Avengers Classic #4 shipped recently, and it gave me a chance to re-read the issue of The Avengers that brought Captain America back to comics. It had been a while since I had read it, but I have always enjoyed the issue.
Reading it, I was reminded of a couple of things. First, I really like Captain America. And two, what the hell is taking them so long to bring him back or do something about his death? In Avengers #4, the matter of Cap being found by the Sub-Mariner, thrown into the ocean, being found by the Avengers, having them recognize him, revive him, his short battle with them, and then his remembering who he is and what happened to put him in the frigid situation they found him is a dynamic and exciting tale.
Oh, and it takes all of eight-pages.
Yeah, all of eight pages. It would take most writers eight or so issues to tell that story, and honestly, it wouldn't be any better. In fact, I would wager that they would try to make it so "realistic" that it wouldn't be very good at all. I think that one of the biggest problems facing comics today is the idea that they need to be more realistic. That's just not true.
In fact, most of these books that are trying to be "real" are so far gone that they are not even vaguely close to real. They make a mockery of what storytelling is supposed to be, probably due to the fact that most of the people that are writing comics, I would be willing to bet, have never studied story structure or the concept of storytelling. It isn't just a matter of putting together a series of dramatic, shocking events that ultimately are meaningless--the worst of which being the totally unnecessary trend for writers to think that killing a character is the same as adding drama.
So to any writers and would-be writers--and yes, I'm speaking to you Ed Brubaker, Brian Bendis, and many, many others--pick up Classic Avengers #4 and read it. I have trouble believing that many of the people who are currently at the helm of some of the most beloved characters in comics have read all of the early stories. Now I could be completely wrong about that, but that would be even worse to be honest.
Showing posts with label Captain America. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Captain America. Show all posts
Sunday, September 23, 2007
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
One more thing about the death of Captain America...
He shouldn't be dead.
No, not from the fact that I think they were idiots to kill the character off, but from a couple of simple facts.
First off, he was in costume. If the story was accurate, Cap was a prisoner. Prisoners don't get to keep their own clothes. He should have been in standard prison issue.
Second, as a prisoner being transferred, federal law requires a prisoner being transferred to wear a flak vest. A bullet-proof flak vest. And Cap wasn't shot in the head, he was shot in the stomach, exactly where the vest would have protected him. Oh, and even if he got the special permission to wear his own outfit, that outfit seems to be made of some form of armor, designed I think, to protect him from things like, oh I don't know...bullets?
And finally, when Cap looks up and notices the sniper, why does he keep this information to himself? I guess he wanted to protect the team of elite SHIELD agents around him that are trained to deal with all manner of dangerous threats from a lone gunman. Or maybe he just gave up? After all, he's only survived for decades through war and death of those closest to him and being frozen in a block of ice. So, having a bad experience while three civil workers tackle him for...wait, why did they tackle him? That really was never made clear in Civil War.
No, I feel that the thing that killed Cap (ignoring the previous post) was bad writing. I would go on, but this entry would simply disolve, rather quickly, into a diatribe against the state of writing at Marvel these days.
He shouldn't be dead.
No, not from the fact that I think they were idiots to kill the character off, but from a couple of simple facts.
First off, he was in costume. If the story was accurate, Cap was a prisoner. Prisoners don't get to keep their own clothes. He should have been in standard prison issue.
Second, as a prisoner being transferred, federal law requires a prisoner being transferred to wear a flak vest. A bullet-proof flak vest. And Cap wasn't shot in the head, he was shot in the stomach, exactly where the vest would have protected him. Oh, and even if he got the special permission to wear his own outfit, that outfit seems to be made of some form of armor, designed I think, to protect him from things like, oh I don't know...bullets?
And finally, when Cap looks up and notices the sniper, why does he keep this information to himself? I guess he wanted to protect the team of elite SHIELD agents around him that are trained to deal with all manner of dangerous threats from a lone gunman. Or maybe he just gave up? After all, he's only survived for decades through war and death of those closest to him and being frozen in a block of ice. So, having a bad experience while three civil workers tackle him for...wait, why did they tackle him? That really was never made clear in Civil War.
No, I feel that the thing that killed Cap (ignoring the previous post) was bad writing. I would go on, but this entry would simply disolve, rather quickly, into a diatribe against the state of writing at Marvel these days.
Thursday, March 15, 2007
It has been a week, so I feel that I have a little distance and can talk about the death of Captain America.
