The new Captain America comic came out last week and its caused a bit of a stink. For those who haven't been keeping up, Steve Rogers, the original Cap, no longer has the Super Soldier Serum in him and has aged. He chose a successor, his friend and long-time partner, Sam Wilson, the Falcon. There was a bit of a flap about Captain America being black and diversity running amuck, but for those who have followed the comics and characters for a long time, its actually pretty cool. Sam Wilson is a great character, and if someone had to step in for Steve Rogers I think he's the best choice.Now the new comic is out, and its written by Nick Spencer. I like Nick Spencer. I think he's a really amazing writer. I was excited to see what he;d do with the character, and then I read the issue. Things started out great. Sam is kicking butt and taking on Hydra goons and Crossbones. It a lot of fun. Then we find out that everyone at S.H.I.E.L.D. is ticked at him and so is a good chunk of the public.
And its the reason why where I think Spencer has made a big mistake.
Spencer acknowledges that Steve Rogers kept his politics to himself as much as possible. He stayed out of partisan squabbling. I really like the quote that Hickman gave Cap when he was being told his values and ideals were archaic. His answer was "I don't judge people's lives, I save them." And that's just awesome. Captain America makes the right choices even in the toughest of situations. He's an ideal, and I think that's a lot of the ideal of America. Doing what's right, even when its hard.
But Sam Wilson doesn't seem to be reflecting the ideal of America, but more of the reality of America. He's come out on certain sides of issues, and its ticked off people who don't agree. This is so very disappointing. I saw Sam being Cap and being a minority as a step forward and we can judge characters and people by the content of their character and their actions. I had hope. I had hope that Sam, like Steve, would stay above politics and just be a force for good.
Instead I see the like of "You're not my Captain America" which reminds me of those who say Obama "is not my president". There's other parallels between Sam and Obama in the book. Its funny because there was hope for him too. Instead our president has focused on the divides in this country and pushing his side of things. I really don't want to see Sam go down that same road, but that's kind of how its looking it'll go.
The latter part of the book has Sam coming in to stop people from harming illegal immigrants. That's good. Captain America should be stopping those who would harm people unable to defend themselves. But at the same time, these are people who are willfully breaking the law, and I'm doubting Sam is going to tell them that what they are doing is wrong.
I follow politics, and its a tiring, soul crushing affair. I read comics to life my spirits and often inspire me as they did when I was a kid. I used to want to be a good, upright, moral man like Captain America. Now Captain America saddens me. It looks like just one more thing that's been sucked up in the political game of demonized and mocking anything or anyone that doesn't agree with you. Its even to the point that we're being presented characters in this book like Phil Coulson and Nick Fury Jr. who are heroes in other marvel books but are here shady individuals that we shouldn't trust.
But its only the first issue of this run. Perhaps Sam will learn that he's not Captain Democrat, Captain Republican, Captain Conservative, nor Captain Liberal.
He's Captain America. And I hope he's one I can admire and respect as much as his predeccesor.
