joysweeper (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
joysweeper) wrote2008-03-26 09:49 pm
joysweeper) wrote2008-03-26 09:49 pm
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Guardian bless. I'm turning into a fangirl. Seems like every time I post here, it's to squeal with delight at something new and shiny that's caught my eye. This time? It is Captain America. Used to be, my favorite superhero was Spiderman. And he's still cool. But I think my allegiance has changed.
Lessee... the first time I heard/saw anything about Cap was in an episode of the Xmen: Evolution cartoon. I think Wolverine was a member of SHIELD, and they had Cap in suspended animation or whatever. It's been a long time - Wolverine and Cap were apparently in WWII together, and I only saw Cap at the end. I remember thinking that it would be very sad, to have a friend frozen because he would die otherwise. Other than that, I didn't give it much thought.
I used to love that show, actually. I wonder what I'd think of it now? Maybe I should try tracking it down. In the later episodes it got very interested in cross-referencing other bits of Marvel continuity. Not always in big ways, but here and there. I think there was an image of Spiderman on a newspaper. There was Cap-in-a-tube, obviously, and at least a little SHIELD. Hmm.
After that, though, I don't think I heard anything about him for a good while. I think I knew he was a WWII super-soldier who got frozen and displaced through time, but I'm not sure. Never gave him much thought.
I'm a bit surprised that I find the character so interesting, actually. Supersoldiers, admittedly, are more interesting to me than normal people, including regular soldiers, but it's not enough by itself. Spartans are interesting because of just how "super"- meaning "special" - they are. But Cap? He got some injections and was hit by "vita-rays"; he was another piece of wartime propaganda. Boomerang indestructible shield, a costume that, while not ridiculous like some, isn't without its silly points. Admittedly my interest is a bit piqued by the displaced-through-time thing. It's... intriguing. I'd like to see a movie/read a book about someone from WWII skipping to present-day. I mean, a lot has changed. A lot has changed.
Imagine explaining the Internet to someone from early last century. Near-instant communication to and from almost anywhere in the world. A vast library at your fingertips. That's pretty big. Some other things that are huge and kind of ignored/taken for granted: we are in space. We have sent humans to the fricking moon. Want to be flown anywhere on the globe? Seventeen hours or less on a commercial airliner will get you there(I may be off with that estimate). Technology has changed a lot. There exist bombs that could sterilize the Earth completely and kill off all its inhabitants - we're no longer close to that edge, but imagine being told about nukes having never concieved of a world-killer before. Have people changed? We're in a war right now, but does that impact most civilians from day to day? No. It doesn't. We're so apathetic and cynical. Look at what people focus on now. How might someone from the nineteen forties react to the modern world?
Anyway, the comics don't really focus on that. I guess I like Cap for part of the same reason I like Spiderman. Good Guys for the Win. I like well-done villains who are complex characters with interesting motivations, characters who take advantage of how awesome evil can seem. But I always want the good guys to win. All girls want bad boys? Not necessarily. No matter how attractive a villain can be, if they don't at least have good intentions I lose all interest. I like my heroes heroic, for that matter.
But not like Superman. When I was younger, my first favorite superhero was Superman. (My dad's was Batman, FYI.) I'm pretty sure it was because he's something of a minor god. Incredibly powerful, can do anything, big protector. I've always loved protectors. But Supes doesn't really interest me that much. Yes, there are bad guys just as if not more powerful than he is, and he gets depowered all the time. He just can't hold my attention. He's a minor god. Yeah, I can admire him now and again, I can laugh at some of what he does, but I'm just not that interested. What's his summary? "Superman is the indestructible Kryptonian hero who saves the day time and time again, likes Lois Lane, has the alter ego Clark Kent, reporter." All of his inherent conflicts could be interesting, but somehow they're not. I wish I could articulate this.
Captain America is similar in some ways. Quintessential Good Guy, down to the stereotype of being blue-eyed and blonde-haired, wearing flag colors. Beloved by the people, looked up to by other heroes. Except that where Superman is a minor god, Cap is... well, he's human. More than normal human, yeah; he's something like the peak of human potential or therabouts. He can be cut with a knife that isn't kryptonite. He can be upstaged or turn out to be wrong. What are his internal conflicts? He's from a different era and the majority of the people he knew are dead or very different. He's trying to stay a leader. He's trying to save the world from threats that are orders of magnitude larger than he is. More than that, I'm sure.
...Damn it, this all sounded better in my head. At any rate, I like Cap because he's easier to relate to. He faces a lot of big problems and goes through some bad times, but he stays a good guy. He embodies the ideal, not just the country. I suspect that I would hate him if he was still just Patriotic Symbol Man, but he's not. He's an idealist in a world where idealism doesn't always work, and sometimes he's right. I like some of his speeches to that effect.
