Nerd Mode Engaged: Marvel Comics Rant Initiated

Steve Rogers is a Nazi.  Oh, spoiler alert.   Take two...

So if asked the question "Are you now and have you ever been," it seems Steven "Captain America" Rogers must answer positive to both ends of that question.   Marvel comics just outed one of its flagship characters and icon of all that America stands for as a Nazi agent working for H.Y.D.R.A. (which I will explain in a moment for those who have not seen Winter Soldier, which is one of the few Disney Marvel movies I love) and not only is he NOW working for H.Y.D.R.A. (which I will just call "Nazis" from this point on because it is annoying to type their name), but he has ALWAYS worked for the Nazis dating back not only to his time during WW2, but it appears since birth.  He is, was, and the editors say "will be" an agent for the Nazis, but only the readers know this.  The Marvel editors recently even said:

This is not a clone, not an imposter, not mind control, not someone else acting through Steve.  This is really Steve Rogers, Captain America himself.

EW.com

Now, H.Y.D.R.A. (last time I am typing that fucking word!) was born from the death of the Nazis and was basically their "Plan B."  They infiltrated the American and Soviet governments via the Cold War's need for scientists and nasty weapons.   They then used their cover to keep America on the brink of war for decades while allowing acts of terrorism and minor wars to keep the people scared and willing to turn over more and more freedom in the name of security.   It was by this less aggressive means that the Nazis would eventually win WW2 and take over the world.

For the entire history of the comic book (Captain America pre-dates Marvel comics), Captain America has been all that stood between the Nazis and their end game.  To have him suddenly outed as a Nazi agent since day one would be akin to finding out James Bond has always been a double agent for S.P.E.C.T.R.E.   This only works if you ignore EVERY SINGLE STORY THAT HAS EVER BEEN TOLD ABOUT THIS CHARACTER SINCE THE DAY THEY WERE CREATED!    

And I'm not even going to get into the fact that this America Icon now deemed a Nazi was created by two Jewish writers because that has nothing to do with the narrative, but it is a slap in the face.

Back to the Nerd Mode:  I am going to use my favorite all time Marvel event to explain exactly why Captain America being a bad guy makes ZERO SENSE: the first Civil War.

In the comics, the break in the Marvel universe happened because a young group of heroes had a reality TV show and went after bad guys above their pay-grade in the name of ratings.   Needless to say, they were defeated, but one of the bad guys used his massive power and the fight ended with over 600 dead, including many children as the fight took place near a school.    The public outcry was quick and the government's response even quicker: All masked heroes must register with S.H.I.E.L.D and become government agents.    Iron Man agreed and became the main force behind getting heroes to register, while Captain America felt such an action violated freedom and put innocent people at risk.   He feared leaks, spies, or Nazi infiltration (which turned out to be the case in a later Marvel event), and he lead the resistance.   Both sides recruited whomever they could get; be it hero of villain, and the fight got nasty.    It ended with Captain America sacrificing himself and turning himself in, not because he was wrong, but in the name of restoring order and hoping for a more peaceful solution.

So...to recap: the Nazis were backed by the government and were gathering a database of every single good guy's secret identity and details of their families and it was Nazi Captain America who lead the fight AGAINST it?  Would it not have made more sense to the story if Iron Man was revealed to be a secret Nazi?

Here's my case for Iron Man being the H.Y.D.R.A. agent.  (I can't escape typing that damned word):

1. His father was a founding member of S.H.I.E.L.D and could have easily gotten his choice of former Nazis through clearance and into ranking positions within the organization.
2. His father had access to incredible advances in technology.  Having him secretly be a Nazi would explain the Stark Industries dominance in the world.
3. Captain America and Iron Man have rarely seen eye-to-eye and have often fought.
4. Tony Stark's personal life can almost be seen as a mockery of America culture and could be used by the organization whose name I am too lazy to type to foster unrest such as Occupy Wall Street.
5. The imagery of the Iron Man with the Iron Fist works far better to the oppression of that organization than Captain America with his Star-Spangled Shield.
6. The public would accept it better although the press would have been worse.

I fear the writers at Marvel are going for a specific reference rather than a general idea.  I fear they are commenting on this election cycle and that is not the place for comics IMHO.  

Comics are America Mythology.  Comics are us and these heroes represent our ideals just as the villains represent our fears.   They are nothing more, but nothing less than Roman and Greek Mythology and equally as important.    They tell tales of morality and conflicts of ideals that are timeless and eternal.   Within them are the lessons we teach our kids when they outgrow Mother Goose and Brother Grimm but are not yet ready for Grisham or Ludlum. 

I fear that Marvel is forgetting the deep importance of the comic medium in the name of scoring some fleeting points and sacrificing the greater story for a point in history that won't be as important in the grand scheme as the characters whose ideal and values they have now corrupted forever.    

You can't undo it.   Issue #1 is out, sold, and now part of Marvel History.   Captain America is now and always has been a Nazi.   The editors of Marvel just pissed on a rich history and perverted our mythology in the name of a few headlines.  

Not to mention the collective memories and fantasies and daydreams of how many thousands of children over the last 50 plus years?

Nice job!

Can't Happen Here Until It Does

Godwin’s Law (also argumentum ad Nazium, reductio ad Hitlerum,^[2] or a Hitler Card) was formulated by the attorney Mike Godwin (former general counsel for the Wikimedia Foundation) in the 1990s and states:

“”As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches 1.

