Captain America #25
© N/A
300 and Captain America: Your Mail
By: Kurt AmackerDate: Wednesday, March 21, 2007
Happy Wednesday, Maniacs, and welcome to another sequential art escape, courtesy of Comicscape. Last week’s column about the death of Captain America and the successful release of 300 at the movies garnered a respectable amount of mail – enough to finally run a letters column, at least. Before we dive in: the release of Captain America #25 generated no small amount of controversy, not only for its content, but for the unscrupulous actions of both Wizard Universe and a number of brick-and-mortar shops. Rich Johnston, who writes for Comic Book Resources, pointed out that Wizard – the magazine – obviously required advanced notice of Captain America’s demise for their current issue. They had to prepare memorial articles and a host of related content to insure the issue’s timeliness. That all seems perfectly reasonable. But, curiously enough, the day Captain America #25 shipped, Wizard Universe stood ready with a ton of copies graded by the Comics Grading Company and more E-Bay auctions than any speculator could follow. After Johnston ran his column, Wizard suddenly ended their E-Bay auctions of the issue, its variant, and the latest issue of Wizard. Several reports have also hit the net describing retailers that immediately marked up Captain America #25 right out of the box. I can’t succinctly react to that without resorting to an unprintable string of obscenities. Between Wizard’s massive profiteering, price gouging at the local level, and the preview art that suggest Frank Castle, the Punisher, might assume Captain America’s mantle, I can’t help but feel a cold wind that smells like the 1990s.
This should go without saying, but please, don’t buy from retailers that mark up a book that’s just hit the shelf. That sort of relentless price gouging almost killed the industry in the mid-1990s. Few comics really justify extravagant sums of money. They eventually fall in price or see a trade paperback release. I assure you, when you look back on your life one day, you won’t regret having waited six months for the price of Captain America #25 to fall. Retailers that mark up new comics like that might experience a great day, but once the media hype dies down, they’ll only be remembered for screwing their customers. I can’t say that Wizard really surprises me in this regard, though – the entire company is a sad reminder of the speculator boom and one of the lowest, crassest periods in the medium’s history. Thankfully, both Matt Fraction and Ed Brubaker – writers of The Punisher: War Journal and Captain America, respectively – seem more than capable of creating a worthwhile story amid the controversy and mainstream press attention. Needless to say, they have my attention. I’ve printed your letters below with my responses.
Merin writes, “Again, my views on Civil War and Marvel's direction in general have been stated. I am not, personally, a fan of anti-heroes and killers being worshipped, hence me not being a Punisher nor a Wolverine fan. I don't even enjoy any Dirty Harry movies.”
You don’t like Dirty Harry? I don’t know if I can continue your letter. Oh hell, let’s just get on with it.
That aside, Brubaker's writing shines in issue #25. The parallels to the Kennedy assassination really struck home to me. Despite me hating the obvious marketing ploy that is Steve Roger's death, the comic itself was (so much as a superhero comic book can get IMO) a literary masterpiece.
There’s a blog post somewhere that details all of the other times Captain America has died in print. Of course, he returned every time. But, most of those near-deaths lacked the mainstream media coverage we’ve seen lately.
Overall, however, I find myself having to agree with most of what you've said on the matter, Kurt – about Marvel's direction, them cornering themselves into having to take this step, and how it feels wrong even if necessary or logical. It was almost all worth it, though, for seeing Stephen Colbert get Cap's shield. That was priceless.
That was pretty funny.
On to 300: I loved the film. It easily exceeded my expectations. Ancient history is a passion of mine, and I devour shows and books and lectures on Greece and Mesopotamia, ancient battles, and origins of religions.
You’re trying to get me killed, aren’t you?
“Movies like Troy, Gladiator, and 300 really draw me in at the get go. Now, unlike Troy and Gladiator (which I did both enjoy), 300 is based on an actual historical event, one documented and pretty much accepted as fact, as opposed to being based on epic legends or a general feel for a time period. And, outside of the fantastical elements added (deformities, "monsters", inappropriate beasts of war for the area) the movie stays remarkably true to the historical accounts.
