Why do I like super heroes?

Last week I began preparing what would have been a series of posts about why I stopped reading, supporting and working for Marvel Comics. However, after looking over my first draft I felt disappointed in myself; there's no derth of upset comic book fans raging at how the industry has failed to live up to their standards and this attempted post was just another grain of sand on the beach.
Therefore, in the interest of producing something positive to say about the super hero genre, I asked myself: why exactly did I invest so much emotion into these characters?

While Jim Salicrup was editor of Captain America in the early 1980s, he pointed to the above panel from Avengers#4 (1964) by Stan Lee & Jack Kirby as a defining characterization of Captain America. Captain America is facing the Sub-Mariner in combat, an antagonist whose superhuman strength places him well above Cap's own human strength level. Cap is canny enough to realize how outclassed he is, but remains confident in his ability to win the fight. "He's stronger than me -- but I'll find a way to outmaneuver him!"

This scene has been echoed by other writers through the years and it's often invoked at moments of extreme cosmic peril. For instance, take the Avengers#177 (1978) by Jim Shooter & Dave Wenzel. In this, the climax of the lengthy Korvac Saga, the godlike Michael Korvac quickly plows through the Avengers' ranks, killing each member regardless of their might; in the midst of this, Captain America enters the fray and briefly holds his own against Korvac. "Or maybe you don't even count me -- because I'm just a man? Hear that, Mike? This is no god hitting you -- no super-man! Just a man! It doesn't matter how strong you are! I'll find a way to stop you! I'll find a way!" This brief turn of events ends as Korvac strikes Cap through a wall with so much force that it kills him. Later, of course, all of the Avengers are brought back to life.

Years later in Infinity Gauntlet#4 (1991) by Jim Starlin, Ron Lim & George Perez, the all-powerful Thanos battles what few heroes remain after he's already killed 50% of the universe. The entire fight is a joke; Thanos is in no real jeopardy and engages the heroes only to divert himself and hopefully win the favour of Death, herself. After Thanos kills most of the heroes, only Captain America is left standing. Even with so little hope of victory, Cap fights to the end: "As long as one man stands against you, Thanos, you'll never be able to claim victory. I've lived my life by those sentiments. They're well worth dying for." Captain America does indeed die (after landing one punch across Thanos' jaw), but is later brought back to life.
Why do I like Captain America? Because he struggles against superior forces, heedless of the cost.

Look also to Tales of Suspense#59 (1964) by Stan Lee & Jack Kirby. A gang of ten heavily armed criminals (one wearing Iron Man-like armour) break into Avengers Mansion and find Captain America is the only Avenger present. They assume they can handle just one Avenger - the only Avenger without super powers - but he proves to be more than a match for them. After he defeats the gang, Cap can only remark: "But it's lucky you broke in while I was on duty! If any of the other Avengers were here, you might have gotten hurt! They're really tough!"
Why do I like Captain America? Because he's humble.

In one of the best Avengers stories of them all, Baron Zemo leads a version of the Masters of Evil whose members both outnumber and overpower the Avengers' own. By the events of Avengers#274 (1986) by Roger Stern & John Buscema, the Black Knight has been beaten unconscious, Captain Marvel has been exiled to another dimension, Hercules has been beaten to the point of death and Captain America has been captured, leaving only the Wasp at liberty. Zemo lets his wrath get the better of him as he kicks the bound-up Captain America in the face, gloating he'll finally get revenge on Cap for supposedly killing his father. As he lies helplessly on the floor, bleeding from the mouth, Captain America tells Zemo he hasn't won yet... not while the Wasp is free. And he's right: the Wasp eventually returns to rescue the captured Avengers and round up Zemo's forces.
Why do I like Captain America? Because he believes in his friends.

During the days when Captain America was romantically involved with Diamondback, a former costumed criminal who was inspired to reform by his good example, Diamondback was nearly murdered by her enemy Snapdragon. Traumatized by the episode, Diamondback eventually tracked down Snapdragon and seemingly killed her. After struggling with this secret for more than a year, Diamondback finally confessed what she'd done to Cap in Captain America#424 (1994) by Mark Gruenwald and Phil Gosier. Diamondback thinks Cap could "never love a murderer," but he promises to first, ascertain if Snapdragon is dead and second, get Diamondback the best legal aid possible. He fully intends to help Diamondback redeem herself for the attempt on Snapdragon's life. "I can't presume to judge you. I don't know what you went through. But I do know you're basically a good person. You've more than earned my support."
Why do I like Captain America? Because he supports his loved ones and doesn't judge them, even when they've fallen short.