When I first read the issue, my initial thought was that I wanted to have fifteen minutes alone with Joe Quesada in a locked room. Now that it's been a week, I still want that, but not because Captain America was killed.
In truth, Captain America isn't dead. He can't be. It's just impossible.
That's because he was never alive. He was nothing more than ink lines on paper. So, no matter how hard someone tries to kill a comic book character, they will never succeed. Someone, somewhere, at some time, will bring that character back. Well, if it matters, they will bring that character back.
And I do think that Steve Rogers matters. And that is why I want to spend time with J.Q. in a locked room.
Quesada has openly stated that he thinks that Steve Rogers was an outdated character. That he, and I am paraphrasing here, was no longer an accurate reflection of America. In fact, in Civil War Frontline, Rogers was confronted and told as much, indicating that because he didn't have a My Space page, or that he couldn't name the finalists from American Idol, he no longer was truly showing what it was to be American. God help us if either of those things become a true indication of what it means to be American. But again, that isn't the point.
The point is that it becomes incredibly obvious with those statements that Joe Quesada has no idea the true identity Captain America. He isn't now, nor really has he ever been, a reflection of America. He is a reflection of the American ideal. What we would all like to be, or what, as a country, we would at least like to represent.
When I was a child comics played a very important role in my life. They helped me to understand the difference between right and wrong. They gave me an idea of morals, and what it was to try to live up to ideals. You might not ever get there, but it was a goal worth having. And at the pinnacle of that goal was Captain America. He always did the right thing, understanding that sometimes the things that you do have a price to pay. And he was always able to overcome those odds to win.
In today's comic attitude, he is outdated. Stated as much by the current Editor-in-Chief, Joe Quesada. But then comics have been having moral issues for about a decade and a half--but that's another post. The sad thing is that Quesada and his cronies don't care about that, which is sad. The happy part is that Joe Quesada's actual title is CURRENT Editor-in-Chief. His time will pass.
And eventually, possibly sooner than later, Steve Rogers will be back. Captain America will once again be representing everything that America strives to be. Everything that is best in a comic character. The American dream. After all, he always overcomes even the worst of odds.
And he really isn't dead. You can't kill ink lines. Or a dream.
When I first read the issue, my initial thought was that I wanted to have fifteen minutes alone with Joe Quesada in a locked room. Now that it's been a week, I still want that, but not because Captain America was killed.
In truth, Captain America isn't dead. He can't be. It's just impossible.
That's because he was never alive. He was nothing more than ink lines on paper. So, no matter how hard someone tries to kill a comic book character, they will never succeed. Someone, somewhere, at some time, will bring that character back. Well, if it matters, they will bring that character back.
And I do think that Steve Rogers matters. And that is why I want to spend time with J.Q. in a locked room.
Quesada has openly stated that he thinks that Steve Rogers was an outdated character. That he, and I am paraphrasing here, was no longer an accurate reflection of America. In fact, in Civil War Frontline, Rogers was confronted and told as much, indicating that because he didn't have a My Space page, or that he couldn't name the finalists from American Idol, he no longer was truly showing what it was to be American. God help us if either of those things become a true indication of what it means to be American. But again, that isn't the point.
The point is that it becomes incredibly obvious with those statements that Joe Quesada has no idea the true identity Captain America. He isn't now, nor really has he ever been, a reflection of America. He is a reflection of the American ideal. What we would all like to be, or what, as a country, we would at least like to represent.
When I was a child comics played a very important role in my life. They helped me to understand the difference between right and wrong. They gave me an idea of morals, and what it was to try to live up to ideals. You might not ever get there, but it was a goal worth having. And at the pinnacle of that goal was Captain America. He always did the right thing, understanding that sometimes the things that you do have a price to pay. And he was always able to overcome those odds to win.
In today's comic attitude, he is outdated. Stated as much by the current Editor-in-Chief, Joe Quesada. But then comics have been having moral issues for about a decade and a half--but that's another post. The sad thing is that Quesada and his cronies don't care about that, which is sad. The happy part is that Joe Quesada's actual title is CURRENT Editor-in-Chief. His time will pass.
And eventually, possibly sooner than later, Steve Rogers will be back. Captain America will once again be representing everything that America strives to be. Everything that is best in a comic character. The American dream. After all, he always overcomes even the worst of odds.
And he really isn't dead. You can't kill ink lines. Or a dream.
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