“To argue that there is no character development, that the characters are flat, that you don't get to intimately know any of the soldiers, save the king, I respond simply that none of that is important to this film. The acting was amazing for the major roles, I deny anyone who tries to say it was awful, and as such the characters should not feel flat. There is a purity (I am liberally borrowing this concept from other reviewers who have said as much) to what the film is depicting and focusing on, and that purity is what makes the film work.
You can always argue from design. Meaning, you can support a film for fulfilling its own intentions – it is what it is, without a doubt, and you can always argue that it’s meant to be that way, regardless of quality. I like 300 well enough, but I think both the comic and the film could’ve been better.
“Any digression from the focal point of plot…would have merely diluted the importance and impact of that event. The film was not about the lives of Spartans, or Greeks, around the time of the Battle of Thermopylae. That's a different story, a different film, and it may be a good one, but that should not be used as the measuring rubric for a film that is about the sacrifice that took place at one battle.
Steven Pressfield’s novel Gates of Fire spent ample time explaining Spartan military training and civic life, with little detriment to the story.
“As for historical accuracy, I keep having to tell people that the film is a fictionalized, action-packed version that stays true to the core facts…I see a lot of "armchair historians" out there criticizing this film for inaccuracies. My favorites are those who try to say it is as inaccurate, or worse, than films like Braveheart. Braveheart is horrifically inaccurate as any examination of the recorded facts about Robert the Bruce and the time period involved would show. The comparison to Excalibur and Robin Hood, however, is even worse. Neither King Arthur nor Robin Hood are remotely historical characters – any true historical person their myths may be based upon are so remotely removed from the legends surrounding said characters that it makes the whole argument for them being ‘based on real people’ pointless.”
That was probably a bad comparison on my part. But, the historicity of both Robin and Arthur is still debated, though I doubt anyone would argue for a literal reading of any of the fiction and folktales surrounding them.
“The Battle of Thermopylae happened, and Leonidas existed. 300 Spartans plus several hundred other Greeks died heroically, knowing they were sacrificing themselves instead of fleeing when betrayed, against hundreds of thousands of troops and did, in effect, save Greek culture from being absorbed and assimilated into Persian culture.
“I am glad to see you dismiss the attempts to make this film about modern events. It has exasperated me to see people with their own personal agendas, whether they be racial equality, political correctness, or defending one's ancient heritage, try to make out the film to be an attempt to portray ‘white’ or ‘West’ as better than ‘colored’ or ‘East.’ It is a historical battle. It helped shape the world. It happened. This isn't trying to retell it in a different way to make some personal political point of the creators (whether Herodotus engaged in such machinations is another story, true.) But as you point out, pulling upon your military experiences, this film shows the camaraderie of soldiers and the Spartan obsession with militaristic and physical might issues. So much focus by others on the physiques displayed by the Spartans in the film, or the gore and glorification of violence or war, simply are missing the point that this is what it was like –
more or less – well, without the goat man and the gigantic war elephants and rhinos.”
There’s no need to beat up on the goat man. He has enough problems as it is. Thanks for writing.
Francis writes, “Thank you for that great review. I started to feel like I was the only one who had issues with this movie. I actually didn't like it as much as you did. I did, though, like the visual style of the movie just like I did with Sin City. My issues are the dialogue and the ‘manliness’ of the shots.
You mentioned towards the end how you felt pumped and wanted to get out there, when I watched this on Saturday with my girlfriend I saw what you were saying but was annoyed by it. It didn't come across very well.”
Just roll with it. I had a fantastic workout after seeing the movie.
“I leaned over to her and said that the movie was a 12-year-old-boy’s wet dream of war. I think you'll know what I mean by this. When you're that age and see action movies like Robocop, you pretend to walk like him and in your head you think you are him. I may have an active imagination, but I remember doing this with television, movies, comics, etc. When I saw the slow-motion shots with the king fighting everyone without breaking a sweet I thought about this. Also, when he's on the cliff using his shield to block the rain. The voice-over actually says how he didn't move and was focused. I know this was to show his character and strength, I just felt like it was something that connected more to a young guy than someone who's 29.”
