Look Out! Here Comes A Comics Blog!: Giving back to the man who gave us an Oracle
John Ostrander, who brought Barbara Gordon back from the icy grip of, um... I don't know, I'm high on cold meds. Stuff. And things.
Anyway, this guy is great and brought us some of the best female characters in comics. And now he's got Glaucoma. K.D. gives us readers a good reason to fork out what we can for him, in the form of quotes and pictures and... seriously, cold meds. Even if you don't have money, you have good thoughts and well-wishes and, for the religious out there, prayers.
So there you go.
Monday, July 13, 2009
Friday, July 10, 2009
Escape to Wednesday (Comics)
This week has been a bad week for me. Work, apartment, life in general... it's got me down. And during a particularly bad moment last night, it was said to me that you have to focus on the good things, even if those good things are little.
And, oddly, I thought about comics.
Huh.
I mean, I'm not completely insane. I also thought about my friends, video games, family, the occasional good meal, the (finally) beautiful weather, the upcoming All-Star game, my tickets to see the Red Sox at the end of the month, et cetera et cetera.
But also comics.
I haven't really felt that way about comics in a long time.
What a perfect time for Wednesday Comics to come along. One page spreads of old-school style comic storytelling. My first comics were in the newspapers, not the books. (I was a Heathcliff fan myself. Eff Garfield.)
And even though I wasn't around during the golden age (or even the silver age, I guess), there's something awesome about opening up some newspaper grade paper and reading about superheroes being superheroy. Even if there's more modern art (I'm not sure wtf is happening with Wonder Woman, but I think I like it), it still makes me feel like a kid again. It's nice to feel like a kid again, because kids don't have jobs (or... shouldn't), kids don't worry about rent or health insurance, and on beautiful summer days, kids run around the yard and climb trees and scrape knees and don't sit in little offices with no windows.
Okay, that's enough of that. (My other two pulls this week were Red Robin #2 a.k.a. the Emo Quest and Green Lantern #43 a.k.a. gory death drawn beautifully. So I'll stick with WC for my happy thoughts, thanks.)
I thought Wednesday Comics was great, and great fun. For nostalgia if nothing else (and there was plenty else to love; though the stories are hard to call at this point, I'm loving the various art styles). I read someone somewhere (brains no worky) saying they hope this becomes a summer tradition. I couldn't agree more.
And, oddly, I thought about comics.
Huh.
I mean, I'm not completely insane. I also thought about my friends, video games, family, the occasional good meal, the (finally) beautiful weather, the upcoming All-Star game, my tickets to see the Red Sox at the end of the month, et cetera et cetera.
But also comics.
I haven't really felt that way about comics in a long time.
What a perfect time for Wednesday Comics to come along. One page spreads of old-school style comic storytelling. My first comics were in the newspapers, not the books. (I was a Heathcliff fan myself. Eff Garfield.)
And even though I wasn't around during the golden age (or even the silver age, I guess), there's something awesome about opening up some newspaper grade paper and reading about superheroes being superheroy. Even if there's more modern art (I'm not sure wtf is happening with Wonder Woman, but I think I like it), it still makes me feel like a kid again. It's nice to feel like a kid again, because kids don't have jobs (or... shouldn't), kids don't worry about rent or health insurance, and on beautiful summer days, kids run around the yard and climb trees and scrape knees and don't sit in little offices with no windows.
Okay, that's enough of that. (My other two pulls this week were Red Robin #2 a.k.a. the Emo Quest and Green Lantern #43 a.k.a. gory death drawn beautifully. So I'll stick with WC for my happy thoughts, thanks.)
I thought Wednesday Comics was great, and great fun. For nostalgia if nothing else (and there was plenty else to love; though the stories are hard to call at this point, I'm loving the various art styles). I read someone somewhere (brains no worky) saying they hope this becomes a summer tradition. I couldn't agree more.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Wait, what?
