May 2016
4 / 6
Jun 2016
Jun 2016
Aspie_Gamer
May '16

HAIL HYDRA!!!

Seriously though, this is just another pathetic marketing ploy to sell more comics, a tactic the industry has run into the ground the past several years or so.

thephantomfanboy
May '16

Absolutely. Total marketing ploy. Just like when they kill off a character just to bring them back later.

eschaefges
Jun '16

To those who are concerned: this is just a cliffhanger plot twist, like every TV show has before every commercial break - the only difference is, there is 30 days between moments instead of 3 minutes of commercials - modern Marvel/DC comics are run like TV episodes consisting of 4-6 issues per episode. Longer storylines last 3-8 episodes but most are resolved in 1-2 (4-12 issues). They have been doing this for 15-20 years now at Marvel.

This particular storyline has been building for a while and involves the Red Skull altering history.

Anyone who seriously thinks Marvel made Captain America an actual villain probably needs a reality check smile

KreativeConfusion
Jun '16

I think most of the issue is that when asked about it the writer of the current issue reportably said that this was all canon its, how its suppose to be, and I think something else about it being final.

To be honest I just find it to be the worst plot twist ever, especially with how things are at the moment? In the US we have people like Trump shouting out ideals that remind people of hitler and cops hurting minorities for being minorities. I wanna meet the marketing team that thought NOW was a good time to have Captain America become a Nazi.

eschaefges
Jun '16
1

Interesting - I have read most of things Nick and Tom have said (and have met both men, full disclosure) and i don't recall it being 'final' anywhere - Tom has said several times that nothing is final, this is comics. They did say this is canon - its not a clone/out-of-continuity-tale, etc - canon means it is happening to the marvel comics character but they never said 'he is Hydra from this point-forward, forever' or 'all previous stories were a lie' - it means this is a real thing happening now in a story. Where it leads is yet to be revealed and they don't want to spoil it for people.

However, I do agree that internet reaction has been to the idea that this was a permanent change to Steve Rogers forever - which just seems unlikely given his other previous Status Quo Changes:

1) He served in the 40's and 50's after the war
2) Until he was retroactively frozen during that time and the hero the people loved was revealed to be a totally different guy
3) He gave up being Captain America and rejected America, becoming the Captain (during Nixon scandal)
4) That totally different guy was revealed to be basically insane
5) Steve died
6) Steve died again
7) Steve died yet again, was replaced with a Former Brainwashed Russian Superspy Terrorist
8) Steve was stuck outside time then decided to come back as the Super Soldier when he found out the Former Brainwashed Russian Superspy Terrorist replaced him
9) Steve was permanently stuck in an alternate dimension
10) Steve had the Super Soldier Serum sucked out of him (for the 3rd or 4th time) and was a super old man now
11) Steve was replaced by an African American Flying Dude Who Talks To Birds
12) Steve was rejuvenated via Cosmic Cube shenanigans, and revealed to now have been in Hydra his whole life

Also re: current events- I don't think that was their intent at all (nor have Hydra been a Nazi group in the comics for many years or really ever, though they have been affiliated and are Nazi-like in world-conquering), but I respect your feelings on the issue and agree about the insane political climate we are in.

The book in question is a Teens+ comic that is read by less than 100,000 people every month - much less than half of one percent of the population of the US - and the majority of comments seem to be reacting to other comments rather than the contents of the story. In my mind, this is a fairly normal plot twist, akin to Buffy sleeping with Angel and him turning evil - that is a cliffhanger, to be sure, and it affected the rest of the season (spoilers for 1997, friends), but it is hardly the whole story. Another example (decade old spoilers for Harry Potter) - Snape murdering Dumbledore in Book 6 - all was not as it appears.

I am fully confident that Cap, or more likely his friends, will find a way to undo this injustice, and restore him to the man they know him to be. The marketing team does know what makes headlines (though i don't think they quite expected the Tumblr/Twitter folks to jump on this as they did), but they also know they cannot seriously or permanently tarnish the brand of their character. They just won't do it. It's a story, that's all.

Also, I don't really want to defend the plot twist as good - I am just saying that the criticism leveled against it seems inaccurate in places. I would much rather people read other great Marvel comics like Howard the Duck, The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, and Silver Surfer!