Nails in the coffin...Cap Story 2

Apparently now, Marvel released a image of The Punisher as the new Captain America! Jesus Christ people! The Punisher!? Okay Marvel what the hell are you thinking!? Wait! before I get too far, the image did have a caption that read "Is this the new Captain America?" At least they give me the illusion of hope. Hope that Cap's legacy and belief's aren't going to be swept aside in favor of political statement. What do I mean? I got the info of the Marvel release from a webcomic favorite of mine Applegeeks. The writer Ananth, had poised the opinion that the choosing to kill and then replace Cap with Punisher had been a political statement. After thinking about it for a while I happen to agree.

Marvel seems to be making a move to adjust their characters to a modern outlook, sort of what they did with the Ultimates series. Comic books have been outlets for political commentary before, having the heroes face or suffer from the woes of the world. That has never bothered me. Those stories make for interesting reading and allow for characters created decades ago to still be connected to the modern era. The one thing they never changed though was the characters themselves, their beliefs and attitudes guided their actions in these political situations. The characters were not eliminated or radically altered to "fit" in the current landscape.

Why all this trouble for a comic book character? Because no matter how small the influence, how seemingly unconnected the events maybe. Things like this play a role in the future of humanity as a whole. I know you just rolled your eyes at me but listen for a second.

Comic books, novels, texts of all kinds can be boiled down to base parts. Characters and stories. The most popular books in history are just collections of characters and stories, ever hear of The Bible? The Koran? Harry Potter? These books have shaped human history one way or another.

Captain America represented all the good things to come out of America, he represented a goal to aspire to
for every citizen. He up held the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. He believed that the people had certain responsibilities as did the government of the people. He was a true patriot.

So when he died, those beliefs and goals, were dealt a serious blow. What happens in 10 years when the new comic book readers start buying books that have The Punisher as Captain America? What goals and beliefs are they going to learn in those pages? The Punisher is a tragic character, whose life is filled with nothing but death and regret. An interesting character, and one that should be read, so that people may understand that aspect of humanity. But it should NEVER replace an image of goodness and hope. Especially for some sort of commentary on the state of the union. Do not be fooled, your perception of reality is just as important as reality itself. Without symbols of hope and goodwill to help you believe that the world can be a beautiful place, it's impossible to make it one.


Death: Humans need fantasy to *be* human. To be the place where the falling angel meets the rising ape.
Susan: With tooth fairies? Hogfathers?
Death: Yes. As practice, you have to start out learning to believe the little lies.
Susan: So we can believe the big ones?
Death: Yes. Justice, mercy, duty. That sort of thing.
Susan: They're not the same at all.
Death: You think so? Then take the universe and grind it down to the finest powder, and sieve it through the finest sieve, and then show me one atom of justice, one molecule of mercy. And yet, you try to act as if there is some ideal order in the world. As if there is some, some rightness in the universe, by which it may be judged.
Susan: But people have got to believe that, or what's the point?
Death: You need to believe in things that aren't true. How else can they become?
--Terry Pratchett's Hogfather