So I guess there's this series of biographical comics about, like, women or something. It's called The Female Force - which really makes me think it ought to be a bit more action-adventury (c'mon, Clinton would so whoop Lex Luthor's ass) and a bit less... um. Boring?
Actually, I haven't read them. I'd never even heard of them until AfterEllen did an article about them today, even though apparently Bluewater (a company I'd never heard of until today, that seems to specialize in this kind of comic... there's a Michael Jackson tribute coming in October) has been publishing them since October of last year.
Apparently they're getting a lot of press.
Huh.
I mean, cool?
I don't know. Biographical comics are... neat? Woo for getting the details of these (arguably) strong and (definitely) powerful women out to the people who... read... comics.
I'm really curious, though. Who's buying these? How's the art? (The covers don't impress me much.) Which details are left out? Which are left in? Why Barbara Walters? Does Michelle Obama really have superpowers? Is Oprah the real Emperor of the Known Universe? Sarah Palin? Really?
And what would Christna Romer (oh yeah, who's the feminist political geek now, hmmmm?) think about me spending $3.99 for a graphical representation of a fraction of the information available for free at my local library/on the internet?
Has anyone read these? What do you think?
'Sup?
Actually, I haven't read them. I'd never even heard of them until AfterEllen did an article about them today, even though apparently Bluewater (a company I'd never heard of until today, that seems to specialize in this kind of comic... there's a Michael Jackson tribute coming in October) has been publishing them since October of last year.
Apparently they're getting a lot of press.
Huh.
I mean, cool?
I don't know. Biographical comics are... neat? Woo for getting the details of these (arguably) strong and (definitely) powerful women out to the people who... read... comics.
I'm really curious, though. Who's buying these? How's the art? (The covers don't impress me much.) Which details are left out? Which are left in? Why Barbara Walters? Does Michelle Obama really have superpowers? Is Oprah the real Emperor of the Known Universe? Sarah Palin? Really?
And what would Christna Romer (oh yeah, who's the feminist political geek now, hmmmm?) think about me spending $3.99 for a graphical representation of a fraction of the information available for free at my local library/on the internet?
Has anyone read these? What do you think?
Oh, what the Hell.
The second printing of Detective Comics #854 has a way better cover.
I refuse to blow more money on something I already have just because it looks prettier, but dagnabit. That's the sort of thing I'd stick on my wall as a poster. If, you know. I were still in college.*
Not that the first one was bad, not at all, but this one has THE QUESTION (and an inexplicable lightning motif...). I'm shaking my fist in a disgruntled manner.
* I may buy it anyway. It's pretty, and this week I don't have a lot of pull titles. And one day I fully intend to have a comic wall or something, so... it could come in handy. Right? Right!
I refuse to blow more money on something I already have just because it looks prettier, but dagnabit. That's the sort of thing I'd stick on my wall as a poster. If, you know. I were still in college.*
Not that the first one was bad, not at all, but this one has THE QUESTION (and an inexplicable lightning motif...). I'm shaking my fist in a disgruntled manner.
* I may buy it anyway. It's pretty, and this week I don't have a lot of pull titles. And one day I fully intend to have a comic wall or something, so... it could come in handy. Right? Right!
Girl Wonder, but Not Wonder Girl.
So the DCU blog gave us another cover shot fo the new Batgirl. She's got purple eyes. Gasp. Shock. Awe. I don't really care. The only answer I could possibly be annoyed with would be Barbara Gordon. Other than that, let's just reveal who she is an move on.
I mean, I'm assuming she's a she. 'Cause, after all, her name is pretty clear. Batgirl will always be female. Batman will always be male. (Good thing Bruce never took on a female side - OH WAIT.) Luckily Superman's been cloned so there can still be a Superman if Clark ever decides to retire. Whew. And Wonder Woman is, well. You know. She's actually one of the rare examples of a gendered hero-name getting first billing. But her version of first billing is pretty pale compared to the other Big Two of the Big Three (Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman).
