Post with 4 notes
What his country needs
In WWII, America needed someone who could rally the troops, someone who could walk up to Hitler and punch him in the face.
In the fifties, America was pretty sure it needed someone who could beat up some of those damn reds. 
They were, of course, wrong and this whole era was retconned later to show this wasn’t Captain America as we all knew him, it was a dude who loved Captain America and got his hands on some not-quite super soldier serum and got himself some surgery to look and sound exactly like Steve Rogers. Even got, as you can see above, himself a little Bucky to help him smash some Commies (as a note, I don’t think there’s a less intimidating picture to tell Commies you’re going to smash them than the one above). Eventually, the not-quite serum drove the guy (more) crazy and he eventually returned as a villain.
Back on topic, in the 60s and 70s, the Avengers needed a stabilizer to the roster and a true, natural leader. Steve was unfrozen and invited to the team. He’s often seen as one of the founding Avengers though he technically didn’t show up until issue four and has been one of the more constant faces of the group. When Marvel decided they needed to use those main guys (Thor and Iron Man) to sell their own books again, Cap became the real leader (previously they had elected a leader week-to-week, essentially just to lead the meetings) and wound up with a team of unproven heroes: Hawkeye, Quicksilver, and Scarlet Witch most notably. The people liked the idea behind the Avengers but this roster shake-up was a little worrying as everyone just mentioned had started off a villain (including the eventual addition of the Vision, though I suppose the general population didn’t know he started off a villain. They just didn’t trust him because he was one of them robots and had a freaky voice). So Cap stayed on as a leader to the group because who is going to doubt the team in which Captain America puts his faith?
In Civil War, Cap saw an interesting development unfold. Part of the country agreed with his beliefs and that no one should be forced to sign with the government and he represented those people fully. However, a seemingly large majority of people sided with Iron Man’s pro-registration forces and he eventually gave up the fight only when realizing he was going against what the people wanted.
After Steve’s resurrection, there is a new Captain America in town. Unlike the fifties Cap, this one was decidedly not Steve Rogers. His former partner Bucky Barnes was brought back from the dead by writer Ed Brubaker (one of the best decisions in the past decade in comics) and opened the door for a darker, grittier Cap, one with a more tortured past and conflicted opinions. Bucky is still a good guy and makes the same choices Cap makes and, frankly, is probably the best suited to be Captain America (he only takes on the mantle when Tony Stark says that regardless of if Bucky chooses to be Cap, there WILL be a new Cap. Unable to stomach the idea of anyone else being Captain America, he reluctantly takes on the shield). Steve comes back and declines Bucky’s offer to give back the name. Steve feels Bucky needs it more than he does and seems to look forward to not having the pressures of being Captain America on him (as I talked about here).
Of course, things are bound to change and Norman Osborn’s siege on Asgard demands a leader for the troops going to fight for Asgard. Steve is, naturally, the best choice and he dons the costume again to lead the battle, much to the delight of the American people and even the president, who has ordered (unsuccessfully) Osborn to step down.
(In a fun side-note for people who weren’t reading both Marvel miniseries “Captain America Reborn” and “Siege,” Steve appeared alive and well and in his Cap suit in the “Siege” miniseries before he was actually brought back to life in the “Reborn” miniseries thanks to a delay in the “Reborn” series. Way to ruin any suspense there might have been, Marvel. Though, I suppose, titling the miniseries “Captain America Reborn” probably did that all on its own)
After Osborn is deposed from his job of top cop, the president calls on Steve to take the helm. Steve is, as ever, reluctant to take on the responsibility but he understands that it’s what the people need and what his president is asking of him and so he steps up and does what he has to do.
(possible spoilers for anyone who wants to be reading Fear Itself or the current Captain America series but is not, for some strange reason) Now we’ve finally reached a point where Bucky has stood trial for his crimes as the Winter Soldier (long story) and, though America cleared him, the president feels he can no longer serve as the American icon he has been and so asks Steve to consider picking the shield up again or finding someone else who can. In Fear Itself 3, Matt Fraction killed Bucky off again (one of the worst decisions in the past decade of comics) and Steve is forced back into the Captain America role. We haven’t gotten very far since that happened (it was only a couple weeks ago) so we’ll see what happens after this with Cap but all signs point to him resuming his Captain America duties on a full-time basis.
Steve Rogers, as my last two posts (linked above and here) pointed out at great length, does everything out of a sense of duty and responsibility but without compromising his morals and usually accurate sense of right and wrong. His uncanny ability to do this while still nearly unwaveringly obeying the will of the people as a whole and putting aside his own personal life (something he used to fret more about but has seemingly made his peace with more recently) is nothing short of heroic in itself, let alone the scale of things he’s asked to do. It’s important to note here that this is not Thor. He is not blessed with the power of a god. He’s not Wolverine and practically unkillable. He’s not Iron Man in a nearly invincible suit of armor. He’s not Spider-Man with unique powers and skills. He is a man who, thanks to the serum and his own almost relentless training regimen, can perform at peak physical conditions and has learned to throw a shield really well. He can be killed, he can be maimed, he can be shattered, and he largely is fighting out of his weight class in these world power struggles. So much so, in fact, that the old Avengers comics made a point of saying every damn issue that he was the weakest of the bunch, hardly more than an average man. Yet he comes out every day and does everything that’s needed of him to protect and help the people of his country and, as often as he can, of the world at large. He will always put aside his own needs and desires to aid the people he protects, even if he’s only a few steps ahead of them.
-
jason2new liked this
-
emchelle liked this
-
timodactyl posted this
