Meaningless Awards of the Week- 10/1/08
Publisher of the Week- DC Comics
Did at the Big Two not realize that September only has thirty days, so this wasn’t a fifth week? DC only published three non-weekly comics that I bought this week. Marvel published…zero. Wow. I can’t remember the last time I went a week without buying a Marvel issue.
Book of the Week- Captain America #42
Okay, so I did buy a Marvel comic this week, but that’s only because Trade-a-Tape didn’t get their full shipment last week. That shouldn’t count.
Cap #42 was not only a great issue in and of itself, but it was a great cap to the “Death of Captain America” mega-arc. In fact, it was a great cap to the entire Ed Brubaker run on Captain America. Thankfully, this doesn’t mean Brubaker’s run is over.
Everything came to a head this issue. Red Skull’s plan to take over the government from the inside was thwarted by Bucky. Sharon Carter finally escapes from and “kills” the Red Skull. Crazy Cap throws off his programming and “kills” Armin Zola.
But the thing that really struck me as I was reading this issue was a realization I had about Bucky: he isn’t just filling in for Captain America any more, he is Captain America. Yes, in all likelihood, Steve Rogers will eventually be back in the star-spangled tights. But it doesn’t feel like that day is going to come anytime soon. And you know what? I don’t want it to come anytime soon.
It’s amazing that Brubaker has been able to kill off a hero that most consider one of the greatest of all time and make me not only not hate his successor, but actually make me root for him. I’m excited to see where Brubaker takes Bucky as Captain America, and how Bucky will do things differently than Steve would have. And I’m especially excited to see the Red Skull storyline go on hiatus and have the new Cap deal with some other opponents for awhile.
Most Political- DC Universe: Decisions #2
In case you’ve ever wondered how your favorite DC heroes would vote, DCU: Decisions is here to shed a little light on the subject:
Democrats: Green Arrow, Dr. Light, Beast Boy, Thunder, Firestorm and Bruce Wayne
Republicans: Guy Gardner, Hal Jordan, Vixen, Power Girl, Wildcat, Plastic Man and Hawkman
Some of those make a lot of sense given the history of the characters. Queen has always been portrayed as a liberal, and Bruce Wayne has always been about helping the unfortunate. Guy Gardner’s always been about looking out for his own behind above others (at least in non-GLC related matters).
But some of those seem like really arbitrary designations. For Instance, I would have imagined Vixen and Power Girl would be Democrats. But I’m not sure if I’m basing that on the actual experiences of these characters, or if I’m just projecting my own political ideals onto them. These are the good guys after all, and in the political world that almost always means you’re a Democrat (at least in this blogger’s humble opinion).
I guess there’s a reason comics tend to stay away from sticky subjects like politics. Just like Larry David couldn’t sleep with a woman once he found out she was a Republican, I find myself thinking less of characters like Hal Jordan, Vixen and Power Girl now that DC has established their political affiliation.
Hal: military man; Ferris depends on government defense contracts.
Vixen: at first glance, would seem to be environmentalist / animal rights supporter, but remember she used to exploit animals to get powers.
Power Girl: super heroine with a giant window to her breasts; kind of reminds me of someone flirting and winking their way through a debate while pretending to advance women’s status in society.
Who do you think Captain America would vote for?
I wasn’t particularly surprised to hear Hal was a Republican, but I was disappointed nonetheless.
I don’t think Bucky would vote, quite frankly. He doesn’t seem to be terribly trusting of anyone, and wouldn’t readily lend his support to someone he doesn’t know. Steve would have voted Democrat, though.
Bucky would be like “While I respect and fight for the right to vote, I’ve been frozen for a few decades and working for evil Russians the rest of the time. I haven’t had a chance to study the issues, so I’m going to sit this one out and instead participate in voter registration drives and protect candidates from getting assassinated.”
If you wanted to make a shallow caricature of Hal Jordan, you’d just present him as some arrogant jock who doesn’t think about things on a deeper level. It’s all “Bad guy — ATTACK!” “Woman — TREAT AS SEX OBJECT!!” So yeah, for some stupid, pointless political comic books, I’m sure they think “We need to make some of these people conservatives” and Hal works.
Is Power Girl even eligible to vote? Frankly, I’m sick and tired of these Kryptonian immigrants taking all the good superhero jobs from Americans. One would think that Power Girl of all people would appreciate the more pragmatic approach to immigration traditionally taken by the libruls.