Captain America: Hydra The Whole Time?

[LizzieMaine]

The more I read about this, the more it seems likely to me that they'll end up resolving/handwaving it as a "manipulated timeline" type of situation -- some villian has reached back and changed the past, and it will have to be undone in some massive crossover story that will unfold over a year or so. SOP for the comics business these days, I'd think. But Marvel's got way too much tied up in the Captain as an asset these days with the movies and merchandising and all to have him ever go bad permanently. What's done will be undone.

As an aside, it's interesting to see what terrible fashion sense Mr. Skull is displaying in that panel posted above. Really? A poop-green sweatsuit with a swastika drawn on it in black marker? Clearly the budget for supervillian attire wasn't what it is nowadays.

 

[AmateisGal]

The more I read about this, the more it seems likely to me that they'll end up resolving/handwaving it as a "manipulated timeline" type of situation -- some villian has reached back and changed the past, and it will have to be undone in some massive crossover story that will unfold over a year or so. SOP for the comics business these days, I'd think. But Marvel's got way too much tied up in the Captain as an asset these days with the movies and merchandising and all to have him ever go bad permanently. What's done will be undone.

As an aside, it's interesting to see what terrible fashion sense Mr. Skull is displaying in that panel posted above. Really? A poop-green sweatsuit with a swastika drawn on it in black marker? Clearly the budget for supervillian attire wasn't what it is nowadays.

I am thinking the same thing - that they have way too much invested in Cap to make him a permanent villain.

It is interesting, though, when you look at Nick Spencer, the writer. He used to be a politician and he makes no excuses for how he feels about a certain side of the political spectrum. Some think this is spilling over into his writing. Which, really, is what Jack Kirby was doing in the first place - making a political statement with Cap since the US wasn't yet involved in WW2 when the first issue came out.

 

[LizzieMaine]

There was a lot of pro-interventionism in the comics around that time. There was a superhero called "The Shield" who came out a few months before Captain America who battled German agents who were openly identified as such at a time when most media hid behind the subterfuge of calling them "agents of a foreign power" or some such, and did so under the direct command of J. Edgar Hoover in person, who also was portrayed by name in full-face views.

The Shield derived his powers from a chemical formula not unlike the "super soldier serum," and he carried a shield essentially identical to the badge-shaped one Captain America carried -- Cap's shield was changed to a round one because of complaints from The Shield's publisher.

DC comics had its own flag-based superheroes who came out in the months just before Pearl Harbor, the best remembered being the "Star Spangled Kid and Stripesy" and the "Americommando" -- the latter of whom was retroactively revealed in the 1990s to have been a Nazi agent with a brain transplanted from a futuristic hyperintelligent giant white gorilla. And people say there's no room for realistic relevance in the funnybooks.

 

[Tiki Tom]

No, no, no! It can't be true!
I loved the boyish, wholesome, geeky, heart-of-gold innocence of the kid who would become Captain America in the first movie.
There is no way that that boy-next-door kid could have been bad all along.
I suspect a triple cross is in the works that will eventually land our hero on the right side of mom and apple pie again.
here's hoping.

 

[AmateisGal]

No, no, no! It can't be true!
I loved the boyish, wholesome, geeky, heart-of-gold innocence of the kid who would become Captain America in the first movie.
There is no way that that boy-next-door kid could have been bad all along.
I suspect a triple cross is in the works that will eventually land our hero on the right side of mom and apple pie again.
here's hoping.

I am hopeful that will happen. But boy, by following Nick Spencer (the writer of this new storyline) on Twitter, I find that hope diminishing...

 

[William G.]

Didn't they kill Captain America about ten years ago? I remember seeing it on the news, much like this storyline.

 

[Edward]

As the Bard himself almost said, "It's only a story...."

 

[Formeruser012523]

Needlesstosay, it's surprising to read all of this. Discovered Cap through the movies & have loved the character ever since. I don't know how true to the comics the movies/tv series stay, but I figure they take their own path. Not only is the writing top notch, but the characterization amazing.

How is this decision anything other than a gimmick? Poor kiddies. smh

 

[AmateisGal]

Needlesstosay, it's surprising to read all of this. Discovered Cap through the movies & have loved the character ever since. I don't know how true to the comics the movies/tv series stay, but I figure they take their own path. Not only is the writing top notch, but the characterization amazing.

How is this decision anything other than a gimmick? Poor kiddies. smh

The writer has said repeatedly that it's not a gimmick, but I really don't see any other way of looking at it. The first printing of the comic sold out - so they've achieved their goal: sales.

 

[MisterCairo]

The first printing of the comic sold out - so they've achieved their goal: sales.

Cash in pocket = gimmick. They can wordsmith their rationale all they want, the bottom line is always the same.

 

[AmateisGal]

Cash in pocket = gimmick. They can wordsmith their rationale all they want, the bottom line is always the same.

Agreed.