Considering I took An Awful Lot of Women's Studies classes (enough to get a degree in it, actually), usually with a lot of reading about critical race and gender theory, I don't remember a lot of the buzzwords I'm supposed to. I've been out of Academia for awhile now, and that kind of stuff just doesn't stick with you unless you practice.
Most of my dislike of various sexist, heterocentrist/homophobic, and racist images in comics (and the rest of pop culture) boils down to common sense. At least I think it's common sense, until I mention my frustration with Yet Another Crazy Lesbian Storyline and someone goes "huh?"
Seriously, it should be weird for everyone that most of the time you remember seeing a lesbian on television, she was pregnant or wanted to be pregnant or had just been pregnant and was fighting for her right to have her child.
This should bother people on so many levels.
Anyway. Pop culture. Women. Where was I?
Oh, my favorite Robin. (No, really, that's where I was. I swear.)
My favorite Robin is Carrie Kelly. Carrie came around in this dark and grounbreaking Elseworld right after Jason Todd "died". She wasn't my first Robin.* My first Robin was the Dick in the 60s TV show. But that's sort of my point. I grew up with Robin "the boy wonder". And then Frank Miller gave us Carrie Kelly, this spunky (hey, remember that word?) young girl who pushed and pushed until she was accepted. And she was fearless. Or she seemed fearless, until that scene on the roller coaster.
Good little soldier, Carrie Kelly. She was a Robin for the end of the world as we knew it. I was bummed when she ended up as Cat-Girl in the sequel. For a few reasons: one, Bruce's relationship with her bordered on romantic, and setting her up as an heir to Catwoman just reinforced that. Two, I really really really really hate hero names with genders in the title. Thanks a lot, Nietzsche. Three, because of two... it took a lot from the character. She'd gone and turned the original boy wonder into a role that didn't need a boy, thus freeing it from the requirements of having a specific (male, of course) gender. Stephanie Brown should thank her (and I should read more of her run as Robin, and I will be upset for similar reasons if Steph is the new Bat-Girl).
Of course, as Cat-Girl she was also brutally attacked by the original Robin and mangled for life. As the non-gendered Robin she was strangled, shot at, et cetera, but as Cat-Girl, her physical features were literally shredded.
And for me it's common sense that that is Some Very Bad Symbolism Right There, but I don't think it is for everyone else.
Which is probably why the female characters in comics still have a long way to go.
* This idea of having a "first" anything only really came to me when I got into Doctor Who fandom. In DW we have long and drawn out conversations about our first Doctor, our favorite Doctor, our first companion(s) and our favorite companion(s), and said conversations usually involve a lot of geeky talk about the minutia of episodes, the context of the era they were broadcast in, and some good old fashioned fisticuffs. Okay, no fisticuffs, I made that up.
I mean, I'm assuming she's a she. 'Cause, after all, her name is pretty clear. Batgirl will always be female. Batman will always be male. (Good thing Bruce never took on a female side - OH WAIT.) Luckily Superman's been cloned so there can still be a Superman if Clark ever decides to retire. Whew. And Wonder Woman is, well. You know. She's actually one of the rare examples of a gendered hero-name getting first billing. But her version of first billing is pretty pale compared to the other Big Two of the Big Three (Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman).
Considering I took An Awful Lot of Women's Studies classes (enough to get a degree in it, actually), usually with a lot of reading about critical race and gender theory, I don't remember a lot of the buzzwords I'm supposed to. I've been out of Academia for awhile now, and that kind of stuff just doesn't stick with you unless you practice.
Most of my dislike of various sexist, heterocentrist/homophobic, and racist images in comics (and the rest of pop culture) boils down to common sense. At least I think it's common sense, until I mention my frustration with Yet Another Crazy Lesbian Storyline and someone goes "huh?"
Seriously, it should be weird for everyone that most of the time you remember seeing a lesbian on television, she was pregnant or wanted to be pregnant or had just been pregnant and was fighting for her right to have her child.
