Captain America - The Damage Is Done

I have talked at length about this at Biff Bam Pop! in my review of Captain America: Steve Rogers #1, and on episodes of The GAR! Podcast and Nerdfect Strangers here and here. Captain America is an Agent of Hydra, and always has been - or so we have been told.

And that's key. That's what we were told, but apparently we have been lied to. Here's the gist - in the first issue of Captain America: Steve Rogers #1, we see a dual storyline - one where young Steve's mom is tempted into a group that is suspiciously like Hydra (or the Nazis), and one where Captain America kills fellow hero Jack Flag and then says, "Hail Hydra." I have to hand it to writer Nick Spencer, because while I wasn't happy with the story, it was good and I enjoyed it, to the point of wanting to see what happened next. This was accompanied by some great art by Jesus Saiz, not a bad comic, all things considered, and one hell of a cliffhanger.

But. That's not the problem. The problem is that the day before the comic was released, Marvel Comics Senior Vice-President of Publishing, and former editor and Executive Editor, Tom Brevoort, went on several high profile media circuits and made certain pronouncements. From Time to Newsweek, from Entertainment Weekly to CNN, he announced that this was not mind control, not a hoax, not 'an imaginary story,' not a double or clone, and not a double agent thing. He basically closed off any possible escape for this horror, and then he said what clinched the noose around the character and much of the American public. "Captain America is, and has always been, a Hydra agent."

None of this was in the comic book, mind you, only from his mouth. And that's what drove me crazy, the hype machine, not the comic itself. Now we comic readers know that editors lie, and we know that (hopefully) Captain America would be back to status quo in six months to a year. That's just how comics roll. The problem is, that's not how the non-comic-buying public rolls. They don't know that's how it works.

They also don't know the intricacies of comic book continuity and logic. Many people who are into comics equate Hydra with the Nazis. They are not technically the same thing as the Marvel Cinematic Universe has gone to great lengths to demonstrate, but let's face it, Hydra was founded originally (don't talk to me about Jonathan Hickman's retconned ancient origin) by Nazis, doesn't that at its core, make them Nazis? Both groups hate, both groups seek world domination, and both groups will kill to get their way. At the very least, Hydra is evil in a very Nazi way.

But the public doesn't differentiate, and the shorthand has become - Captain America is a Nazi. Have you ever been called a Nazi sympathizer in a public place? I have. Twice. In the last month. That was because of my iPhone with the cover of Captain America #100 on the case. After that, I have not even dared to wear any of my Captain America t-shirts. In discussions of the topics, many non-comics folks I chat with just call the character 'Captain Nazi.' Yes, it's that bad.

I have to wonder about all those folks I saw at the premiere showing of Captain America: Civil War wearing Cap shirts, along with Avengers, and a handful of Iron Man as well, are faring at this moment. Do they still wear their Cap shirts? Speaking of movies, that brings up another point about public perception. When you don't follow comics, and only the destructive changing events are publicized, and not the fixing or returning events, your only point of reference is what you know from the news.

Case in point. When I first saw trailers for Superman Returns (2006), Man of Steel (2013), and Batman V Superman (2016), I heard several folks in the theaters repeatedly ask, "Isn't Superman dead?" For those not in the know, Superman died in the comics in 1993, and returned from the dead a little over a year later. Guess which story the media covered? People only remember what is drilled into their head. Mark my words, in ten years, Captain America will still be a Nazi in the eyes of the non-comics-reading public. The damage is already done.

Wizard World Philly - Sunday

WIZARD WORLD PHILLY

SUNDAY

The day began much earlier than expected with a family breakfast at the Pop Shop, and no argument, it was a pleasant surprise. From there it was prep and travel time to WW Philly.

The first panel of my day was Prize No Prize hosted by Marvel editor Tom Brevoort along with Dan Slott, Molly Lazer, and C.B. Cebulski among others. This trivia contest is a hometown event, having started at WWPhilly two years ago. Grand prize – an advance copy of Secret Invasion #3 and a statue of Captain America, although many cool prizes were given out throughout.

My old Movies Unlimited co-worker Gary did pretty well here, almost as well as he did on "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" a few years back. Can you name eight women who dated Peter Parker? How about nine Avengers who have never had their own title? Twelve mutants depowered in House of M? Then you should have been there. Try again next year.

