Captain America: Dark Knight?
Dec. 21st, 2009 10:55 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lamashtar posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
scans_dailyOn this world holiday of the Longest Night, I present the time Captain America wore...okay, not BLACK, but dark blue.
Also, he trips over his cape. About 12 scans under the cut.
The time of darkness is not long before the American President Nixon resigned in Real Life, August 9, 1974. The Secret Empire tries to take over America, attacking the White House itself. They made the mistake of using mutants, so the X-men got involved and they got trounced. Captain America had been set up to be disgraced by the Secret Empire, only to be exonerated by the media flurry (strangely, the X-men were still menaces, despite standing right next to Cap). In the confusion, the head of the Secret Empire awakened and fled into the Oval Office.
(1 page from Captain America and the Falcon 175. Written by Steve Englehart, drawn by Sal Buscema, inked by Vince Colleta. Published July 1974. Not sure which volume.)
Cap doesn't reveal what happened inside. Its immediately hushed up by the government. The leader is not named, but the implication is that President Nixon was the head of the Secret Empire (But I like to think the Nixon that resigned was a robot or a clone). I believe this was later retconned to the chief of staff.
Cap enters his own, and Real Life America's, long dark night of the soul. He decides he no longer has faith in the image Captain America represents, and that therefore he must cease to bear the shield.
His friends try to dissuade him, but he can only think of the evil, within him and all around him. (Originally, I scanned this for the passing mention of Cap killing people.)
(3 scans from Captain America and the Falcon 176. Same creative team.)
He is no longer sure which part of America his name stands for.
Their arguments fail. He abandons his identity. There's mourning and bitterness in the media. Several eager types try their hand at wielding a shield. Steve tries to learn how to have a personal life, til Hawkeye convinces him that while Steve can't be America's symbol any longer, he can always be a new superhero.
(5 scans from Captain America and the Falcon 180. Regular creative is joined by Frank Giacoia on inks.)
He always wanted a cape!
Nice cleavage.
Like a Dark Knight!
By an incredible coincidence, he comes upon some old foes engaged in villainy. He moves to stop them..
Steve's whole attitude in the Nomad experiment is impatience. He doesn't want to train to get used to fighting with a cape, he doesn't want to have to start building trust as a new vigilante, he wants everything, right now!
Meanwhile, Falcon has been nursemaiding one of the Captain America wannabe's, who gets killed by the Red Skull. Overcome by the obvious Evil, Steve has a revelation. Possibly, he remembered his old oath of enlistment:
"I, _____, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic...
(3 scans from Captain America and the Falcon 183. Written by Steve Englehart, drawn by Frank Robbins, inked by Joe Sinnot and Frank Giacoia.)
(Insert Sally Floyd joke here.)
(When I googled to remember that character's name, I found it interesting to note that her creator, Paul Jenkins, has been the writer of many of the recent retro Captain America one-shots.)
I think he puts on the dead guys Cap outfit, which seems wierd, but, oh well..
Also, he trips over his cape. About 12 scans under the cut.
The time of darkness is not long before the American President Nixon resigned in Real Life, August 9, 1974. The Secret Empire tries to take over America, attacking the White House itself. They made the mistake of using mutants, so the X-men got involved and they got trounced. Captain America had been set up to be disgraced by the Secret Empire, only to be exonerated by the media flurry (strangely, the X-men were still menaces, despite standing right next to Cap). In the confusion, the head of the Secret Empire awakened and fled into the Oval Office.
(1 page from Captain America and the Falcon 175. Written by Steve Englehart, drawn by Sal Buscema, inked by Vince Colleta. Published July 1974. Not sure which volume.)
Cap doesn't reveal what happened inside. Its immediately hushed up by the government. The leader is not named, but the implication is that President Nixon was the head of the Secret Empire (But I like to think the Nixon that resigned was a robot or a clone). I believe this was later retconned to the chief of staff.
Cap enters his own, and Real Life America's, long dark night of the soul. He decides he no longer has faith in the image Captain America represents, and that therefore he must cease to bear the shield.
His friends try to dissuade him, but he can only think of the evil, within him and all around him. (Originally, I scanned this for the passing mention of Cap killing people.)
(3 scans from Captain America and the Falcon 176. Same creative team.)
He is no longer sure which part of America his name stands for.
Their arguments fail. He abandons his identity. There's mourning and bitterness in the media. Several eager types try their hand at wielding a shield. Steve tries to learn how to have a personal life, til Hawkeye convinces him that while Steve can't be America's symbol any longer, he can always be a new superhero.
(5 scans from Captain America and the Falcon 180. Regular creative is joined by Frank Giacoia on inks.)
He always wanted a cape!
Nice cleavage.
Like a Dark Knight!
By an incredible coincidence, he comes upon some old foes engaged in villainy. He moves to stop them..
Steve's whole attitude in the Nomad experiment is impatience. He doesn't want to train to get used to fighting with a cape, he doesn't want to have to start building trust as a new vigilante, he wants everything, right now!
Meanwhile, Falcon has been nursemaiding one of the Captain America wannabe's, who gets killed by the Red Skull. Overcome by the obvious Evil, Steve has a revelation. Possibly, he remembered his old oath of enlistment:
"I, _____, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic...
(3 scans from Captain America and the Falcon 183. Written by Steve Englehart, drawn by Frank Robbins, inked by Joe Sinnot and Frank Giacoia.)
(Insert Sally Floyd joke here.)
(When I googled to remember that character's name, I found it interesting to note that her creator, Paul Jenkins, has been the writer of many of the recent retro Captain America one-shots.)
I think he puts on the dead guys Cap outfit, which seems wierd, but, oh well..
no subject
Date: 2009-12-23 02:26 pm (UTC)