I'm going to try joining some livejournal communities. I like Captain America. Still waiting for him to un-die.
Lessee... the first time I heard/saw anything about Cap was in an episode of the Xmen: Evolution cartoon. I think Wolverine was a member of SHIELD, and they had Cap in suspended animation or whatever. It's been a long time - Wolverine and Cap were apparently in WWII together, and I only saw Cap at the end. I remember thinking that it would be very sad, to have a friend frozen because he would die otherwise. Other than that, I didn't give it much thought.
I used to love that show, actually. I wonder what I'd think of it now? Maybe I should try tracking it down. In the later episodes it got very interested in cross-referencing other bits of Marvel continuity. Not always in big ways, but here and there. I think there was an image of Spiderman on a newspaper. There was Cap-in-a-tube, obviously, and at least a little SHIELD. Hmm.
After that, though, I don't think I heard anything about him for a good while. I think I knew he was a WWII super-soldier who got frozen and displaced through time, but I'm not sure. Never gave him much thought.
I'm a bit surprised that I find the character so interesting, actually. Supersoldiers, admittedly, are more interesting to me than normal people, including regular soldiers, but it's not enough by itself. Spartans are interesting because of just how "super"- meaning "special" - they are. But Cap? He got some injections and was hit by "vita-rays"; he was another piece of wartime propaganda. Boomerang indestructible shield, a costume that, while not ridiculous like some, isn't without its silly points. Admittedly my interest is a bit piqued by the displaced-through-time thing. It's... intriguing. I'd like to see a movie/read a book about someone from WWII skipping to present-day. I mean, a lot has changed. A lot has changed.
Imagine explaining the Internet to someone from early last century. Near-instant communication to and from almost anywhere in the world. A vast library at your fingertips. That's pretty big. Some other things that are huge and kind of ignored/taken for granted: we are in space. We have sent humans to the fricking moon. Want to be flown anywhere on the globe? Seventeen hours or less on a commercial airliner will get you there(I may be off with that estimate). Technology has changed a lot. There exist bombs that could sterilize the Earth completely and kill off all its inhabitants - we're no longer close to that edge, but imagine being told about nukes having never concieved of a world-killer before. Have people changed? We're in a war right now, but does that impact most civilians from day to day? No. It doesn't. We're so apathetic and cynical. Look at what people focus on now. How might someone from the nineteen forties react to the modern world?
Anyway, the comics don't really focus on that. I guess I like Cap for part of the same reason I like Spiderman. Good Guys for the Win. I like well-done villains who are complex characters with interesting motivations, characters who take advantage of how awesome evil can seem. But I always want the good guys to win. All girls want bad boys? Not necessarily. No matter how attractive a villain can be, if they don't at least have good intentions I lose all interest. I like my heroes heroic, for that matter.
But not like Superman. When I was younger, my first favorite superhero was Superman. (My dad's was Batman, FYI.) I'm pretty sure it was because he's something of a minor god. Incredibly powerful, can do anything, big protector. I've always loved protectors. But Supes doesn't really interest me that much. Yes, there are bad guys just as if not more powerful than he is, and he gets depowered all the time. He just can't hold my attention. He's a minor god. Yeah, I can admire him now and again, I can laugh at some of what he does, but I'm just not that interested. What's his summary? "Superman is the indestructible Kryptonian hero who saves the day time and time again, likes Lois Lane, has the alter ego Clark Kent, reporter." All of his inherent conflicts could be interesting, but somehow they're not. I wish I could articulate this.
Captain America is similar in some ways. Quintessential Good Guy, down to the stereotype of being blue-eyed and blonde-haired, wearing flag colors. Beloved by the people, looked up to by other heroes. Except that where Superman is a minor god, Cap is... well, he's human. More than normal human, yeah; he's something like the peak of human potential or therabouts. He can be cut with a knife that isn't kryptonite. He can be upstaged or turn out to be wrong. What are his internal conflicts? He's from a different era and the majority of the people he knew are dead or very different. He's trying to stay a leader. He's trying to save the world from threats that are orders of magnitude larger than he is. More than that, I'm sure.
...Damn it, this all sounded better in my head. At any rate, I like Cap because he's easier to relate to. He faces a lot of big problems and goes through some bad times, but he stays a good guy. He embodies the ideal, not just the country. I suspect that I would hate him if he was still just Patriotic Symbol Man, but he's not. He's an idealist in a world where idealism doesn't always work, and sometimes he's right. I like some of his speeches to that effect.
I'm going to try joining some livejournal communities. I like Captain America. Still waiting for him to un-die.