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A review by captwinghead
Marvel Masterworks: Captain America, Vol. 9 by Tony Isabella, John David Warner, Steve Englehart, Marv Wolfman, Frank Robbins, Bill Mantlo
2.0
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: reading older Marvel comics is way more difficult for me compared to older DC comics. I don’t know why? I’ve thought “maybe it’s just the writer?” But it’s been pretty standard across Iron Man, Cap, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, and. X-Men comics. Pre 1990, a lot of Marvel comics are tough for me to get through.
This was no exception. It also suffered from the racism of this time period where Black Panthers and black activists are treated like criminals spreading hatred instead of activists trying to gain better treatment and civil rights for black people in society. It’s such a shame that it appears no black comic book writers had a say in any of these plots. I can’t imagine what it was like being a black person picking up comics back in the day. They had to suffer through all of this bullshit.
Then there's the whole Snap Wilson retcon which is problematic for way too many reasons. It was retconned out in All New Captain America - decades after this awful change began. It should've never existed in the first place. The original story was one in which Sam answered a call for work, ended up stranded on an island where the native population was being harrassed by colonizers. In that story, Sam was the hero that helped fight with a version of Captain America to chase the colonizers away. Then the writers said, hey, what if we retconned in a sh*tty backstory where Sam was a criminal and basically Red Skull's slave. What was the reason? I refuse to acknowledge that it exists because it was awful, racist, and so freaking unnecessary.
I’m sure it was praised for progressivism in having Cap’s partner be Falcon and pushing a romantic relationship between Gabe Jones and Peggy Carter but so much of this book was cringe worthy.
Anyway, I enjoyed the Nomad storyline. I’m always a fan of when writers show Cap realizing he’s been misled and turning his back on his country to try to fight for real justice. Coates is doing a similar thing now and I appreciate that.
All in all, I say just read the Nomad bits. The rest isn’t necessary.
This was no exception. It also suffered from the racism of this time period where Black Panthers and black activists are treated like criminals spreading hatred instead of activists trying to gain better treatment and civil rights for black people in society. It’s such a shame that it appears no black comic book writers had a say in any of these plots. I can’t imagine what it was like being a black person picking up comics back in the day. They had to suffer through all of this bullshit.
Then there's the whole Snap Wilson retcon which is problematic for way too many reasons. It was retconned out in All New Captain America - decades after this awful change began. It should've never existed in the first place. The original story was one in which Sam answered a call for work, ended up stranded on an island where the native population was being harrassed by colonizers. In that story, Sam was the hero that helped fight with a version of Captain America to chase the colonizers away. Then the writers said, hey, what if we retconned in a sh*tty backstory where Sam was a criminal and basically Red Skull's slave. What was the reason? I refuse to acknowledge that it exists because it was awful, racist, and so freaking unnecessary.
I’m sure it was praised for progressivism in having Cap’s partner be Falcon and pushing a romantic relationship between Gabe Jones and Peggy Carter but so much of this book was cringe worthy.
Anyway, I enjoyed the Nomad storyline. I’m always a fan of when writers show Cap realizing he’s been misled and turning his back on his country to try to fight for real justice. Coates is doing a similar thing now and I appreciate that.
All in all, I say just read the Nomad bits. The rest isn’t necessary.