What
better way to celebrate our nation's birth than with
Captain America? And even better, how about the time Cap
killed the U.S. President??
Let's set the
Wayback Machine for
1974...
A battle on the White House lawn? What in the Sam Hill is going on here??
Well, that's a nice re-cap. Who's bringing us this hard-boiled political thriller?
Ahhh,
Sal Buscema...that's
70s Marvel, all right.
Who is (are?) the
Secret Empire? They're an offshoot of
Hydra, and they're attempting a naked coup to take over the good old U.S. of A. They run around in hoods with numbers on them (thus violating
Snell's Rules For Villains #1--
don't let your minions wear masks, because then it's way too easy for the good guys to pose as your minions).
Yeah, they run around with overly convoluted plots involving "
atomic annihilators" and mutant-powered flying saucers (
seriously!). And they have the worst battle cry ever:
But actually, they've come
closer to achieving their goals than Hydra or
AIM ever got. They've successfully framed Captain America for murder, and have
S.H.I.E.L.D. and the
Avengers hunting him down; they've kidnapped most of the
X-Men; they've successfully positioned villainous henchman
Moonstone as America's new favorite and most trusted hero; they've planted atomic explosives in every major American city; and they've infiltrated the highest levels of the U.S. government.
Still, the big question is,
who is the secretive
Number One??
Steve Englehart has been dropping hints the past few issues:
The Committee To Regain America's Principles (CRAP) sure
sounds an awful lot like
Richard Nixon's
Committee To Re-elect The President (CREEP), which was heavily involved in the
Watergate scandal.
Hmmm...I've got to work on my villainous gestures...
Anyway, #1 lands his mutant-powered flying saucer on the White House lawn!!
And then they use the "hero" Moonstone to make the case that they're unbeatable:
And then the
big threat:
Ah, but of course, Captain America isn't putting up with
such nonsense:
"The invisible government become visible?" (Well, technically, "
visabaaaaaaaaaaaaaa")
Hmmm...
Oh, and Cap kicks Moonstone's
arse, too...
Just in time for the villains to all turn on each other in a
nationally televised confession-fest:
Well, that's it, then...
all's well that ends well, right?
Uh-oh...Number One flees into the
Oval Office, and...
Yes!!
Whaa????
Huh??
!!!!!!!!Yes, ladies and gentleman, Steve Englehart just had Richard Nixon
commit suicide right on the comics page.
Interestingly enough, since this issue was coverdated July 1974, it was probably on the newsstands in May, and probably actually scripted in March or April, if not earlier. Which means that almost 6 months before Nixon resigned, Englehart had him "
resigning" much more permanently.
Yeah, it was "
subtle" (
snort), but this was pretty
bold stuff for a
Code approved book in 1974, when you still (
theoretically) weren't supposed to show authority figures in a bad light, and suicide was frowned upon. And attacking a sitting president was pretty radical for conservative comic books companies of the day.
These events, of course, led to
Steve Rogers giving up the Captain America identity and becoming--
NOMAD!!
SPOILER ALERT: It didn't take.
Don't push the fact that here's a live-action movie of a classic Marvel hero (which was actually a tiny bit better than its critical reception indicated). Don't push the bonus features or extra footage.
Don't push the fact that here's a live-action movie of a classic Marvel hero (which was actually a tiny bit better than its critical reception indicated). Don't push the bonus features or extra footage.
