Teabagging Captain America: The Trouble Continues Beyond that one Spider-Man Guy

[espanolbot]

FOX news in all their Bond villainish* fashion, have gotten a hold of the story, and since their manipulation of their audience depends on them putting up their front and exaggerating how their pet political movement is doing, they naturally set upon Brubaker, a writer with more talent and wit than their entire shoddy organisation put together.

Yeah, if you're really the "Most Trusted News Team in America", why did you cut away from Obama's speech at the COP conference because he was contradicting what your message was when all the other networks stuck with it all the way through.
http://robot6.comicbookresources.com/2010/02/quesada-responds-as-captain-americas-tea-party-controversy-gains-steam/

Nextwave for legality,



Heh, it's funny because Sarah Palin, SAVIOUR OF AMERICA!!!, didn't know that Africa wasn't a country either. Well, that and the several dozen things about her, like her writing notes on her hand during speeches like she was Homer Simpson or something.

*Specifically Elliot Carver, the villain of Tomorrow Never Dies
title: captain america
creator: ed brubaker
creator: warren ellis
title: nextwave

Comments

[mugiwara]

I'm so sick and tired of people offended for this or for that. Writers should be able to express their political or religious views in comics and if people don't want to have their feelings hurted by that, they should just read Tiny Titans or The Incredibles.
Willingham or Nicieza's political opinions bother me, but that doesn't stop me from reading their comics and I don't whine when they do french bashing (but I'm not over whining about Nicieza turning Jolt into a Living Lightning Girl and traping her in Counter Earth)

[zemo]

Word. Sometimes it feels like some people just WANT to feel insulted. I mean, who in their right mind could feel threatened by a comic book? Alan Moore has probably the most critical acclaim in the comic book world, but even he can't sway political opinion of his readers. >_>

That left aside: How dare Brubaker make Zemo a simpleton villain again? *huffspuffs*

[kagome654]

I don't really have a problem with writers expressing their political or religious views through their work if it's something like Fables that is basically the brainchild of that particular writer. If I don't like the views being expressed then I can just avoid it. However if it's a longstanding character like Captain America or Spider-man who is being used as a mouthpiece to express certain views (particularly if those views go against that character's pre established values) that's a little more problematic. They're borrowing the characters, and hopefully they recognize that the character (and the fans, I think) deserve a little more than a clumsy storyline all about 'This Writer's views on the War on Terror and the Home to Puppy Deficit: Starring Captain America.'

Using iconic characters to soapbox can work, but that doesn't mean it's a wise thing to do. It can be done right, but seldom by anyone as heavy handed as Willingham (or his left leaning counterpart, Winick).

Also, criticizing a work and/or saying you found it offensive is not the same as saying the writer should NOT be able to express their views. If I roll my eyes at Willingham and calling him a lame writer am I REALLY trying to silence him?

And French bashing is lame. Only the Simpsons can get away with it.

I just woke up like ten minutes ago, apologies in advance for typos and general incoherence

[kenn_el]

Being offended by the portrayal of the exercise of Free Speech and Freedom of Assembly as 'evil' in a comic doesn't seem to me thin-skinned whatsoever.

[bj_l]

What are Niceiza's political views? I'm curious now.

[kainnived.livejournal.com]

People disagree, this good thing. Being able to disagree without punishment is suposed to be something about America that makes it great. Thing is these days everyone acts as if someone disagreeing with them is attacking them, their way of life, whatever.

Both sides are mischaracterizing the other one, neither is being fair, but then again they don't have to be.

People are going to disagree with each other, venomently. Just the way it is, nothing in existance everyone agrees on. As said above you can't claim someone is trying to impeed your freedom of speech by trying to silence their speech. It's a two way street.

Doesn't mean we shouldn't argue, doesn't mean that people on either side can't get mad, but can we please just accept everyone has a right to spout their own brand of idiocy, be it Fox News, comicbook writers, protestors or whoever.

[bradhanon]

To clarify, is it your contention that the slogan presented in the comic is a mischaracterization of the tea party protestors?



Because it isn't. It's a quote.