This should bother people on so many levels.
Anyway. Pop culture. Women. Where was I?
Oh, my favorite Robin. (No, really, that's where I was. I swear.)
My favorite Robin is Carrie Kelly. Carrie came around in this dark and grounbreaking Elseworld right after Jason Todd "died". She wasn't my first Robin.* My first Robin was the Dick in the 60s TV show. But that's sort of my point. I grew up with Robin "the boy wonder". And then Frank Miller gave us Carrie Kelly, this spunky (hey, remember that word?) young girl who pushed and pushed until she was accepted. And she was fearless. Or she seemed fearless, until that scene on the roller coaster.Good little soldier, Carrie Kelly. She was a Robin for the end of the world as we knew it. I was bummed when she ended up as Cat-Girl in the sequel. For a few reasons: one, Bruce's relationship with her bordered on romantic, and setting her up as an heir to Catwoman just reinforced that. Two, I really really really really hate hero names with genders in the title. Thanks a lot, Nietzsche. Three, because of two... it took a lot from the character. She'd gone and turned the original boy wonder into a role that didn't need a boy, thus freeing it from the requirements of having a specific (male, of course) gender. Stephanie Brown should thank her (and I should read more of her run as Robin, and I will be upset for similar reasons if Steph is the new Bat-Girl).
Of course, as Cat-Girl she was also brutally attacked by the original Robin and mangled for life. As the non-gendered Robin she was strangled, shot at, et cetera, but as Cat-Girl, her physical features were literally shredded.
And for me it's common sense that that is Some Very Bad Symbolism Right There, but I don't think it is for everyone else.
Which is probably why the female characters in comics still have a long way to go.
* This idea of having a "first" anything only really came to me when I got into Doctor Who fandom. In DW we have long and drawn out conversations about our first Doctor, our favorite Doctor, our first companion(s) and our favorite companion(s), and said conversations usually involve a lot of geeky talk about the minutia of episodes, the context of the era they were broadcast in, and some good old fashioned fisticuffs. Okay, no fisticuffs, I made that up.
Saturday, July 4, 2009
Guys love lesbians. Well. Most lesbians. Well. Femmes.
So I started to to follow When Fangirls Attack, which is a great aggregator of, well. Women-in-comics links. And I've been reading through the various Detective Comics/Batwoman related things, and maaaaan is everyone in love with her/the book.
Except by "everyone" I mean "all the guys who are writing reviews." There are women that write reviews of comics, right? Somewhere? In the week and a half since the book came out, most of the reviews I've read have been by males. And the few negative or neutral reviews I've read have been the ones by women, or by people whose gender isn't evident based on name. (Which leads me to my first caveat: I'm absolutely admitting to assuming gender - and making alliteration! - based on posting name.)
One of the most obvious indications of the maleness of the reviews is that they all love love love Kate but the reaction to Renee is middling. Femmes get all the straight, male love, yo. And a lot of the focus is on the art, really.
There's something that doesn't sit right with me when a review by a man starts out with "I'm in love." This isn't to say the rest of the review isn't valid, or that people don't have a right to continue the objectification of women (well...), especially in the very visual medium of comics where the practice has been rampant for years, but how many reviews of Dick Grayson throwing on the Batman outfit start with "I'm in love."? There's this cloud that hangs over the head of a lot of lesbians with an interest in pop culture, and that cloud is: two ladies macking on each other is twice as hot as one lady just standing there!
I don't like that cloud. It takes away from my sunny joy of finally finally having a lesbian leading a major comic line at a major comic company. We're one issue in and I already need an umbrella (and a new metaphor). And these guys aren't getting it from nowhere. They're getting it from pointy-nippled costumes and cracks about Batwoman's hair, and her essentially using her (unattainable to the male) sexuality to soothe a bad guy in the first few pages of the issue.
Danger Will Robinson.