300 was filmed in such a dramatically stylized manner that I can’t see it as some kind of throwback to 1980s action movies. I also don’t think 12-year-olds think of dying in a blaze of glory at the end of this hypothetical war. That would mean no more video games and Internet porn.
“As for dialogue, Miller's work is great on paper, not as spoken word. I had this same issue with Sin City: loved the look, hated the dialogue. While I haven't read 300 yet, I have read all of Sin City before watching the movie. The text works great because you can use your own imagination as to how it's spoken. To actually hear someone saying those lines with seriousness was laughable.”
I wouldn’t call it laughable, though it certainly took some getting used to.
“When you take writing classes (script writing, at least), they tell you to read out loud your dialogue to see how it flows. What looks great on paper doesn't always sound great. This is what I feel no one is doing with Miller's works. It's great that these directors take the book, hand it over to the DP, actor, etc and say just follow this, but I now feel that a literal interpretation of books really isn't the way to go. Like Alan Moore said in your interview, it's a different medium, why do you want it to be the same? (Okay, I paraphrased.)”
Most comic books aren’t known for their understated dialogue, I’m afraid. I think that an absolutely literal representation of the text will make fans happy, but it might mean alienating other viewers. It really depends on the work. In the case of 300, the dialogue didn’t particularly bother me. The hyper-stylized visuals lent an air of unreality to it that made room for somewhat overblown dialogue. Thanks for writing.
Dahn Lee writes, “As an avid comic reader and fan of Captain America for almost 40 years, I suppose I should feel some sense of loss at his ‘passing.’ In truth, all I feel is annoyance towards the editorial forces that have been guiding Marvel Comics for the past few years. This group has fully embraced ‘the big event’ method of storytelling that aspires to little more than creating buzz and pissing people off – sort of the literary equivalent to knocking down mailboxes with a baseball bat.”
In professional wrestling, they call this “hotshotting.” It occurs when a story takes an overblown and almost out-of-left-field turn just to create buzz and short-term hype. I’d like to give Ed Brubaker more credit than that, but it seems like Mavel is on a mission to restructure their main universe quickly. Between converting most of the mutants to creating the Superhuman Registration Act, it seems as if the publisher wants to turn the universe on its ear without considering the long-term consequences. Here’s the thing: Marvel seems to follow a cycle of drastic change followed by a celebrated return to the status quo. Heroes Reborn and Age of Apocalypse come to mind. I can’t help but wonder how long we have until another crossover event resets everything.
“Joe Quesada, Marvel’s Editor in Chief, has often summed up his creative vision with the statement ‘If it sells, it must be good’ (I’m sure the publishers of The National Enquirer would applaud this view).”
I have my own issues with Quesada, but I can’t recall ever reading those words – or anything similar – attributed to him. If anyone can find him saying that or something like it in print, I’d love to see it. Quesada has always emphasized the importance of good storytelling. In fact, one could argue that he spearheaded the industry’s widespread recognition of writers as an integral part of good comic storytelling. In the 1990s, everything was about artists and character marquee value.
“Regrettably, Marvel has discovered that sales go up for issues where a) characters die and b) characters come back to life. This explains why approximately half the characters in the Marvel Universe have died and come back to life at least once in the past three years. It was inevitable that Captain America would also fall victim to this hack mentality. By the same token, his ‘resurrection’ is just as predictable. In fact, given the reported sales of Captain America #25, I wouldn’t be surprised if Steve Rogers were to die and come back to life five or six more times before the end of the decade – hey, if it sells, it must be good, right?”
The death and resurrection cycle annoys me to no end. I don’t have a problem with a character returning to life, per se, but to practically guarantee it just patronizes fans. Thanks for writing.
That’s it for this week, guys. Thanks to everyone that wrote, and remember – only you can prevent speculator booms.
Spinner Rack
By Ben Johnson and Kurt Amacker
Ben: This week we are treated to the end of ION (thank God), and X-Men #197, the countdown towards #200, and another summer event begins here.
