Since 1941, Captain America has been one of the most popular comic book characters around. The fictional super-patriot fought Nazis during World War II, took on those who burned the American flag during the Vietnam era, and raked in hundreds of millions of dollars for Marvel Comics along the way. Now, the appearance that he is taking on the Tea Party Movement in a storyline about investigating white supremacists has forced Marvel to apologize for the comic hero.
Issue 602 of the comic features Captain America investigating a right-wing anti-government militia group called "the Watchdogs". Hoping to infiltrate the group, Captain America and his African-American sidekick The Falcon observe an anti-tax protest from a rooftop. The protestors depicted are all white and carry signs adorned with slogans almost identical to those seen today in Tea Party rallies like "tea bag libs before they tea bag you" and "stop the socialists.
In response to Marvel's explanation and apology, Tea Party Nation founder Judson Phillips told Yahoo! News that it "sounds less like a genuine 'we're sorry' than it does a 'we're sorry we got caught' statement. When I was a child in the '60s Captain America was my favorite superhero," he said. "It's really sad to see what has traditionally been a pro-America figure being used to advance a political agenda."
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What a sad sight to see Captain America tarnish his proud and apolitical legacy of hippie bashing and fascist fighting by lowering himself to present a partisan opinion. It's even scarier to think that poor impressionable children are being brainwashed by the stereotypical, demonized portrayals in this issue. Despicable.
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