Sam Wilson, Captain America #1

[history79]

"When Ed [Brubaker] was doing the book it obviously had that classic Steranko vibe. It was very much a spy-noir story in a lot of aspects. Then when you look at Rick's run you can see the hat tip to Kirby especially. So I wanted to kind of reconnect with some of the Steve Englehart of it and some of the Mark Gruenwald era, which was very important to me, because that’s the Cap I grew up with."

- Nick Spencer

Comments

See this is one of those things that I don't get about superhero comics trying to be topical

[chortles81]

Was Marvel so scared of depicting militias that they had to resort to Sons of the Serpent in hopes of being so obviously ludicrous that they wouldn't get Fox News going to a volunteer patroller for a rebuttal?

It's like that one Punisher: War Journal comic that resorted to a Hate Ray... though Stuart Clarke's belief that it was only an amplifier had some ugly implications for Frank Castle and the latter knew it.

Re: See this is one of those things that I don't get about superhero comics trying to be topical

[laughing_tree]

Maybe that's part of it, but I think it's more that supervillains are just more exciting than seeing superheroes punch ordinary people.

Re: See this is one of those things that I don't get about superhero comics trying to be topical

[chortles81]

Whereas I'm thinking that Marvel didn't want readers seeing themselves in the 'ordinary people' getting punched by the superhero and being the villain of the story...

Re: See this is one of those things that I don't get about superhero comics trying to be topical

[lilacsigil]

Slightly comic-ised versions is not something I mind, really - I would much rather fictional countries like Latveria or Qurac or Wakanda than sending superheroes to interfere with real places, and fictional disasters rather than villains helping out after 9/11, and that trickles down to smaller groups, too. The Sons of the Serpent are a militia group, so it makes sense to have them here.

Re: See this is one of those things that I don't get about superhero comics trying to be topical

[chortles81]

I fully confess that by militia I had in mind "doesn't dress like serpents", but I'm willing to believe that our definitions of 'slightly comic-ised' vary; what I had more in mind was Last Days of Punisher, or even DC's depiction of the Kentville protest (minus the shadow monster thing and the one cop in powered armor)... hence my serious question if NOT dressing the Sons of the Serpent like real guys was mandated to avoid libel accusations.

Re: See this is one of those things that I don't get about superhero comics trying to be topical

[lilacsigil]

I'm not American, so I don't know if "semi-legal militia" means people likely to sue or people likely to not care about comics!

Re: See this is one of those things that I don't get about superhero comics trying to be topical

[coldfury]

I dunno man, taking modern topics and dressing them in super hero/super villain allegories is kind of what Marvel does man.

That's like buying a book at a bookstore and complaining about it not being as convenient as an e-book. Sure, you're not wrong, but you knew what you were getting into, you know?

I blame Last Days of Punisher

[chortles81]

For affecting what level of verisimilitude with the real world I was expecting here (plus, as someone here noted, dressing Punisher like "a regular soldier" highlighting "the unfortunate politics inherent to the character"), although I'll add that I think that Mighty Avengers handled the verisimilitude-vs.-it's-a-superhero-comic thing closer to what I was expecting.

[norj]

Given the Sons of the Serpent's history I suspect the person funding them to be the wealthy child of Mexican immigrants.

[skjam]

Or to be an illegal immigrant from Madripoor.

[starwolf_oakley]

Also, his last name is probably Fox or Thompkins.

...Because in DEFENDERS #25, the person funding them was named J.C. Pennyworth of Richmond Enterprises and... forget it.

[skemono]

Yeah, I read the original Avengers series recently, and man, those early Sons of the Serpent stories had some weird ideas about race relations and hate groups in the US.

[punisher007]

Given that one of the most infamous domestic terrorist organizations is made up of people that parade around in all-white robes with pointy hats because it apparently scares people (and makes them look like ghosts in the night or something), I'm not seeing the Sons of the Serpents THAT much more ridiculous.

It's not the look, it's the ideology that makes them scary (and just how far they're willing to go in pursuit of said ideology).

[sagrada]

Wait a minute...nominally politically aloof white primary character, partisan black stand-in...former hailed as best thing ever, for relatively little reason, latter mostly just "there" until the former steps down...clash with cartoonishly bigoted(though in both cases embarrassingly close to reality) white people...military stuff+distrust of higher authority...

Good God...Sam Wilson is secretly John Stewart!

Edit: Stop carrying the shield on your arm in flight, Sam! You still look REALLY silly!

[draganoche]

Two highlights of this issue were Redwing approval ratings still being at 97% and them leaving out what issues Sam was going to talk about so that people could just insert their own views.

An additional highlight for me

[chortles81]

I'm glad that the idea of The Hotline didn't die with Mighty Avengers/Captain America and the Mighty Avengers.

[locuatico]

"I Liked Man of Steel"

[astrakhan42]

Also, Redwing has a sonic cannon. (Doesn't your bird have one?)

[starwolf_oakley]

them leaving out what issues Sam was going to talk about so that people could just insert their own views.

A few reviews of the issue mentioned that we never heard what Sam said, and why people would react so harshly. Like calling him "Captain Socialist."

Still, the like has happened before. When Steve resigned in Mark Gruenwald's run, we weren't sure exactly what the government wanted him to do that he disagreed with. He was probably just worried the government might, at some point, want him to do something he disagreed with without being too specific.

[arilou_skiff]

Marvel has too many snake-themed supervillain groups. Seriously. I can never keep them apart.

[raspberryrain]

Yes, I was wondering why the Serpent Society were suddenly playing "patriot." Oops!

I like these pages, though, and I am very glad to see Captain America not working for SHIELD.

[daningram.insanejournal.com]

There are like, two! The Sons of the Serpent, and the Serpent Society.

Not exactly like the X teams, lol

[silverzeo]

They could have use a Falcon Punch joke....