Kurt: I like to burn things.
DARK HORSE COMICS
Banya Explosive Delivery Man VOL 3 TP $12.95
Kurt: Wouldn’t that suck? “Hey, my pizza’s here! How much do I owe you?” BLAM!
Berserk VOL 11 TP (MR) $13.95
Berserk VOL 12 TP (MR) $13.95
Berserk VOL 13 TP (MR) $13.95
Berserk VOL 14 TP (MR) $13.95
Blade of The Immortal VOL 13 Mirror of The Soul TP (MR) $17.95
Conan #38 (MR) $2.99
Criminal Macabre Two Red Eyes #4 (of 4) $2.99
Ben: Beats two brown eyes any day.
Kurt: I really don’t want to know what you’ve been getting up to after hours.
Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service VOL 3 TP $10.95
Ben: Between Banya (top of the list) and this guy I’ve decided never to take a delivery from Dark Horse.
Kurt: Do you want to hear something kind of funny? After Hurricane Katrina, I got a box from Dark Horse with a bunch of donated shirts. I never found out who was behind that.
Satsuma Gishiden VOL 3 TP $14.95
DC COMICS
52 Week #46 $2.50
Ben: Black Adam is ready to kill everyone. First stop on the list: Assholes Uzbekistan.
Aquaman Sword of Atlantis #50 (Note Price) $3.99
Ben: Tad Williams takes over this week. I still won’t ever buy this book, but Tad Williams takes over this week.
Army @ Love #1 (MR) $2.99
Batman Confidential #4 $2.99
Ben: With Detective Comics being on issue #830 I find it hard to believe there are any more early career stories to be told.
Kurt: Bruce Wayne must be 230 years old. He’d have to be to make room for all of these stories.
Birds of Prey #104 $2.99
Brave and the Bold #2 $2.99
Checkmate #12 $2.99
Deadman #8 (MR) $2.99
Deadman VOL 1 Deadman Walking TP (MR) $9.99
Deathblow #4 $2.99
Deathblow VAR ED #4 $2.99
Ben: Are there seriously enough people buying this book to make this worthwhile?
Detective Comics #830 $2.99
Ben: Last time this comic was released I wrote how much I liked Paul Dini, and then found some other guy was writing it. Now it sucks, and it sucks with a plot that was old before I was born. That’s a double suck.
Kurt: Ordinarily, I wouldn’t argue against such an experience, but in this case, you’re probably right.
DMZ VOL 1 On The Ground TP (MR) $9.99
Exterminators #15 (MR) $2.99
Flash Fastest Man Alive TP $12.99
Flash Fastest Man Alive #10 $2.99
From Eroica With Love VOL 1 $9,95
Gals VOL 5 $9.99
Kurt: I think I saw this behind the counter of the gas station next to Swank.
Hellblazer #230 (MR) $2.99
ION #12 (of 12) $2.99
Justice Society of America #4 $2.99
Ben: The best team book going.
Justice Society of America VAR ED #4 $2.99
Kurt: And now, you can buy it twice.
Land of The Blindfolded VOL 2 $9.95
Land of The Blindfolded VOL 4 $9.99
Ben: That is a lot of issues devoted to people walking around with their arms out and banging their shins on coffee tables.
Kurt: What a great opportunity to accidentally hit people you don’t like.
Monster Collection VOL 1 (MR) $9.99
Kurt: Manga title about a girl that can control monsters.
Omega Men #6 (of 6) $2.99
Red Menace #5 (of 6) $2.99
Robin Wanted TP $12.99
Ben: But he ended up having to use tissue.
Kurt: Thank God he didn’t have to resort to those brown paper towels you sometimes find.
Scooby Doo #118 $2.25
Seimaden VOL 8 $9.99
Shadowpact #11 $2.99
Shadowpact The Pentacle Plot TP $14.99
Showcase Presents Hawkman VOL 1 TP $16.99
Spirit #4 $2.99
Ben: That one old guy who came up with the Spirit would be proud.
Kurt: I hope you’re kidding about not remembering Will Eisner’s name.
