When Comic Books Break Your Heart

If there have ever been two words you don’t want to read coming from your favorite superhero, it’s these:

Sure, the duds may be different, but that’s none other than Captain America uttering a dreaded phrase comic books fans have grown to know for decades as the rallying cry of the terrorist organization featured in Marvel Comics.

The reaction to this development has been met with widespread shock and dismay, with coverage from many a mainstream media outlet. That’s perhaps to be expected given the times we live in, where superhero movies dominate the social and business landscape.

Hashtags have sprung up (#SayNoToHydraCap), essays have been written and a wave of disbelief has been indelibly etched into every comic book reader’s psyche.

As for me, I’m just sad.

But I guess it just comes with the territory of being a comic book fan: Basically, you’re at the mercy of what the writer and the publishing house are going to do. Hell, it was only a few years ago that Marvel actually “killed off” Cap!

This plot twist, though, is more heart-wrenching than death, believe it or not. When a major character dies in the comics, it’s a near-guarantee the hero will be brought back to life. It could be within a few months or maybe even a few years (Cap’s former partner Bucky, aka the Winter Soldier, was actually gone for decades), but you can better believe that character will be resurrected.

However, to have the Sentinel of Liberty operating as a covert member of a neo-Nazi organization is a punch in the gut. This goes against everything he’s stood for since his first appearance in 1940, when he famously punched out Adolf Hitler on the cover of Captain America Comics #1.

From what I understand, the plan is to build upon the hints revealed in the first issue of Captain America: Steve Rogers #1, where it’s implied our hero was indoctrinated into Hydra before the second World War, when he was just a youngster. (Cap was frozen on ice for decades in a state of suspended animation for those unaware.) It will be revealed that he wasn’t always on the up and up, with history basically being rewritten.

In other words, Marvel’s greatest hero — and as I alluded to earlier, my personal favorite — has been bad all along.

Of course, I know this is fantasy. It’s not like there’s really a world of superheroes with guys slinging shields around in funny costumes. But that doesn’t mean this news doesn’t affect me—despite plenty of real-world issues out there. (2016 election, anyone?)

I’ve been a comic book collector for most of my life, and throughout all of my buying, Captain America has been a constant. He’s not the most powerful character, but Thor, the god of thunder, will follow him into battle. There’s just this commanding presence: I even find myself sitting up straighter when I read an issue.

Now, though, I don’t know. I mean I get what the writer Nick Spencer is doing: Why not shake things up? As an artist, it can be boring to do the same thing over and over, then over, again sometimes. More than likely, I’ll buy the next issue and see how it goes. I’m not overly optimistic, though.

I went through a similar experience with the whole DC Comics stable a few years ago after it introduced “the New 52,” a major continuity overhaul. I gave it a try for a few issues, then I couldn’t take it anymore and was out. For years. It was hard not to read those titles I’d been collecting for decades, but I just couldn’t get into it.

I have made a return, though, and I’m looking forward to the “Rebirth” line, kicked off in earnest on the same day as the Cap news.

Likes and dislikes of particular story lines—or whole comic book companies—can come and go in waves. But for me, Captain America was always a steadying presence.

He’s not anymore, though, and that’s tough. It’s part of the package of being a comic book reader: highs, lows and heartbreaks.

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