One of Stan Lee & Steve Ditko's best multiple part stories was a lengthy Doctor Strange arc where his foes Baron Mordo & Dormammu joined forces against him. With Mordo's spies found across the globe, Strange is constantly in danger as he searches for the means to combat Mordo & Dormammu. In Strange Tales#135 (1965), Strange's journey brings him to England, where he asks Mordo's former agent Sir Baskerville for help. However, Baskerville is secretly still an agent of Mordo. He contacts his master and Mordo teleports a minion to Baskerville's castle to destroy Dr. Strange. When Baskerville and the minion return to ambush Strange, they find he's gone, but a suit of armour suddenly comes to life. Believing Strange is inside the armour, the minion attacks it and pursues it through a passageway... right into the path of Dr. Strange, who defeats the minion with a single punch to the gut. How did Strange animate the armour? Simple: he placed his cloak of levitation inside.
Why do I like Doctor Strange? Because he wins fights not through superior power, but superior tactics.

My personal favourite comic book is Doctor Strange#55 (1982) by Roger Stern & Michael Golden. After his lover Clea breaks up with him, Strange is so despondent that his psyche breaks down; it's dangerous for a sorcerer to lose control of his senses because he can't tell what's real and what's being conjured by his subconsciousness. In a moment of anger, Strange wishes he'd "never learned the ways of magic." At this point, a spirit appears and claims his wish has been granted. Strange is soon thrust into a horrible, nightmarish world in which the super hero Doctor Strange... is just a fictional character who appears in comic books. Confronted with this horrible reality - one we readers know is all too true - Strange is coerced to commit suicide as the ultimate escape from reality. Although tempted, Strange finally refuses and fights back against the forces trying to destroy his life.
Why do I like Doctor Strange? Because in the depths of despair, he chooses life over death.

Much has been made of Stan Lee & Steve Ditko's "Final Chapter" story from Amazing Spider-Man, particularly the moment where Spider-Man lifts an immense burden off his back. Personally, there's another moment I like at least as much in Amazing Spider-Man#33 (1966): while trying to escape the fortress of Doctor Octopus and bring a life-saving serum to his Aunt May, Spider-Man is confronted by a gang comprising eight of Dr. Octopus' men. The hero is weary from his struggles, nearly delirious, but flies into battle with them. Without any grace or form, he swings wildly at his foes; the batle goes on for 2.5 pages as the henchmen hold their own for a time. Moments later, Spider-Man is startled to discover he's defeated all of his opponents without realizing it.
Why do I like Spider-Man? Because he's stronger than he thinks he is.
I could carry on, but I hope you've enjoyed this little list.

Captain America recommended reading list

As is custom for me when a Marvel Comics character receives their own motion picture, I'm going to dig through the publishing history of Captain America and compile a recommended reading list to honour the release of Captain America: the First Avenger, which I watched earlier today.

Captain America was first published in 1941 in Captain America Comics via Jack Kirby & Joe Simon; after super heroes fell out of favour post-World War II, the series struggled, vanished for a while, tried to make a comeback in the early 50s, then folded for good in 1954 after 78 issues; during that time, Captain America was frequently a featured player in other Marvel titles such as All Select Comics, All Winners Comics, Marvel Mystery Comics and USA Comics. He became one of Marvel's flagship characters, often sharing covers with the other two big Marvel heroes of the time (the Human Torch & Sub-Mariner). In the midst of World War II a red, white & blue hero who took the fight to the Nazis - before the USA had even declared war! - he was pretty evocative. His sidekick Bucky even scored his own super hero team in Young Allies Comics.

Stan Lee & Jack Kirby brought Captain America back in 1964's Avengers#4, rendering Cap an indelible part of the Avengers franchise; Lee & Kirby threw out all of the Captain America stories published from '46-54, preferring to have Cap spend the intervening years in suspended animation; thus, Cap has remained "the living legend of World War II." Having retroactively killed off Bucky, Cap was depicted as a man out of time, haunted by his sidekick's death and uneasy about the world he lived in. Starting with Tales of Suspense#59, Lee & Kirby began delivering half-length Captain America solo stories (the other half of Tales of Suspense was held by Iron Man) until the series became Captain America with issue #100; Captain America has been published by Marvel ever since, despite a serious rumour mill claiming he'd be cancelled in the 1980s.