Godwin's Law

At the risk of breaking Godwin's law, I would like to talk about this election because it is not totally unprecedented in this world; it is in America, but if one studies history, one can clearly see where these two ideological concepts have confronted one another before and yes I am speaking indirectly about Trump vs Clinton.    It was in the 40's of the last century that we last saw this fight and we now can see that we all lost regardless of who won.   And yes, I am talking about Hitler vs Stalin.   Today, we have this exact same dynamic fighting for control of the world, defined by Left vs Right as if that has any meaning.

America today sees a Nationalistic bigoted hate-filled demagogue seeking power using the demonetization of a Semitic people and immigrants on the right fighting with a fan of the cold war, a fan of centralized power, a fan of unquestioning loyalty, a fan of revenge, and a fan of endless conflict in the name of showing strength and is clearly willing to inflict endless casualties in the name of attaining their goals.   It truly is Hitler vs Stalin and we can't win.   And, to make matters worse, each side is so terrified of the other that they are willing to overlook and excuse their own devil in the name of stopping the other.   They will win the fight and we will lose the war.   Add in another cliche because things work better in three's.

The best line of the Star Wars saga comes from the worst movie, but it is still a great line and applies directly to this year's election:

  
It is not too late for the only real hope America has.  Don't let America fall to Stalin or Hitler.   Our ancestors fought too hard and died too horribly to allow that to happen here.

Session Three

So I am confused right now which the counselor says is normal.  In our search for my peace of mind, it is apparently normal for one to begin with one goal and to have that goal called into question and to find you are actually seeking a different goal.   My goal was to find a way to overcome my nihilism, but it seems my true goal is to find peace in my conflicting points of view.    I am also apparently under self-imposed artificial time constraints.    Didn't see that one until I spoke it aloud today.

I was asked what was my goal in life prior to cancer.   My honest answer was I was still feeling immortal and felt I would discover my purpose given enough time.   I focused on people who "made it" late in life as inspiration that my window had not yet closed, but cancer closed that window.   Cancer started a clock in my mind and where I once seemed to have an infinite amount of time suddenly was  limited.     The list of things I hadn't yet done was longer than the list of things I had and the time to do them was running out.  I kept returning to the same word to describe my life: failure.   Another example of self-imposed time constraints: forty-five; never married, childless, career-less, etc were all I saw.  I was comparing myself to others who, to be honest, were living different lives than I was and there was no reason to expect my life to follow their path, but there you are.  Pressures of life and questionings of oneself brought me to this point.

I am currently in a state of confusion as to what I want, who I am, and what I hope to achieve.  I am goalless outside of the goal of finding a goal.  I have to spend the next two weeks debating with myself and thinking hard on how to stop being who I think I am and work on being who I want to be, as I discussed last week.   I think I need to spend less time reading on the nature of reality and perception and start actually working on it.    I am an encyclopedia of conflicting world-views and cancer has released the floodgates on them all.  I need to , for the next two weeks, work less on trying to swim and more on trying to dog-paddle.  Baby-steps as the movie "What About Bob" said to embrace.   To use another cliche'- I need to learn to crawl before engaging in a marathon.

One must get deeper down before they can start working on getting up.  Tearing down the old is a crucial part of building the new and it is a process I am engaged in.   I will survive.   I will become a better version of myself in the end and I believe that the secret to it is finding the balance between nihilism and hope.

Cheap Shot Mr Drudge. Real cheap shot.

I am far from a Clinton supporter, but I am no Trump-et either.   This is just a cheap shot and it is far from subtle.   It is quite clear the impression you are going for, Mr Drudge, and it is disgusting.

Ronnie and Neil

Binary Choices Binary Loyalties

I'm a comic nerd.  I'm a political junkie.  I am a soda addict.  What do these three things have in common?  Binary loyalties.  Marvel or DC; Democrat or Republican; Coke or Pepsi.  Each side claims ideological purity while convinced the other side is pure evil at worst, or just plain wrong at best.   It helps ensure product loyalty and is a model we have seen these group further refine and limit.

We now see Republicans eat their own and Democrats eat their own; we see Captain America vs Ironman and Superman vs Batman.   It is only a matter of time before Coke and Diet Coke heads find themselves at full scale war as well I bet.

What of Dark Horse Comics?  What of Royal Crown Cola?  What of the Independent parties?  Non-factors the lot of them.  Each is simply something people who obviously don't care indulge in; or are fringe-sitters trying to show they are free thinkers; or maybe are just anarchists mocking us all,right?
 
Coke would dominate if it weren't for RC Cola diminishing their market control.   Marvel, with the backing of Disney, should just crush DC already, so why does DC keep ruining the market?   It is the Republican's fault we don't like the Democrat candidate, right?    It is surprising how easy it is to overlook one's own shortcomings when they can focus their hate and blame on something else.

People don't realize the popularity of things like Trump, Sanders, Deadpool, etc are that they are not par for the course...a course we are all sick of playing.   These are fresh options: not remakes, reboots, or prequels.   They are, for better or worse, evolution of old concepts..even cliches of them in many ways really.    Sanders is a return to the old FDR Democratic values for better or worse.   Trump is a return to the Know-Nothing Isolationist America First crowd.  Both were responses to a dissatisfaction with the status quo and each transformed politics.

I'm a Marvel guy, but I dig DC.  Joker is my  favorite comic character and he isn't a Marvel character.   I am a Left leaner, but am not a Democrat and have voted Republican in the past.   I love Diet Coke only and that the flaw in my point, but the rest of it all stands: we need to look outside the box because the box was created by those eager to keep us limited in our choices.

If you limit your choices to only "left" or "right," you will miss moving forward.