Can you imagine The Question going up to some guy, cooing at him in a soft voice with her lips (erm... no-lips) inches from his, running a hand through his hair, and talking coyly? No, exactly. How about Batman? And the sad part is, I'm not sure if I can see Wonder Woman doing it, or Black Canary or any number of other female superheroes. That means that the "femme" lesbian is getting hypersexualized while in her superhero persona. On purpose.
Why?
As one of the few female superheroes with a costume that actually covers her entire body, and with sensible shoes, to boot, why does the sexuality have to be turned up a notch or ten?
I'm interested/scared to see her interactions with the child-like Alice. Male homosexuality is often associated (wrongly) with pedophelia. So let's see where this goes. I'm interested/scared to see this supposed trauma in her past. If it's rape at the hands of some military guys either related to her dad, or while she herself was in the military prior to getting ousted for DADA stuff, I may have to walk away from the title. Lesbianism is often associated (wrongly) with rape survivors. That kind of overdone storyline may be a deal breaker for me. (Okay, I'd still get it for the Question co-feature, but... you know!)
So, yeah, let's see where it goes. I continue to have faith in Greg Rucka, because I think he's awesome and I like his sensibilities (I've been reading his livejournal and started following him @twitter). But the reviews I've been reading have got me worried, because this is the audience that's being catered to: straight and male. Let's be honest. Even if they're aware that LGBTQ people and females or other gendered people are reading their comics, and even if they're trying to get an inclusive message out to the majority group, they still want to sell comics. So that's not who they're aiming for, because minorities are, well. Minorities and therefore aren't spending at the same level, and comics are still a business and businesses need money to survive.
Maybe I just want a Question feature and a Batwoman co-feature and I'm bitter that it's the other way around. Heh. 'Cause seriously, I don't love Kate Kane. I like her, and I'm interested in her, and I like what she means, but I don't love her. Not yet. But Renee Montoya... well.
I guess she's more my type.*
*Irony intentional.
Except by "everyone" I mean "all the guys who are writing reviews." There are women that write reviews of comics, right? Somewhere? In the week and a half since the book came out, most of the reviews I've read have been by males. And the few negative or neutral reviews I've read have been the ones by women, or by people whose gender isn't evident based on name. (Which leads me to my first caveat: I'm absolutely admitting to assuming gender - and making alliteration! - based on posting name.)
One of the most obvious indications of the maleness of the reviews is that they all love love love Kate but the reaction to Renee is middling. Femmes get all the straight, male love, yo. And a lot of the focus is on the art, really.
There's something that doesn't sit right with me when a review by a man starts out with "I'm in love." This isn't to say the rest of the review isn't valid, or that people don't have a right to continue the objectification of women (well...), especially in the very visual medium of comics where the practice has been rampant for years, but how many reviews of Dick Grayson throwing on the Batman outfit start with "I'm in love."? There's this cloud that hangs over the head of a lot of lesbians with an interest in pop culture, and that cloud is: two ladies macking on each other is twice as hot as one lady just standing there!
I don't like that cloud. It takes away from my sunny joy of finally finally having a lesbian leading a major comic line at a major comic company. We're one issue in and I already need an umbrella (and a new metaphor). And these guys aren't getting it from nowhere. They're getting it from pointy-nippled costumes and cracks about Batwoman's hair, and her essentially using her (unattainable to the male) sexuality to soothe a bad guy in the first few pages of the issue.
Danger Will Robinson.
Can you imagine The Question going up to some guy, cooing at him in a soft voice with her lips (erm... no-lips) inches from his, running a hand through his hair, and talking coyly? No, exactly. How about Batman? And the sad part is, I'm not sure if I can see Wonder Woman doing it, or Black Canary or any number of other female superheroes. That means that the "femme" lesbian is getting hypersexualized while in her superhero persona. On purpose.
Why?
As one of the few female superheroes with a costume that actually covers her entire body, and with sensible shoes, to boot, why does the sexuality have to be turned up a notch or ten?