If you want my recommendation in brief, there are two great eras of Captain America: the Lee-Kirby years (Tales of Suspense#59-Captain America#109) and the era of writer Mark Gruenwald (Captain America#307-443). The first three volumes of Marvel Masterworks: Captain America collect the Lee-Kirby years, but there is no definitive series of Gruenwald volumes, just a few representative trades (Scourge of the Underworld, the Captain, the Bloodstone Hunt, Man and Wolf and Fighting Chance vols. 1-2).

I'm going to discuss Gruenwald's body of work in a separate blog post; for now, here's my favourite stories from the rest:

Tales of Suspense#79-81 by Stan Lee & Jack Kirby. Of all the Lee-Kirby tales, this is easily the most frequently referenced. The Red Skull - Cap's most repeated enemy in the 40s - returns in modern times, still worshiping evil in spite of the Nazis' defeat. Having obtained the Cosmic Cube, a veritable Aladdin's Lamp of power, the Skull becomes all-powerful...but that doesn't mean Cap can't stop him. There have been many (too many) Red Skull/Cosmic Cube stories since this one, but the original frames it properly; it doesn't matter how superior the Red Skull or any opponent is, Captain America will find a way to stop them.

Captain America#110-111 & 113 were the only three issues written/drawn by Jim Steranko. The plot isn't too remarkable, with Cap fighting the forces of Hydra, led by the memorable new villain Madame Hydra, but the style Steranko brought to these issues have kept them firmly entrenched in people's minds as what a great Captain America story looks like.

However, after Steranko the series fell into the doldrums, despite some nice art by Gene Colan and a great new sidekick for Cap in the person of the Falcon. Captain America#168 was a fill-in story by Tony Isabella and Sal Buscema and delivered a fine tale with Cap meeting the son of Baron Zemo, the man who slew Bucky; just as Cap is haunted by Bucky's death, the younger Zemo has a vendetta with Cap for ruining his father's life. Helmut Zemo had a modest introduction here, but would go on to become an interesting character, not entirely unlikeable and a skewed perspective on what kind of man Captain America was.

I know I couldn't go without mentioning Steve Englehart & Sal Buscema's Captain America#175, the climax to Englehart's lengthy Secret Empire epic, where Cap brings down the Secret Empire on the White House lawn...only to find the Empire's leader is the President! The President commits suicide rather than face humiliation and Cap is stunned, finding his faith in his own nation faltering. He gives up being Captain America, leading us to...

Captain America#180-183 by Steve Englehart, Sal Buscema & Frank Robbins. In these issues, Steve Rogers adopts a new costumed alias: Nomad, the Man Without a County! However, his cape doesn't last very long.

When a young man named Roscoe takes on Captain America's identity, only to be killed by the Red Skull, Steve realizes he has to reclaim his identity.

Roger Stern & John Byrne's run on Captain America lasted only from issues #247-255. Regardless, it turned out to be one of the most memorable turns on the series, similar to Steranko in being well-remembered despite its brevity. Captain America#250 addresses the idea of Captain America running for President. It's an outstanding issue because of how it portrays the public reaction; the people want Cap to be their President. They don't care that he knows nothing about politics; they just want somebody they can trust. This story hits on all the angles about the idea of Cap running for President (the Democrats & Republicans both want him on their ticket!), but finally brings it down to Steve Rogers and his personal conviction that his work as Cap is more important than becoming a figurehead.

Stern & Byrne's best multi-part story was Captain America#253-254; Cap looks up some of his old World War II allies, the British hero Union Jack and his daughter Spitfire, now both quite old and Union Jack nearing death's door. However, Jack is convinced their old vampire foe Baron Blood is still alive; unable to slay his foe alone, he brings in Cap. The showdown between Captain America and Baron Blood was notable for how violent it was for the time, with Cap beheading Blood in the climax; this story also helped keep the Union Jack identity alive as young Joe Chapman assumes the role (which he bears to this day), giving England a pretty cool-looking super hero.

