Unca Cheeks the Toy Wonder's Silver Age Comics Web Site!
ON CAPTAIN
AMERICA
. . . AND THE TRIUMPH OF THE SPIRIT
[3]
You can't even intelligently discuss the Marvel Comics Group of the 1970's without referencing the innovative, groundbreaking work of Steve Englehart.
Repeatedly. 
His lengthy and productive
tenure on THE AVENGERS included such epochal events as the "Mantis"
story arc, and the full realization of both the Vision and
the Scarlet Witch as vital and intriguing comics characters. His
co-creation of the classic MASTER OF KUNG FU series (which is
slated for detailed examination in and of itself, a few months from now, on
this very site) convincingly demonstrated that even a character conceived
in order to exploit the hot "fad" of the moment may strive for
(and achieve) excellence, when crafted with what Balzac
termed "clean hands and composure." And then there was DOCTOR
STRANGE... and THE BEAST... and LUKE CAGE... and... and... and
None of these, however, were any more significant (or more representative of the time in which they were written) than Steve's CAPTAIN AMERICA AND THE FALCON.
I was thirteen years old and wondering if maybe I simply wasn't getting just a wee bit too long in the proverbial tooth, insofar as "super-hero comics" were concerned... when I haphazardly picked up a copy of CAPTAIN AMERICA AND THE FALCON #153; Steve's opening salvo on said title.
To as real and significant an extent as any: the fact that you're
reading these words now is because Steve Englehart managed to convince
that long-ago thirteen-year-old to stick around
just a little while longer.
CHEEKS: Yours was (arguably) the most "politically conscious" approach to the character of Captain America, out of all the writers to handle said character. Your work touched upon such topics as blind, irrational nationalism [the "fake Cap" story arc, in issues #153-156]; the anti-war movement [issue #163]; and even some nicely pointed commentary on the Watergate scandal [the "Phantom Empire" story arc].
I've often wondered why more writers haven't employed a more openly "political" approach -- before or since -- given the very nature of the character as originally conceptualized (i.e., Defender of the American Dream). Was this a conscious storytelling approach, on your part; an editorial fiat, handed down to you from above; or just a happy sort of literary coincidence?
STEVE ENGLEHART: I've asked myself-- since Cap came so early in my career (third series, after the Beast in AMAZING ADVENTURES and THE DEFENDERS)-- whether I shaped him or he shaped me. Certainly my general approach to life-- I tend to expect the best of people-- fits with his.In any event, I have always been a political animal-- my dad was a political reporter so it was part of my upbringing-- so one way or another, I felt that a guy named Captain AMERICA, as you say a supposed SYMBOL of America, should be involved with the America of his time. The fact that it was an exciting time just made my job easier. If I'd written him in 1953 I wouldn't have had as much to work with.
But paying attention to the real world isn't a job requirement for comics writing, so I assume that some of the other Cap writers just didn't know or care about the political framework of their time. And others probably just found something different in him that turned them on. In my case, to answer your question directly, it was a conscious approach on my part, which turned out to be a happy literary event.
There are plenty of other characters who have his general strength. What counts with me is the person using the powers. When I wrote THE GREEN LANTERN CORPS, somebody asked me how I could do a group where everyone had the same power. I thought it was one of the dumbest questions I've ever been asked, because each GL was an individual. It ain't the power that counts, it's the person. And that's my approach to everything. Why isn't Cap the same as Daredevil or Batman? Because he's Cap. So my job is to make him the "Cap-iest" Cap he can be (and Batman the "Bat-iest," and so on).
CHEEKS: As follow-up to the previous question: were there any such storylines
which occasioned editorial consternation, at the time; or any politically-driven
notions you maybe thought about incorporating, only to decide (ultimately): "... nnnnnnnnooooooo... better not try slipping that one past 'em...?
STEVE ENGLEHART: Marvel in the 70s was a wonderful place to work. Stan Lee and Roy Thomas let everyone be as creative as they could. I don't recall ever being stopped from doing something I wanted to do. In all of Cap, the only "censorship" I remember was self-censorship--I decided to keep the President off-panel and unnamed in #175 because I thought I might get in trouble (Presidents, even ones as unpopular in some circles as Nixon, hadn't been the focus of six years of denigration in those days). I have no idea if I would have crossed a line because I didn't cross it; for all I know it would have sailed right through.
CHEEKS: The character of Sam Wilson [a.k.a., the Falcon] was (IMHO) handled more thoughtfully -- and explicated to best storytelling effect -- under your guidance than under that of any other writer, before or since. CAPTAIN AMERICA AND THE FALCON was -- in a very real sense -- a book as much about the latter as it was the former.