I'm interested/scared to see her interactions with the child-like Alice. Male homosexuality is often associated (wrongly) with pedophelia. So let's see where this goes. I'm interested/scared to see this supposed trauma in her past. If it's rape at the hands of some military guys either related to her dad, or while she herself was in the military prior to getting ousted for DADA stuff, I may have to walk away from the title. Lesbianism is often associated (wrongly) with rape survivors. That kind of overdone storyline may be a deal breaker for me. (Okay, I'd still get it for the Question co-feature, but... you know!)
So, yeah, let's see where it goes. I continue to have faith in Greg Rucka, because I think he's awesome and I like his sensibilities (I've been reading his livejournal and started following him @twitter). But the reviews I've been reading have got me worried, because this is the audience that's being catered to: straight and male. Let's be honest. Even if they're aware that LGBTQ people and females or other gendered people are reading their comics, and even if they're trying to get an inclusive message out to the majority group, they still want to sell comics. So that's not who they're aiming for, because minorities are, well. Minorities and therefore aren't spending at the same level, and comics are still a business and businesses need money to survive.
Maybe I just want a Question feature and a Batwoman co-feature and I'm bitter that it's the other way around. Heh. 'Cause seriously, I don't love Kate Kane. I like her, and I'm interested in her, and I like what she means, but I don't love her. Not yet. But Renee Montoya... well.
I guess she's more my type.*
*Irony intentional.
Thursday, July 2, 2009
In time for July 4th...
I give up on Technorati. I'll just hope word of mouth and various links get me page reads. Because I need attention.
Speaking of attention, I did not buy Captain America Reborn. I think that maybe I'm the only person on the planet that isn't excited that Steve Rogers is back. I've waxed on (and off, Miyagi-san!) about how I'd really like to see comics moving forward, and that the continual resurrection of golden age heroes is not moving forward, so I won't go into it again.
I think that my dislike of this storyline (which I know nothing about other than it exists) is twofold: one, I like Bucky and his story of redemption, and how he's a Formerly Very Bad Person trying to live up to this epic legacy. This isn't Dick taking over as Batman, because that's what Dick has been working towards every moment of his life (even before meeting Bruce, as Alfred pointed out in Batman and Robin #2 this week). Dick is a good guy, no question about it, no matter what gray area things he may or may not have done in the past. Bucky wasn't a good guy. And, granted, he was brainwashed, but it's not like he doesn't remember the things he's done. They were very bad things.
Second: the idea of Captain America never really worked for me until Civil War (the arc, not the war), which I admittedly only vaguely followed. But there's no symbolism in post-Vietnam/Nixon/Pentagon era of a man wearing the stars and stripes... or to put it in terms more relevant to my generation, the post-Lewinskygate/Schiavo/Patriot Act era. And then I started to realize that he stood for all the things I believe in (some of which are considered very very unamerican these days). Particularly personal freedom being more important than the illusory idea of safety, and the notion that the government (and superheroes) exist to protect everyone from everyone - including the government (and superheroes), especially minorities that get kicked around by majorities.
Even though I started to appreciate this more modern Steve Rogers, he was still surrounded by this aura of perfection. I'll be totally honest, again, and say I haven't read a ton of Captain America stuff, but just the way I see other characters talk about him gives me this feeling. I don't like war, any war, and I think that America did some awfully bad things during all of the wars it's been involved in. I don't think having some Storm Saxon (okay, yes, Steve Rogers predates V for Vendetta, but still) look-a-alike wearing the American Flag is really going to do it for me.
I want Captain America to be conflicted over wearing the uniform. And Bucky is. And his conflict over the terrible things
he did is a good allegory for the terrible things America has done. That's the kind of Captain America I want.
The Cap I want to read about uses guns, because it's a bad ass world out there. The Cap I want to read about doesn't think he deserves the job. The Cap I want to read about is high-tech, but that high-tech came from another country. The Cap I want to read about thinks that the world isn't perfect, and that the people he's there for may not need him... and he feels despair but balances that with his love of a flawed country.
