With the state of the world the way it is, many have wondered how the film
Captain America:The First Avenger will fare when it hits theaters this Friday. I stumbled across a wonderful article from the Houston Chronicle that basically gets the opinions of
Captain America co-creator Joe Simon (who created
Cap with iconic comic book artist Jack the King Kirby) and legendary
Captain America writer Steve Englehart. Both writers took the time to explain why Steve Rogers is not only still relevant, but needed after all these years.
The legendary Joe Simon...
"Captain America was created to be the ultimate representative of what it means to be an American."
"He is one of us, and he represents the best in all of us. Because he represents an ideal, his popularity has never faded out entirely, even when comic books have struggled to survive."
"And with the world today — more dangerous even than it was back in World War II - people need that ideal more than ever. That's why it's the perfect time for him to be more popular than ever. We need him."
Steve Englehart as a conscientious objector, was honorably discharged from the Army just a few years prior to his legendary stint as
Captain America writer. In the early 70's, he had the unenviable task of making the character relevant during the anti war protests and Watergate scandal going on at the time.
Steve Englehart...
"The audience was not particularly in favor of a guy wearing a flag on his chest under those circumstances."
"I just looked at him and said, 'He wears a flag on his chest and he represents the ideals of America. The stuff they taught us in school. It didn't really matter what America the actual entity was doing at the time. He sort of transcended that. That was sort of my take on him."
Hawksblueyes: What a breath of fresh air it is to hear some of the men behind the legend put the thoughts into words. If you enjoyed reading this, do yourself a favor and click on the link at the bottom of the page to read the entire article (including some words from writer Ed Brubaker) at chron.com.
By TwitterButtons.com