Supergirl #15 $2.99
Ben: I think the issue of not enough women reading this book could be fixed if it was worth reading at all.
Testament #16 (MR) $2.99
Texas Chainsaw Massacre #5 (MR) $2.99
Tower of The Future VOL 6 $9.99
Y The Last Man (MR) #55 $2.99
IMAGE COMICS
Art of Darkness $14.99
Blood Nation #2 (of 4) $2.99
Kurt: Has anyone read this yet? It sounds kind of cool. Vampires reconstitute the Soviet Union.
Elephantment #8 $2.99
Godland #17 $2.99
Ben: It took this book for me to finally get why so many love Kirby.
Hero By Night #1 (of 4) $2.99
Noble Causes #28 $3.50
Pirates of Coney Island #6 (of 8) $2.99
Strongarm #2 $2.99
Ben: One of the benefits, but it doesn’t begin to make up for hairy palms and blindness.
Kurt: If that were the case, most of the fan boy nation would be a bunch of one-armed body builders.
Texas Strangers #1 $2.99
MARVEL COMICS
Amazing Spider-Man #539 $2.99
Ben: Spider-Man is really angry and wears his black costume. I don’t really see the point.
Marvel: I know what you’re thinking but this isn’t a movie tie-in. After the events in this story arc nothing will ever be the same. Oh, and this isn’t a movie tie-in.
Anita Blake VH Guilty Pleasures #5 (of 12) $2.99
Cable Deadpool #38 $2.99
Civil War Battle Damage Report $3.99
Kurt: Are there any completists out there? Marvel’s got a book for you.
Daily Bugle April Newspaper (Bundle of 50) PI
Exiles #92 $2.99
Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man VOL 2 Mystery Date TP $13.99
John Romita Jr. 30th Anniversary Special $3.99
Magician Apprentice #6 (of 12) $2.99
Most Totally Rad and Awesome Real Solicitation of The Week: The Riftwar has begun! Pug and Tomas travel with a party sent to Elvandar to consult the elven queen about the invading Tsurani. But their path is fraught with peril, and they'll have other problems along the way, like raiding parties from the moredhel, better known as the Brotherhood of the Dark Path.
Marvel Adventures Avengers #11 $2.99
Marvel Adventures Flip Magazine #23 $4.99
Marvel Heroes Flip Magazine #23 $4.99
Ms. Marvel #13 $2.99
Orson Scott Cards Wyrms #2 (of 6) $2.99
Punisher Presents Barracuda Max #2 (of 5) (MR) $3.99
Runaways Saga $3.99
Kurt: Get caught up before Joss Whedon takes over.
Spider-Man Birth of Venom TP $29.99
Ben: Damn, I already used my toilet paper joke for the week.
Kurt: You know, I really don’t like to think about Venom and toilet time together.
Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane #16 $2.99
Ben: I’m just going to assume this one has been done.
Spider-Man The Other Black Costume TP $24.99
Kurt: The other black costume? You mean the one besides the evil symbiote one?
Ultimate Power #4 (of 9) $2.99
Ultimate Spider-Man VOL 2 Learning Curve TP $12.99
Wisdom #4 (of 6) (MR) $3.99
Wonder Man #4 (of 5) $2.99
X-23 Target X #4 (of 6) $2.99
Ben: I really thought this would suck, but X-23 is well done. Now it’s time to over expose this character and hand her over to some hack writers.
Kurt: I’ve been pulling for X-23 since the last series. I realize it’s kind of gimmicky, but it’s a good read.
X-Factor #17 $2.99
X-Men #197 $2.99
X-Men First Class #7 (of 8) $2.99
Kurt: The mutants never fly coach. I’m out of here.
Questions? Comments? Let us know what you think at comicscape@mania.com.
The battle of Thermopylae may be true and well documented, but Miller's story is anything but well documented on the event or society of the time. By his own account in an interview he gave at Space channel (Canada), Miller said he did not really bother with historical fact, but that it was rather greatly based on and inspired by 1962 Maté's movie "The 300 Spartians", a movie that has inspired all his creative life.