Steve Rogers: Captain America Appreciation 2019

[Michael Watkins]

I'm just happy to have three consistently good books to read.

[Prof. Warren]

I agree. And as an aside, I loved Secret Empire. I thought the backlash was a little ridiculous.

Same here.

I don't even have much faith, but with Tom and Nick's comments plus the structure of the issue, I think he'll be fine. Like, if you're gonna have Selene kill him, then it should be clear that she kills him. I am more concerned that they'll go for the "evil one gets disfigured", which would be wack.

Maybe. But HydraCap having Steve's face and being literally his mirror image seems like something they wouldn't want to get rid of.

Whatever they do, though, I'd be shocked if he doesn't have a long, long life as a villain ahead of him.

[Marvell2100]

Same here.



Maybe. But HydraCap having Steve's face and being literally his mirror image seems like something they wouldn't want to get rid of.

Whatever they do, though, I'd be shocked if he doesn't have a long, long life as a villain ahead of him.

They may be getting ready to put Skulls' psyche in HydraCap's body. Giving him the "skullface is the pre-curser.

[charliehustle415]

They may be getting ready to put Skulls' psyche in HydraCap's body. Giving him the "skullface is the pre-curser.

That would totally make sense and thematically fit Rogers vs Skull dichotomy. Something very similar was explored by Brubaker

[capandkirby]

That would totally make sense and thematically fit Rogers vs Skull dichotomy. Something very similar was explored by Brubaker

Gruenwald as well. It's a pattern for Red Skull at this point.

[XPac]

That would totally make sense and thematically fit Rogers vs Skull dichotomy. Something very similar was explored by Brubaker

It almost makes too much sense. I sort of feel like that's a little too similar to what happened with Gruenwald back in the day.

I'm hoping we get a little more HydraCap before he gets taken over by the Skull. He was a pretty cool villain on his own. Using him just to give Skull another body is sort of a waste.

[capandkirby]

It almost makes too much sense. I sort of feel like that's a little too similar to what happened with Gruenwald back in the day.

I'm hoping we get a little more HydraCap before he gets taken over by the Skull. He was a pretty cool villain on his own. Using him just to give Skull another body is sort of a waste.

I'm sort of ambivalent about what they do with Hydra!Cap at this point, mostly because evil, imposter Steve Roger-es are a dime a dozen (all the times Red Skull has done it, the Skrull in Waid's volume 3, Ameridroid, etc.). The current Black Widow mini even poked gentle fun of the concept:

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My main reasoning for thinking that they're putting Skull in that body, other than the fact that it's Red Skull's modus operandi to want Steve's body (yes, I know what I said ), is basically this: what would an impostor storyline mean for real!Steve from a writing/plotting standpoint? As it is right now America does not trust Steve because of Secret Empire, so hydra!Steve wouldn't have his Secret Empire leg-up of being able to use everyone's trust of Captain America against them a second time. Steve, himself, aka the real!Steve, is utterly disenchanted and disappointed that America blindly followed hydra!Cap, something he warned them against multiple times, for example the aforementioned Waid's Cap volume 3, during the Capmania arc (which resulted in the Skrull impostor), so what purpose would hydra!Cap serve at this juncture to effect real!Steve's psychology?... make real!Steve more disenchanted and wary, even though he's already there? Narratively I can't see the return of Hydra!Steve at this particularly point in time being hugely effective, villain-wise, other than making things a little bit worse for Steve, so I can kinda see why the main villain of this arc becoming Red Skull might appeal more. *shrug* Just my two cents.

[capandkirby]

Avengers16.jpg

Awww, this is sweet. Right in the feels.

[capandkirby]

Minor league hockey team the Utah Grizzlies show Steve Rogers some love by sporting Captain America jerseys on game night...

https://uproxx.com/sports/captain-am...h-grizzlies/2/

[Michael Watkins]

