his fictional teammates but real life fans all around the world. Personally, viewing him as that symbol of honesty, bravery, and justice has helped me through a lot of stuff, and I know for a fact that I’m not the only one like that.
Hydra Cap is an illogical and frankly disrespectful decision by his authors. Shock value does not equal good stroytelling and plot twists, people. There are plenty of other things that could have boosted sales, if that’s what they wanted, without absolutely wrecking such a solid champion of a character. As Captain America said (and as I posted in QotW #157), “Doesn’t matter what the press says. Doesn’t matter what the politicians or the mob say. Doesn’t matter if the whole country decides that something wrong is something right. This nation was founded on one principle above all else: The requirement that we stand up for what we believe, no matter the odds of the consequences. When the mob and the press and the whole world tell you to move, your job is to plant yourself like a tree beside the river of truth , and tell the whole world “No. You move.”
This is what I believe, and I completely and wholeheartedly stand behind the fan push of “Say no to Hydra Cap”. Unfortunately, all I can do is speak my mind and hope this is rectified. And, quoting Nick Fury in the first Avengers (Give or take a few changed words 😉 )
I’m not giving up on my favorite hero yet. Or ever. But I’m certainly not buying those comics. With that being said, no, Marvel. You move.
Talk to you soon,
A very disgruntled Roo.
P.S. All images are copyrighted to their original creators. I don’t own anything!
Roomble 