Later I checked out DC Sunday Conversations: For the Love of Comics. I walked in late to what seemed to be an exercise in Dan DiDio (who was running it) asking when we all started reading comics. I have to admit a dislike for DiDio based on previous convention appearances but I also must confess the man showed a genuine warmness and openness during this panel. It’s a better look for him than his usual antics.

The discussion took a turn in the Aqua-direction. DiDio asked the audience, "Who is Aquaman?" and who did we like the most as he cited several examples. About the same amount of folks liked the green glove (original) version as liked the hook-hand version. A couple liked the blue costume. Only a few people liked the water hand Aquaman. Billy Tucci asked if he could breathe his own hand to much laughter.

Stemming from one fan mentioning he liked the writer’s JLA interpretation of the sea king, the talk turned briefly to Grant Morrison and how he can take even the lamest idea or character and make it seem cool. Even electric blue Superman. Somehow this makes me worry about Final Crisis.

Getting back on the Aqua-kick, DiDio mentioned he kinda liked the new Aquagirl quite a bit, and also verified that the latest incarnation of Aquaman was in fact the Golden Age version. It really sounds like DiDio is fishing (sorry, couldn’t help it) for ideas to fix or revamp Aquaman.

Next Dan went around the room asking for folks’ favorite obscure character. Ambush Bug was immediately brought up by my friend Skott Stotland. Others mentioned were G’nort, Vibe, the Metal Men, the female Dr. Light, and then Billy Tucci offered up Lord Malvolio with a story he wants to pitch. For the uninitiated, Lord Malvolio of the Green Flame is a Green Lantern baddie from the old (and much-missed) Action Comics Weekly who wore a copy of Alan Scott’s costume and destroyed Hal Jordan’s power ring.

This prompted DiDio to talk about the three kinds of continuity at DC. There are three levels. The first is immutable, can’t be changed, stuff like Krypton blew up and Bruce Wayne’s parents get shot. There’s a middle level of things that can be altered or played with, and then there’s the third level, where things are ignored or forgotten. He brought up the example of the Paul Levitz Legion of Super-Heroes where Superboy learns the Legionaires are really hundreds of years old. Levitz said of the tale, "I’m not going to undo the story, I’m just never going to mention it again."

In that third continuity category is where that Legion story goes, as well as the tale of Lord Malvolio. Shame. I’d like to see him come back, especially written by Tucci.

The two Cancelled Comics Cavalcade issues were brought up after someone mentioned the Freedom Fighters as his favorites and thanked DiDio for bringing them back. It took me a moment to process that statement as I don’t think the new version bears much resemblance to the original. What Freedom Fighters comics are you reading, dude?

Anyway, history lesson again – back in the 1970s, the 'DC Implosion' when DC expanded at the absolute wrong time and ended up having to cancel about a dozen existing or coming titles. To secure copyright on the cancelled material, DC produced two 'issues,' fifty photocopies each, of the stories that were already finished but not slotted to appear elsewhere. Two issues of the 1970s FF title were among them, along with good stuff like Secret Society of Super-Villains, Kamandi, Karate Kid and the first issue of Vixen.

When DiDio first joined DC the first thing he did was get those two issues and find out what happened in those comics from his youth that were never ‘really’ published. Pointing out that memory isn’t always what it’s cracked up to be, he noted those stories were crap.

A rather heated and half-joking discussion of who Batman was and if Nightwing should replace him was interrupted when Tom Brevoort came in and gave Dan a comic. Laughing, DiDio told the story of a comic book he couldn’t find as a kid, until he was on the bus to school and saw it on a spinner rack in a store the bus was passing. He got off the bus, bought it and then found he didn’t have enough cash to catch another bus, so he walked to school. That’s the Captain America comic Tom brought to Dan.

Tom B. then joined the panel. The Tiny Titans guys came in later to much applause. That’s when Dan DiDio asked the big question – why would anyone eat food from this building when the Reading Market is right across the street?

Comic Widows colleagues Crystal and Anthony showed up later as things were quieting down. Ran through the floor for some last minute bargains and to say a few hellos and goodbyes, and then called it a day.

Now there have been lots of reports on this con (and others) and personally, reading other accounts, I have to wonder... what con were they at?

Wizard World Philly - Friday

FRIDAY

Well, I will say this right off the bat, getting in was a hell of a lot easier this time than previous years. I might even go so far as to say it was a pleasure. One hopes it goes as well tomorrow and Sunday when it tends to be much busier.

