The Death of the Hero: Why We Need Captain America to Punch Hitler Again
The Death of the Hero: Why We Need Captain America to Punch Hitler Again
In 1941, Captain America’s first comic showed him punching out Adolf Hitler. It wasn’t a metaphor, an exploration of the complexities of international relations, or a statement: evil exists, and sometimes, you have to face it. Imagine that cover being pitched today. “But have we considered Hitler’...
Joan is making some good points, and I'd also like to go another step and say that superheros are alienated from the masses like you and me; we also need Jimmy Olsen to punch out nazis, with Superman cheering Jimmy on.
I really think you are on to something.
No superhero is coming to save us. We need to step up.
But Jimmy should step up first.
Captain America is become Hitler. That’s what needs fixing first.
How's about we re-run "Superman Smashes the Klan" first ?
Captain America use to stand for the American public. Now comics are subconsciously saying you have to be special or powerful to fight injustice. Show me a "no power" superhero like Batman or Ironman that isn't rich, yet makes a difference.
Captain America use to stand for the American public.
Did he? It seems like he was always an emblem of military propaganda. More Americans used to be enlisted in the military, on account of the high demand for conscripts during Korea and Vietnam. But I wouldn't consider a whitewashed super-soldier to be a good representative of the civilian public.
Show me a “no power” superhero like Batman or Ironman that isn’t rich
Green Arrow and The Punisher leap to mind. If you go further back, you've got comic book heroes like Dick Tracey and TinTin. Go through The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and you've got Allen Quartermane, Captain Nemo, A. J. Raffles, and Ishmael. And nobody in GI Joe had magic powers. Plenty of golden age heroes were just... detectives or kungfu masters or adventurers of some sort.
daredevil is disabled
Yes, but his heightened senses borderline on superpowers
He's also usually considered to be a street-level hero, he's mopping up the gangster and ordinary (by comics standards anyway, around hells kitchen, but usually doesn't go too far beyond that (varying by writer, storyline, etc. of course, nothing is absolutely so in comics)
His villains, overall, tend to be relatively run of the mill gangsters, assassins, etc. just dialed up to 11 because that's what sells comics. Kingpin isn't really out to take over the world, he's just out to run a criminal empire. The hand is mostly similar with some magic thrown in. They're not the biggest existential threats to earth or the marvel universe as a whole, daredevil is mostly just dealing with whatever crimes are threatening his part of New York.
Arguably, he does just as much good with a wider impact as a lawyer given the types of clients and cases he takes on.
Thanks for reminder that Comics are propaganda disguised as children's entertainment since that time.
Well done, champ.
We need Captain America to punch America.
Or better yet, since he dont exist, end the capeshit imperial propaganda.