Hey folks, Harry here...
I get a little pissed off when people denigrate CAPTAIN AMERICA. Of course, I am a 5th Generation Eagle Scout - that was born and raised in a Comic Book & Movie Collectibles business. CAPTAIN AMERICA is the soul of the Marvel Universe. He's the constant reminder of the ideals of what the United States of America used to mean.
He came from an era, where our moral compass was solid. When there was true evil in the world and Captain America gave a generation that saw their fathers, uncles and older brothers go into battle against a technologically superior force, at least at the beginning. Cap was there in the pages, the spirit of the fight, he was Uncle Sam with fists to bash in the supernatural and super science perils that the Axis threw at us. He was fiction, but fiction that espoused a belief in the red, white and blue.
The world has changed, mostly America has changed. Our moral compass isn't what it used to be. Today we fight amongst ourselves... Cap stands as a reminder that divided we fall. Something that has been entirely forgotten in our warring two party system.
Some cynical types consider Captain America "goofy" - thinking of him as a blind patriotic tool, but he isn't. Captain America is the fighting spirit of the United States. He roots out evil, both foreign and domestic, and he fights to preserve and inspire the union in which he so believes. At least for me.
I certainly understand the current abuse of our American symbols, where we have people that wrap themselves in the American flag - without even the slightest understanding of what it means.
Today, PARAMOUNT / MARVEL has released the teaser poster for THE FIRST AVENGER: CAPTAIN AMERICA... and it is a somber piece. Mud and dirt exploding behind him. His shield with the paint war scarred. His helmet off and his head in mourning - and I find myself wondering what atrocity, Captain America is about to avenge, as the words state. Will we see BUCKY die in this film? I do not know, nor do I want to. I do know we're going to see the RED SKULL do some pretty bad damage - and we certainly know what the Nazis are capable of. We know how much blood was spilt in WWII, so there's a lot for the fighting spirit of America to pound into the dirt.
In my living room at my house, hanging for the last year and a half is my original CAPTAIN AMERICA serial one sheet from 1944. Right now - I ran my computer down to the dining hall where there's about 8 WWII veterans, and I showed them the CAPTAIN AMERICA poster and it made them smile. I'd talked to George (my 93 year old roommate) about Cap - and he told me that every service man in the Navy, which was where he served, loved CAPTAIN AMERICA. His outrageous antics were discussed in bunks and each soldier kind of felt a little bit like Cap.
Maybe spending two and a half weeks geeking with these old timers has made me a bit more sentimental, but I doubt it. I love CAPTAIN AMERICA, just as I love the era from whence he sprouted. He was a national hero... a man, too sick to serve, but through super science became the pinnacle of physical perfection.
I for one, can not wait.
