You want a lesson in real patriotism? Ask Captain America. Then go vote for the party that doesn't need to wrap itself in the flag to conceal its blemishes.
(via Orbus Quintus)
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Mark Gruenwald, I'd wager! One of Marvel's best writers, bar none. You should see the stuff he did in the early '90s: the letter pages quickly became the real debating ground. And it was fantastic.
All for a buck as well. Brilliant.
having being a glutton for scifi, I needed no more radicalizing. but I do remember this panel, as it is memorable. whee.
I consider in regards to a previous post, that desiring to have someone else read and report on an objectionable text, or saying someone should read a favored text and be hit in the head with it are straight out of my childhood as an admitted atheist.
If anyone likes being a billboard, there is the "I Support Meaningless Jingoistic Cliches" ribbon.
Thanks, PZ! And actually, Zbu, those lines were penned by Peter Gillis; this issue of "What If" came out not too long before the Gruenwald era began. (Apologies: pedantry is a compulsion for me).
The Gruenwald era was a great one, though, and one that tackled many of these issues with humor and insight. Remember: Gru is the one who put the Red Skull in a cloned Captain America body and had him infiltrate the highest ranks of the US gov't. Also, he's the one who turned Ronald Reagan into a giant snake-monster.
You know, I'd always kind of thought that Captain America was just a propaganda superhero, but after reading that I have to say that I feel inspired! Go Cap'n!
If anyone likes being a billboard, there is the "I Support Meaningless Jingoistic Cliches" ribbon
Other than it being personally irrelevant by reason of geography and citizenship, I love it! The coloured-ribbons-for-every-cause (troops, breast cancer, etc) thing has gotten out of hand, and I've recently conceived the idea of decorating my car with a ribbon reading: "Support Pointless Slogans On Cars!"
For about a year I had the "I Support Quasi-Facist Automotive Fads" sticker on my car, also from the whitehouse site listed above, and to my surprise my car was never keyed.
Also good for pissing people off, depending on where in the country you're at, is the "We support the guy in China selling these idiotic magnets" bumper sticker, from antimagnet.com.
It never ceases to amaze me that some of the most prescient people around seem to be cartoonists. I wish I could link to it (one of these days I'll get around to putting it out on the web), but I recall a Doonesbury cartoon where Zonker has to go down to the post office to register for the draft (this was during the Carter administration), and on the back of the registration card it asked the question, "Are you willing to sacrifice your life for big oil interests?"
Either Gerry Trudeau is psychic, or maybe he just knows what the real reason behind most modern wars was/is about...
This is a classic issue. Plus, I believe this issue also had a parade of minorities and threats (mutants), that included the X-Men of the day. It was a dark book, but great in discussing what it really means to defend and represent this country and it's "values".
And the whole run with the Red Skull as a a corporate/lobbyist/civil servant/stuff shirt was great and needy to reinvent a jackboot nazi into the major threat of the day. He helped stripe Cap of his name, nearly destroyed the country, and lead to a great fight between him and Steve Rogers. That was a fun era to read. I am goingto to have to go out and see if it is in collected books.
Yeah, a lot of people don't realize that Cap is actually "American" in the sense that he embraces everything America is supposed to stand for. Truth. Justice. Freedom. That kind of stuff. He's not just a flag shaped like a guy who runs around doing nationalist errands.
In fact, in the current Marvel crossover series "Civil War," Cap has gone underground after the government decides to implement a registration act for superheroes. He believes heroes' secret identities are their right, and they can often keep them and their families safe from deranged criminals. Clearly a commentary on all the freedoms we've given up since 9/11, Civil War is a great freaking book, and you can read it without any real knowledge of any other Marvel titles. Cap has never made me more proud to be an American than in this series.
Captain America *is* propaganda, but the good kind. :)
I remember this issue, and I agree with Professor Fury: the fake Cap sounded really convincing.
Yeah, a lot of people don't realize that Cap is actually "American" in the sense that he embraces everything America is supposed to stand for. Truth. Justice. Freedom. That kind of stuff. He's not just a flag shaped like a guy who runs around doing nationalist errands.
so... let me see if i have this straight;
the real america only exists in comic books now?
not saying you're wrong, but still...
*sigh*
Yeah, but that's precisely the most dangerous kind of propaganda. It's the maintenance of this image of "what America is supposed to stand for" that obscures what America actually does, and enables what Arthur Silber calles the "Apocalyptic Crusader" mindset. It is also the root of ideas like American Exceptionalism and Manifest Destiny.
It wasn't Gruenwald? D'oh!
I call bullshit. Have you actually read any modern Captain America comics? They in no way obscure anything about the reality of America, in fact they go out of their way to illustrate it faithfully. Cap is very often set against the government that created him, in a sort of Frankenstein-esque reference. If anything Cap's commitment to his ideals draws an even darker contrast between him and the government of America. While a negative consequence may be that he glorifies vigilantism, you can hardly argue that Cap does anything to obscure "what America actually does."