Was
this increased focus on Sam Wilson -- elevating him from the status of "sidekick"
to full-fledged partner -- something you had planned from the very beginning
of your tenure? (In other words: were such surprises as the Falcon's
gaining the power of flight; the repeated hintings that he might be a mutant;
and the shattering I-Was-A-Pawn-Of-The-Red- Skull revelation ideas you'd formulated
early on... or were they [instead] inspirations added along the way, as they
occurred to you?
STEVE ENGLEHART: Well, if Cap was somewhat flat before I got a shot at him, the Falcon was totally 2-dimensional. So I could have said "This guy sucks" and tossed him--or I could try to make him into something. I preferred the challenge. But whereas Cap had his attributes built-in but not well used, the Falcon had to be recreated almost entirely. So those various revelations came up as he and the stories progressed.
In my opinion, now, the "I was a pawn" was extremely cool from a storytelling standpoint, but didn't serve Sam all that well. I tend to regret doing that...although, if I hadn't decided to try other series at that point and had stuck with him, I'm sure I would have continued to move him in some direction that would have made me happier in the end.
CHEEKS: Bucky Barnes. Rick Jones. Sam Wilson. Sharon Carter. Diamondback. D-Man. Battlestar.
Captain
America has been teamed up with any number of partners and/or sidekicks, over
the years; more, perhaps, than any other comics character of comparable note.
(Heck... sometimes, it seems as if the Avengers are all pretty
much his "sidekicks," more or less.)
Is there something inherent in the conceptualization of the character which (seemingly) compels so many writers to integrate him into a "team" setting? And -- if so -- what is it?
STEVE ENGLEHART: I don't think so. He does have that WW2 vibe of rallying people to a cause, and he does tend to talk about idealism, which requires an audience. But I think it's mostly Bucky. They gave him a sidekick and the sidekick died. Then Stan, in one of his least inspired runs, brought Bucky Back From The Dead about seventeen times, always to have it turn out to be a robot. And then he gave him the Falcon. So I think it got built in that the guy was supposed to have a sidekick and didn't--like there was this void that had to be filled. But I have no trouble seeing Cap as a loner.
CHEEKS: A two-part question:
a.) What is the one thing that anyone writing CAPTAIN AMERICA has to KNOW about the character, in your opinion, in order for the character to ring "true"...?
b.) What (again; in your opinion) is the one thing Captain America would never, ever do... under ANY circumstances?
STEVE ENGLEHART: a) He is a very good guy who believes in the 1940s, Jimmy Stewart, good-guys-against-evil-Nazis America.
He can and should be shaped by the current times, he can and should suffer psychic blows when modern America doesn't fit with his picture of America--but he always believes in his soul that he represents a very good and decent and inspiring dream. (When he became the Nomad, he tried to walk away from that--and he could not.)
b) Abandon the dream in his heart.
CHEEKS: Final query:
Captain America has five minutes alone with Bill Clinton; and another five minutes alone with Ken Starr.
What does he say to them?
STEVE ENGLEHART: In my opinion, he would feel Clinton had let down the side by having extramarital sex, but he would see it as a human failing, not a Presidential one, just as America did. He would continue to honor the office of the President and wouldn't presume to advise Clinton on what to do; being Captain America doesn't give you the right to intrude on personal matters. So he wouldn't say anything. Possibly Clinton would sense a reserve and ask him what he thought. He might then tell him. But it would be with the understanding that his morality was shaped in the 1930s and the knowledge that things have progressed since then...that a democracy is based on human beings and human beings are never perfect. And in a comics world, Cap's example would inspire Clinton to a clearer understanding of what being President means to America.
In my opinion he'd have destroyed Starr's inquisition long since. It was clearly a conspiracy and operating beyond the limits of the law. I would also suspect that Starr, Mellon, et al would strike back with all the
powers at their command, which in my comics world would include right-wing villains, a Congressional hearing on whether to de-authorize Captain America as an anachronism, a media smear campaign, etc. I actually gave some thought to proposing a SENTINEL OF LIBERTY arc or a one-shot where I examined that, but Marvel's not open to new concepts these days.
"PANNING FOR SILVER: Captain America"
(Page 1)
"PANNING FOR SILVER: Captain America"(MARK EVANIER) (Page 2)
"PANNING FOR SILVER: Captain America" (TONY ISABELLA) (Page 4)
"PANNING FOR SILVER: Captain America" (KURT BUSIEK) (Page 5)
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