My Captain America speaks fluent Russian, because this is 2009 and our enemies aren't Nazis and Reds and Charlie. They're everyone, everywhere. Anyone who can sit at a computer and hack into a system, anyone who can hop on a plane and fly it into a building, anyone who can put together a bomb in his shed and take out a city block. They're even us. And Bucky knows that.
So I'm not psyched Steve Rogers is reborn. He's not my Captain America, because I don't think I live in that kind of America. Maybe I wish I did. I understand having a symbol of that hope. Maybe I'm just too cynical for a blonde-haired, blue-eyed Captain America to stand proud with his square jaw and make everything okay again. Because everything is not okay.
Speaking of attention, I did not buy Captain America Reborn. I think that maybe I'm the only person on the planet that isn't excited that Steve Rogers is back. I've waxed on (and off, Miyagi-san!) about how I'd really like to see comics moving forward, and that the continual resurrection of golden age heroes is not moving forward, so I won't go into it again.
I think that my dislike of this storyline (which I know nothing about other than it exists) is twofold: one, I like Bucky and his story of redemption, and how he's a Formerly Very Bad Person trying to live up to this epic legacy. This isn't Dick taking over as Batman, because that's what Dick has been working towards every moment of his life (even before meeting Bruce, as Alfred pointed out in Batman and Robin #2 this week). Dick is a good guy, no question about it, no matter what gray area things he may or may not have done in the past. Bucky wasn't a good guy. And, granted, he was brainwashed, but it's not like he doesn't remember the things he's done. They were very bad things.
Second: the idea of Captain America never really worked for me until Civil War (the arc, not the war), which I admittedly only vaguely followed. But there's no symbolism in post-Vietnam/Nixon/Pentagon era of a man wearing the stars and stripes... or to put it in terms more relevant to my generation, the post-Lewinskygate/Schiavo/Patriot Act era. And then I started to realize that he stood for all the things I believe in (some of which are considered very very unamerican these days). Particularly personal freedom being more important than the illusory idea of safety, and the notion that the government (and superheroes) exist to protect everyone from everyone - including the government (and superheroes), especially minorities that get kicked around by majorities.
Even though I started to appreciate this more modern Steve Rogers, he was still surrounded by this aura of perfection. I'll be totally honest, again, and say I haven't read a ton of Captain America stuff, but just the way I see other characters talk about him gives me this feeling. I don't like war, any war, and I think that America did some awfully bad things during all of the wars it's been involved in. I don't think having some Storm Saxon (okay, yes, Steve Rogers predates V for Vendetta, but still) look-a-alike wearing the American Flag is really going to do it for me.
I want Captain America to be conflicted over wearing the uniform. And Bucky is. And his conflict over the terrible things
he did is a good allegory for the terrible things America has done. That's the kind of Captain America I want.The Cap I want to read about uses guns, because it's a bad ass world out there. The Cap I want to read about doesn't think he deserves the job. The Cap I want to read about is high-tech, but that high-tech came from another country. The Cap I want to read about thinks that the world isn't perfect, and that the people he's there for may not need him... and he feels despair but balances that with his love of a flawed country.
My Captain America speaks fluent Russian, because this is 2009 and our enemies aren't Nazis and Reds and Charlie. They're everyone, everywhere. Anyone who can sit at a computer and hack into a system, anyone who can hop on a plane and fly it into a building, anyone who can put together a bomb in his shed and take out a city block. They're even us. And Bucky knows that.
So I'm not psyched Steve Rogers is reborn. He's not my Captain America, because I don't think I live in that kind of America. Maybe I wish I did. I understand having a symbol of that hope. Maybe I'm just too cynical for a blonde-haired, blue-eyed Captain America to stand proud with his square jaw and make everything okay again. Because everything is not okay.
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