[halialkers]

Ya know, it does get problematic when Captain America is a 21st Century social liberal when he's a *man revived fresh out of the 1940s.* A 21st Century social liberal who accepts such basic things as letting blacks vote equally, let alone all the other changes for the better we've made would not be the kind of person selected for even the experiments to be a patriotic symbol. I'm just sayin'.

[jlbarnett]

Cap was selected because he was a scrawny guy who'd never even be drafted but was still desperate to serve. As a person he was always ahead of his time, for everyone.

He was also not meant to be a patriotic symbol. When he was selected to be Cap the plan was to make every American soldier a super soldier, IF the experiment worked.

This is the kind of logic that the UU used to make him a jerkass despite the fact that he was created in the 40's by people of the time and then rewritten in the 60's by guys who'd actually been a part of WW2.

As for his politics he's an FDR Democrat, which is probably more liberal than a lot of Democrats these days.

[kenn_el]

Equal voting rights is accepted by all, and hardly limited to 'social liberals' .

[crabby_lioness]

A 1940s New Deal Democrat was a very socially liberal person, in some ways more so than today's Democrats.

[iondan]

Colour me stupid here but Europe has a flag? Or are the stars from her country's flag?

[mechanicaljewel]

The ring of stars is the symbol of the European Union. The € is the symbol of the euro.

[parusmajor]

Mechanicaljewel is right. Also, not all European countries are part of the EU, so the flag doesn't symbolize the whole continent. And most people identify more with their own country's flag anyway. The EU flag is used a lot in official circles, but for most citizens of EU, it doesn't have much emotional meaning or significance (except for some resentment to the likes of "the EU are bureucrats who are meddling with my country's local affairs").
But anyway, the thing in the comic scans is a composite image of EU flag (blue with yellow stars) + euro symbol.

Totally non-political comment. Ignore if you want.

[jelly_ace]

The only tea party I'll ever join is the one organized by Alfred.

And yay! Nextwave! See, that's how you discuss foreign relations and politics in comic books: by not discussing it.

Re: Totally non-political comment. Ignore if you want.

[sarno001]

I'll go with you! It sounds a lot less intimidating than some of these s_d threads lately... *hides*

[jarodrussell]

Heh, it's funny because Sarah Palin, SAVIOUR OF AMERICA!!!, didn't know that Africa wasn't a country either.

It's not a country? Next you'll tell me neither is Europe.

[espanolbot]

Well she did say that she knew about foreign relations because "from parts of Alaska you can see Russia."

[cleome45]

I think was would bother me most about this comic is the likely message that, naturally, you can't possibly take public issue with the U.S. Government unless you're a racist Right winger.

Which is a blatant lie, and stinks.

But very in character for U.S. liberals. What's the old joke about, "We show the entire spectrum of debate from 'A' through 'F.'"

Some things never change. >:

[espanolbot]

Oh, I know that there were left wing people who disagreed with the US government, during Bush's reign there were tons.

But when the left wing people protested Fox called them whiny losers, but when these guys protest, with poorly written signs protesting the "Pubic Option" amongst other things, they're all Great Patriots and True Americans.

[mullon]

Man, fights over sexual intolerance, fights over polictical opinion, what happened to the community this week? Why does everyone want to pick a fight?

[espanolbot]

I am no arguementative! *sulks*

[jlbarnett]

it is pushing out the comics, isn't it?

Okay, raise your hands, who here lives on the east coast of the US? Maybe everybody's going crazy stuck in the house.

[ian_karkull]

Oh gosh, talk about a storm in a tea cup.

[espanolbot]

*Ba-dum-tish*

[stubbleupdate]

As a Limey, can somebody explain what a Tea-bagger is. I know that there's no great political force behind the soggy backpack, and it's got something to do with taxes, but after that I'm confused

Since you asked:

[halialkers]

Tea-Bagger is a term applied to a Far Right movement called the Tea Party, and the term came from a sign that said "Tea Bag the Liberals before they Tea Bag you." It originated in Ron Paul's 2008 election campaign, though now he's too liberal for the movement in one of those amusing instances of political change. The movement is basically three wings: a theocratic movement that feels that the USA should be turned into a modern-day version of Calvin's Geneva on a bigger scale, a racist movement who can't stomach a black President, and a bunch of rich anarcho-capitalists with no sense of social responsibility and a very skewed sense of human decency.