It's the Fourth of July! In these United States of America that means a birthday celebration of sorts. Not for a person, but for a nation. The USA is 247 years old today. I've been on board for 66 of those years and what a ride it's been. There are lots of ways to celebrate a birthday, and certainly one is with pomp and pageantry, fireworks and flowery speeches. But that's not the only way.
When these United States turned 200 years old in that long ago year of 1976 Marvel Comics decided to celebrate in a few ways. First they tapped one of Captain America's creators to tell a sprawling epic of a yarn which had the good Captain traverse time and space and so encounter America in many ways over many years. This time I'm reading the 2021 reprint of the massive tabloid comic which is chock full of extras.
His odyssey had a conductor named "Mister Buda", a heretofore unknown character who seemed to offer serenity with knowledge, but that knowledge was hard won. (Mister Buda was later revealed to be one of the many Elders of the Universe and these days is called the "The Contemplator".) Mister Buda first sends Cap back to WWII and yet another opportunity to save his partner Bucky Barnes from the clutches of Hitler and the Nazis.
That mission accomplished Cap finds himself part of a grand tableau of struggle from across American history. He travels back in time to meet Ben Franklin and Betsy Ross who takes inspiration from Cap's uniform to weave a singular flag for General George Washington. Then he slips forward to the early days of the depression and assists a rough and tumble newsboy who might someday grow to become a renowned comic book artist.
Then it's back to the olden days of the West and Cap finds himself in among the Apaches led by a noble man named Geronimo. Cap cannot stop the cavalry charge which is the destiny of these noble savages. Instead, he finds himself in a Kentucky coal mine, buried alive with tough-minded miners and he finds a way to save them. A quick dash to WWI and the skies over the battlefields aboard a biplane before landing hard back on Earth to trade fisticuffs with John Sullivan.
Then Cap must confront the horror of slavery and try to save a runaway slave with the help of the son of John Brown. Then with a snap of the fingers he finds himself on the testing ground for the first atomic bomb blast. That conflagration becomes the Great Chicago Fire and Cap tries to help before finding himself in the water battling a shark outside an underwater research base.
He finds himself confronting Mister Buda again who tells him his odyssey is nearing its end. And then the Moon, in the future where unknown forces (presumably one of them American) battle for hegemony over Earth's luminous mate. And just as quickly it's back to Earth and Hollywood to be precise where Cap finds himself part of a patriotic production number for a movie from a Golden Era. One final peek at a young black man studying hard to make something of himself and Cap is confronted with children. It turns out these young people are the source of America's greatness, the notion that they are full of limitless possibilities is the reason the United States ought to be celebrated each year.
Throw in three images of Cap as a Minute Man, a cowboy, and an astronaut, along with a portrait of the man beneath the mask Steve Rogers and all that remains is the back cover. Cap gives Uncle Sam a hearty handshake and that's a wrap. 84 pages of glorious Kirby artwork and a story unlike any other. History on the move, quickened with that relentless "King" Kirby energy. Kirby was inked by many talents in this story. Barry Windsor-Smith kicked things off, with Herb Trimpe, John Romita Sr., John Verporten and Dan Adkins turning in lavish pages as well.
In this 2021 reprint we also are treated to Marvel's other attempt to celebrate the bicentennial and that's a calendar featuring most of Marvel's brightest. The calendar is reprinted in full with artwork by Frank Robbins, John Buscema, Frank Brunner, Sal Buscema, Bob Brown, Herb Trimpe and many others. The late great John Romita Sr. did the cover and a portrait of Captain America which shines to this day. I own the original tabloid still, but it was fun to read this story once again with the bright colors on good paper and be treated to the calendar which I've only ever seen online.
Captain America's Bicentennial Battles is a delightful read and now 47 years after its first publication it still holds many messages of great value. In 1976 the United States was recovering from a great political scandal in which the President was shown to be a criminal and was driven from office. The country and the world was staggering under a great need for oil to power the modern societies built after WWII. According to the President of the time, the country was suffering a "malaise". Sadly, all these years later things have changed in many ways and in some ways not at all. Once again these United States have suffered under a President who is a criminal. The woes of seeking power resources remain, but the biggest threat to the democracy is a runaway technology which allows the most vicious aspects of society to find one another and band together to undermine the great promise of these United States. Racism has never gone away and now again rules the minds of too many leaders of states all too ready to restrict the rights of their own citizens. Women are under assault and have to fend off constant efforts to reduce their rights and their roles as meaningful parts of the society.
I was a young man in 1976, just married and full of promise for myself and my bride. Decades later, I've lost my mate of so many years, but still I find pride in my two daughters now grown to adulthood and doing what they can for children in schools which are daily under threat of outrageous violence. I am proud of them, but despair that my country cannot see fit to make sure they and their charges are secure. I am angry when I see attempts to alter the understanding of history, to deny the darker aspects of American history, one rife with racism and sexism. It all happened, and we need to see to it that it stops here with us today. Today I am an old man, retired after a long career in the classroom and I look for signs of hope that the future will be better for not those of us in these United States but for folks all across the globe.
Happy Birthday America! Here's to many more, if you deserve them.
I bought the tabloid when it was first published, but for some forgotten 'reason' never kept it. Luckily, I managed to replace it a number of years ago at a good price (good for me, that is), and I've been thinking of obtaining the reprint when I see one that isn't too expensive. Kirby's scripting of the tale is as clunky as ever, but it's still a collectors' item worth having.
ReplyDeleteSave for the first Superman-Spider-Man hook up, I think this is the best use of the tabloid size of any comics produced during that era. It's a size suitable for Kirby's graphics. I've been reading Richard Shaver lately and that stuff makes Kirby's words downright normal.
DeleteI remember the Bicentennial calendar being advertised in Marvel UK's weeklies in late 1975 but I didn't know what the Bicentennial actually was (I was 9 at the time). However by July 1976 I did know and the Bicentennial received a lot of coverage here in Britain.
ReplyDeleteHave you heard of a novel called 'The Spy' by James Fenimore Cooper? It was written in 1811 but it's set during the American Revolution and apparently it is regarded as the first modern espionage novel . BBC radio dramatised the novel in two parts last week.
Is it strictly correct to say that America is 247 years old today? July 4th 1776 was only the DECLARATION of independence but the US didn't become a genuine independent country until 1783 I think. But happy 4th of July anyway!!
Valid point on the date technically. But in spirit the United States begins with the Declaration. The Constitution just formalized it. The difference between a romance and a marriage I'd suppose. I've read Cooper's Deerstalker novels, but not The Spy. I might have to get hold of a copy and read it for next year's celebration.
DeleteNice post Rip . I remember this book being heavily advertised but I have never seen it. A lot has changed for the better since this book was published but as you rightly say, many other things remain the same and I wonder if our politicians (worldwide) will ever do the right thing without self interest being at the heart of everything the do. It really is down to people like your daughters generation to try to change things, our generation sadly has largely failed.
ReplyDeleteIt's an uphill struggle in this country. Recent court rulings have made it almost impossible to control campaign money since money was equated with speech and corporations were somehow deemed to have free speech rights. Still don't understand that. But it's made corruption mostly legal in many ways. We depend on the individual ethics of select people to keep us straight. I can only hope future cases reverse this and we can get our politics back into a bottle of sorts so it doesn't absorb all of our attention all of the time.
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