Captain America#255 was Stern & Byrne's farewell; appropriately, they took the series back to its beginnings with a retelling of Captain America's origin. Kirby himself had told the origin on three separate occasions, incorporating different names and details each time. Stern & Byrne put everything together in way which made all three versions accurate, which is a pretty neat feat. It also filled in little details like how Cap went from his triangular shield to the rounded shield and how the Red Skull helped inspire his costumed identity. This remains the best single-issue adaptation of Cap's origin.

To explain the Captain America stories from '46-54, it had been decided by various writers that three different replacement Captains America had taken up the role while Steve Rogers was thought dead. In Captain America Annual#6, J.M. DeMatteis and Ron Wilson told an offbeat story where all four Captains America are united. The 3rd Captain America, Jeff Mace, formerly the hero Patriot, is dying of cancer; all he wants is one last challenge and he wants to face it at the side of his idol, the original Captain America. Thanks to a cosmic being, Mace gets his wish, but it's not everything he'd hoped for. It's a bittersweet story and made me an instant fan of poor Jeff Mace, the replacement Cap who never seemed to have his moment to shine.

For J.M. DeMatteis' farewell to the series in Captain America#292-300, he set up a "final fight" between Cap and the Red Skull. With the Skull nearing his end from old age, he's decided how he wants to die: at Captain America's hands. Of course, he doesn't want Cap to live too much longer after him, either. In the issues building up to this, the Skull does all he can to tear Cap down, hoping to drive him into a murderous rage, while poisoning him so they'll die together. Cap keeps trying to reason with the Skull, but the Skull is fundamentally incapable of caring. In the outstanding issue #298, the Skull narrates his full origin to Cap, demonstrating how throughout his life he's been thoroughly horrible.

So, the best revenge against the Red Skull turns out to be...denying him what he wants. Cap refuses to take the Skull's life, pitying him to the end. In a truly memorable moment, the Skull dies, cursing Cap for his pity.

The Adventures of Captain America was a four-issue mini-series by Fabian Nicieza and Kevin Maguire which retold Captain America's origin with some cinematic flourishes. It was instantly forgotten and remains so, for reasons I'm not clear about. It didn't quite square with earlier versions of Cap's origin, but did a fine job of characterizing Bucky into someone who was a believeable sidekick for Cap. It even wound up influencing a lot of decisions on how Cap's origin was depicted in the movie.

Marvel Holiday Special#1 features a sweet Christmas tale of Captain America by Len Kaminski & Ron Lim. Steve happens to encounter Bucky's sister, who was never told the truth about what her brother did during the War. Cap tells her everything and, to his surprise, discovers he's found a new family.

Captain America Annual#13 by Roy Thomas and Arvell Jones, told a lengthy tale from the Red Skull's perspective, again refusing to make him sympathetic (I think if the Red Skull is ever made relateable it's time to board-up the windows at Marvel and go home). This concerns the Skull's decades-long quest for the long-lost secrets of Adolf Hitler. Amusingly, it turns out to be something akin to Geraldo's quest for Al Capone's vault!

Captain America: Sentinel of Liberty#7 contains a back-up tale by Brian K. Vaughn (then a novice) and Steve Harris. It looks in on Steve Rogers at various points in his life during the Presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt, transcribing FDR's "fireside chats" from the radio. It does an excellent job of bringing to light who Steve was as a person prior to becoming a super hero, particularly in depicting his mother's death (which had been referenced but not seen). It leads up to Cap meeting FDR for the first time and how FDR's struggle with polio inspired Cap in his mission; it climaxes just before Cap and Bucky's final World War II mission as they hear FDR has died. This is an obscure tale, but find it if you can.

The Young Allies Comics 70th Anniversary Special#1 by Roger Stern and Paolo Rivera takes up in recent continuity where Bucky (back from the dead) has become Captain America. When Bucky goes looking for the graves of his old Young Allies comrades, he's stunned to learn two of them are still alive. This leads to a brilliant scene of Bucky reconnecting with his old friends and finally honouring a 70-old promise the Young Allies made together. Given that the Young Allies were treated as a forgotten piece of Captain America backstory for most of the previous 60 years, this draws an incredible sense of pathos for these people who, in the absence of Cap and Bucky, just went on with their lives.

