The New Captain America is…
Posted by: Guy LeCharles Gonzalez on March 13, 2007 at 4:03 pm
…probably not Frank Castle, but Marvel is playing to the rampant speculation that he will be, at least temporarily, with this alleged variant cover to Punisher: War Journal #7.
I say alleged because the cover hasn’t been posted to Marvel’s May solicitations page yet, and I doubt Marvel truly has the courage to go that far with the hamfisted political subtext of Civil War, Cap’s death and the aftermath, especially considering the teaser image of the Cap-flavored Iron Man suit that floated around a while back.
It would certainly make for an interesting couple of minutes on the Daily Show and/or Colbert Report if they did, and the inevitable gnashing of teeth that would ensue on blogs and message boards could be fun.
Or not.
2 Responses to "The New Captain America is…"
1 | s dot s
I haven’t read this new Captain America comic…actually I haven’t read a new comic in since August 2006. The last comic I’ve read was Moon Knight #25 from 1982 — Sienkiewicz art and one of the worst Moench plots I’ve read. Amazingly though Moon Knight #25 and Captain America #25 has convergences. Both are poor attempts at political commentary (again, I haven’t read Cap #25 but I’m inclined to agree with the reviews I’ve read on the web).
I can’t judge all of Civil War but as far as I could tell it was an interesting premise but it’s execution was complicated by the intrinsic qualities of the genre, namely that everything is really only solved through violence. It’s hard to make a political statement when the golden rule is might makes right.
In Moon Knight #25, Moonie faces off against the Black Spectre the alter ego of the son of a former mayor (dead) turned war hero (vietnam). He becomes impassioned by the resolve of Moon Knight and becomes the Black Spectre to fight political corruption vigilante style, all the while campaigning for mayor. The issue is a MESS, save Sienkiewicz’s art but possibly worth the once over.
What do you think Guy, are superhero comics…correction, superhero Marvel comics capable of political editorials?
Moon Knight #25 was one of my favorite issues back in the day, but now I’m going to have to pull it out and reread it. I suspect it’s very much a product of its time, for better or worse. :-)
I don’t think Cap #25 really made any attempts at political commentary, poorly or otherwise. As has been a hallmark of Brubaker’s run to-date, it was much more focused on emotional beats and character interaction. Millar’s Civil War, OTOH, is Public Enemy #1 if you’re talking about “poor attempts at political commentary” in comics.
And no, generally speaking, I don’t think Marvel (or DC) is capable of pulling off nuanced political editorial; not in their core books, at least.
