Anghus Houvouras on Nick Spencer, Captain America, and the increasing reliance on shock value…
Hail Hydra.
Two words that broke the internet last month after writer Nick Spencer debuted his epic new arc on Captain America. The reveal on the final page seemed to imply that Captain America has been a deep cover agent for the heinous terrorist organization Hydra. The reveal comes right after this so-called hero hurled poor sidekick Jack Flagg to his presumed death. Within moments of the reveal online, the internet became feral.
“How could you turn Captain American into a Nazi?!?!” declared a fan base with a small amount of information and a huge reservoir of indignation. Spencer suffered the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune while trying to defend decision. To be fair, it was the first issue of a multi-issue arc and no doubt there would be much time spent on this shocking twist. Surely Captain America couldn’t really be working for Hydra. There had to be some explanation, logical or otherwise, for this radical shift in Cap’s behavior. Unfortunately most people had little interest in waiting to see how the story played out and how Spencer would weave this tale. They wanted to grab their pitchforks and torches to burn Spencer in effigy 140 characters at a time.
My reaction was a little different. Like everyone else I was excited to see the new direction of Captain America and was even more interested after all the buzz around the first issues big reveal. After finishing the issue I was met with an overwhelming sense of ambivalence.
You see, as a rational human being I was all too aware that whatever explanation that would eventually surface to explain Cap’s roguish behavior would almost immediately be reset at the end of the arc. Does anyone really believe Captain America is going to be a bad guy for any length of time? Mainstream comic books from Marvel and DC have become so reliant on shock value that it’s practically an editorial mandate.
The second issue of Spencer’s run came out last week and provided the answer every rational comic book reader saw coming. Looks like the Red Skull is using the power of a cosmic cube to rewrite Captain America’s history and warp the heroic icon into a dark shadow of his former self. The problem is that we’re two issues into Spencer’s run and it feels like everything is already out on the table. The idea that Captain America was a double agent for Hydra felt a little uninspired, but it was at least told in a fun enough way that made me curious to see how exactly this feat of character transmogrification occurred. My curiosity was sated with the second issue, and now it feels like I don’t need to read any further.
Spencer gave us the ‘Hail Hydra’ moment and before the deafening buzz had become tolerable readers were provided with an answer. The only thing this arc had going for it, other than the absolutely perfect artwork by Jesus Saiz, was the mystery that has already been solved. Issue one ends with ‘Hail Hydra’ and Nick Spencer dropping the mic. Then seconds after he exits he quickly stumbles back on stage, picks up the mic and yells “It was The Red Skull using a cosmic cube” before the audience has even exited the building.
Based on the first two issues of new Captain America series, it seems like Spencer is leaning heavily on two mainstays of the mainstream comic book story: shock value and revisionist history. Modern comic writers have a field day working their way through old stories and finding exploitable moments that can be used to put a new spin on and old tale. Sometimes it works remarkably well, like Ed Brubakers’ amazing Winter Soldier story. Sometimes tweaking character histories can be far less successful, like the return of Jason Todd in Batman. Maybe Spencer is using the device to tell a deconstructionist parable on historical revisionism. Perhaps the Red Skull using a cosmic cube to rewrite Steve Rogers’ origins is an allegory for a comic industry that is all too quick to reconfigure iconic characters to deliver a shocking moment that will get them media coverage.
Maybe Nick Spencer is on to something.
Anghus Houvouras is a North Carolina based writer and filmmaker and the co-host of Across the Pondcast. Follow him on Twitter.
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