The four-issue mini-series Captain America: Patriot by Karl Kesel & Mitch Breitweiser picks up Jeff Mace's story, so obviously I was stoked. This follows Mace's life from when he first sees Captain America, to adopting his own identity as the Patriot, to taking Cap's place in '46...only to find the US government isn't too keen at this "outsider" taking over when he hasn't been vetted. The story is mostly concerned with how Mace was just a hair's breadth from greatness, but manages to give him a sense of accomplishment in the conclusion; he loses the Captain America identity, but becomes satisfied with being Jeff Mace.

Captain America and Batroc by Kieron Gillen and Renato Arlem was an odd one-shot which came out recently. Told from the perspective of Cap's foe Batroc the Leaper, it does an excellent job of getting into Batroc's head. Because of Batroc's outrageous French accent (and, heck, that he calls himself "the Leaper") he's been a target of ridicule for decades; obviously, that means we're primed to like him now! There's a great piece about Batroc meeting parkour runners who idolize him and it does a lot to flesh out Batroc as a person; it also brings up Batroc's most memorable quality, his determination to defeat Captain America in a fair fight. Batroc's never been evil, just a crass mercenary and this story understands him perfectly.

There you go; look elsewhere for the Gruenwald recommendations!

A Good Week to be a Roger Stern fan

Although I don't believe he has any current regular assignment in comics, Roger Stern had three different stories released this week from Marvel Comics. As an immense fan of Stern's work (his Dr. Strange#55 is my all-time personal favorite comic), I was all too happy to find so much from him all at once.

Some time ago, Stern wrote an issue of Thor (#394) about a television writer who interviewed people who had met Thor to help her compose a script proposal. The people interviewed included supporting characters from Thor's past, but also random passerbys from old stories. Last year Stern had a new story in Giant-Size Incredible Hulk which took a similar tack, with old Hulk supporting character Fred Sloan interviewing people who had encountered the Hulk. Each of the three Stern stories released this week were of a similar retrospective nature.

First up, Captain America#600. This issue won a little publicity and was released in the USA on Monday rather than the standard Wednesday date. The main story deals with people meditating on the anniversary of Captain America's death and Stern provides a back-up story on that subject. Stern's story features Bernie Rosenthal, a supporting character he created for Cap back when he wrote the book, but she hasn't been seen since Mark Gruenwald's last issue (Cap#443, 1995). Also appearing is Josh Cooper, another character who appeared in Stern's run. Bernie and Josh have a private celebration of Cap's life and recall the time they spent with him. With only 12 pages to work with, it doesn't get around to much, but mostly it's overshadowed by the main story, featuring characters with contemporary ties to Cap.

Next is Amazing Spider-Man Family#7. This series is an anthology book which features a number of Spider-Man characters by various creative teams. Stern leads off this issue with a story of Peter Parker and his Aunt May going through the family photo album. May relates the stories of how she met Uncle Ben, their engagement, marriage and the birth of Peter. Some of this was familiar to me, a fair bit wasn't. There are also some cute touches to explain Marvel's sliding timeline. The most interesting facet of the story is that it examines how May made her share of mistakes over the years and went through troubles with Ben; it proves that Peter isn't the only one who suffers from the "Parker luck" and draws the two closer. The tragic story of May's miscarriage also alters the way we view her constant doting on Peter, demonstrating that he was the son she couldn't have.

Last up is Young Allies Comics: 70th Anniversary Special#1. This is one of several such one-shots which have been released to celebrate Marvel's 70th year of publishing (I have one too). This book looks back on the Young Allies, a team of teenage boys led by Captain America's sidekick Bucky and the Human Torch's sidekick Toro. The other four boys were pretty identifiable stereotypes - the fat kid, the smart kid, the tough kid and the unfortunate racist caricature kid. Stern's story goes some way to making amends for those comics by simultaneously bringing the Young Allies firmly into continuity while kicking their actual appearances out by dismissing them as comics published within Marvel's fictional universe.

At any rate, the present-day Captain America is the grown-up Bucky Barnes and he finally decides to look up his old pals from the Young Allies. It's a moving story, wonderfully illustrated by Paolo Rivera and has the adventure, pathos and love that I associate with the best of Stern's work.

I enjoyed the Young Allies special the most of the three books. If it were the only Roger Stern comic which came out this week, I would be a very happy man. As one of three? I'm fairly giddy!