Upon entering the show floor that Wizard seemed to be so proud to fill earlier in the week, the one thing I noticed is that it seemed both empty and sparse. I’m sure that will change. Or not. I did learn later in the day that the place was so empty because hundreds of folks were still waiting in the VIP lines. Many were there for an extended amount of time apparently.

At the DC booth I saw that they were giving away copies of DC Universe #0. That’s right, for free. The book that originally sold for fifty cents and will be sold in reprint for a dollar, was free. I’ll leave you to formulate your own opinion on that.

The Mondo Marvel panel was first and included Joe Quesada, Tom Brevoort, Dan Slott, Greg Pak, C.B. Cebulski, Brian Reed, Duane Swierczynski, Fred Van Lente and was hosted by Joe Quesada. Immediately they threw out the new ideas coming from the House of Ideas. There’s a new X-Men miniseries called Manifest Destiny, a new Deadpool series, Greg Pak’s new origin of Magneto, yawn. Then they brought up Age of the Sentry, a limited series by Jeff Parker featuring a retro look at the Sentry’s Silver Age adventures.

Other than the Sentry deal, there is a noticeable lack of Avengers, Fantastic Four and Spider-Man news. And a sparse showing as well, due to the VIP thing, but then again it is the first panel of the day. Many things were discussed in an extended question and answer session, including one fact from the lips of editor Tom Brevoort, "Mary Jane (Watson-Parker) is not a Skrull."

A fan who didn’t like the new FF by Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch inspired an intriguing response from Brevoort in that not every comic will click with every reader, and that he was sorry it wasn’t working for the fan. Wow. I wonder if that kind of honesty could have come from, say, Dan DiDio?

Speak of the devil, after hanging out a bit with some friends, I attended the DC Nation panel. This panel was mostly held in dim light as host, DC Senior Editor Ian Sattler, didn’t want to be blinded by the spotlights used in previous panels. It should be noted that he never told us who was on the panel, but it did include J.G. Jones, Jimmy Palmiotti, Shane Davis, Art Baltazar and possibly Ethan Van Sciver among others. Like I said, who knows who was there – we were never told.

And although the panel was without introductions, the audience response to the slide show was very positive. It was noted that Final Crisis: Superman Beyond would be partially in 3-D. And of course the Power Girl slide couldn’t pass by without at least one inferred boob joke. Sigh. There are just to many men in comics. Too bad Amanda Conner wasn’t there. And from Palmiotti’s description of the series, I hate to say because I’m really looking forward to it, it sounds an awful lot like the way Brian Reed describes his Ms. Marvel.

And then the questions and some answers followed. A fan question regarding "Batman R.I.P.," brought up that no one has said that the caped crusader is going to die. No one knows what’s really going to happen, including a few of the folks on the mystery panel.

Another fan, who said he was a DC reader for more than four decades, brought up how dumb a villain Libra was – an opinion I personally don’t agree with by the way, and like him I also read the original Libra story when it first hit the stands. He asked specifically what is the reaction when someone says for the biggest story of the year, here’s Libra, an obscure lame villain. The answer – it depends on who suggests it.

An unnamed artist on the panel, possibly Shane Davis or maybe Ethan Van Sciver, said he’s been begging to do an Aquaman revival. He said he asks once a week, and that he walks into DiDio’s office holding a trident sometimes he wants it so bad.

Other questions yielded the following answers. Sue Dibny will be seen in the upcoming Final Crisis: Reign in Hell miniseries. Despite rumors to the contrary, Jim Shooter is still writing Legion of Super-Heroes, Rich Johnston be damned apparently. J.G. Jones verified that his script for Final Crisis #1 says that "Libra spears the Martian Manhunter through the chest and kills him." Bastards.

Also today I got to hang with some folks I don’t usually get to hang with as often as I like. Good friends and fellow Comic Widows staffers Anthony and Andrea were both on hand. I also hung with Abraham of the Avengers Forever Forum, and I also got to say hello to Michelle who I haven’t seen in ages and finally got to meet her husband Joe. Good times.

I’ll leave you folks with a quote for today, overheard on the convention floor. There were two older women browsing one of the t-shirt walls of an exhibitor and one said to the other, "Look, another Wonder Woman! I had no idea she was so popular!" Gotta love it.