I'm sort of ambivalent about what they do with Hydra!Cap at this point, mostly because evil, imposter Steve Roger-es are a dime a dozen (all the times Red Skull has done it, the Skrull in Waid's volume 3, Ameridroid, etc.). The current Black Widow mini even poked gentle fun of the concept:

you've made the argument for them not putting the Red Skull in Hydra-Cap's body. it's a retread. Hydra Steve has something those pretenders don't. he lived Steve's life. he wasn't taking advantage of Steve's reputation to win the people over. it was HIS reputation. it was his long game. Madame Hydra and Kraken just oversaw his formative years. the sacrifices were his own. and he outplayed the Red Skull; stole his Hydra (Sin and Crossbones included) out from under him. as I have already said, placing the Red Skull in Hydra Cap's body is effectively watering down Hydra Cap. I would have been perfectly ok with Hydra Cap, dillusioned with the populace turning on him adopting the symbol of the skull to revitalize Hydra (there are still supporters out there). he could have turned his attentions to destabilizing Europe or something. he has the mind and abilities to do a lot of damage. Schmidt is, by comparison, a very small thinker. i'd even be for the Skull's essence being destroyed and Lukin choosing to become the new Skull. even he seems more competent.

[616MarvelYear is LeapYear]

Captain America #351 Mar 1989
Guest-starring Nick Fury in "Changing of the Guard"
Cap joins Nick Fury in deactivating a secret SHIELD work site,

when suddenly the Mandroid robots come alive and attack the pair of heroes.


Story by Mark Gruenwald. Art by Kieron Dwyer and Al Milgrom.
http://www.comicsreporter.com/index...._kieron_dwyer/
http://happybday.to/Kieron-Dwyer#

[capandkirby]

you've made the argument for them not putting the Red Skull in Hydra-Cap's body. it's a retread. Hydra Steve has something those pretenders don't. he lived Steve's life. he wasn't taking advantage of Steve's reputation to win the people over. it was HIS reputation. it was his long game. Madame Hydra and Kraken just oversaw his formative years. the sacrifices were his own. and he outplayed the Red Skull; stole his Hydra (Sin and Crossbones included) out from under him. as I have already said, placing the Red Skull in Hydra Cap's body is effectively watering down Hydra Cap. I would have been perfectly ok with Hydra Cap, dillusioned with the populace turning on him adopting the symbol of the skull to revitalize Hydra (there are still supporters out there). he could have turned his attentions to destabilizing Europe or something. he has the mind and abilities to do a lot of damage. Schmidt is, by comparison, a very small thinker. i'd even be for the Skull's essence being destroyed and Lukin choosing to become the new Skull. even he seems more competent.

The life Hydra!Cap lived was fake. Made up. A mid-night brainstorm session between Red Skull and Kobik. No different than a rock star hashing out a song while waiting for Starbucks to make their cappuccino. So you can argue that Hydra!Cap was the result of Red Skull's scheming, it was an example of his mental prowess at work, it was just a scheme that got away from him. Just like most of Skull's plans get away from him. And Hydra!Cap, in his fake, completely made-up life, did have the advantage that his real counterpart was a trusted and beloved leader. In other words the fakeness of Hydra!Cap's origins benefited from the real groundwork that real!Steve had put forth in establishing love and trust among the superhero community. The Red Skull and Kobik's fake history couldn't have been pulled off if Steve Rogers wasn't established as a beloved and trusted hero, they wrote that sentiment into their altered reality.

Anyway, it does't really matter if one writer wrote Skull as kind of an idiot. Skull has been Steve's number one villain from the onslaught. Joe Simon has a cute story about how Red Skull's appearance came to him from eating an ice cream sundae. He's been played by Hugo Weaving. Marvel comics has tried desperately this past year to get their numbers back from the 2017 slide, a slide in which Secret Empire was partly to blame, for better or for worse, and Red Skull wins in the notoriety competition between him and Hydra!Cap. Based on that he's the more likely candidate for this book.

But I could be wrong. Maybe Coates will continue to use Stevil. It honestly doesn't really matter enough to me to argue about it. I'm just putting forth my hypothesis. As long as Steve Rogers triumphs over evil in the end, I'm happy either way. Red Skull, Stevil, I want to see real!Steve kick both their butts, so it's all good. I have always had a subscription to the Cap title, even when it sucks, so it's not like that's going to end if Hydra!Cap sticks around or anything *shrug*.

[Frontier]

Avengers16.jpg

Awww, this is sweet. Right in the feels.

Nothing better then a Captain America pep talk .

[nj06]

Avengers16.jpg

Awww, this is sweet. Right in the feels.

Who is the artist here?

[capandkirby]

Who is the artist here?

Dave Marquez