Cast No Shadow

There is no theme here.

Subjects can be important and real or utter nonsense. Mostly I'll be the one spouting off, but look for occasional guest editorials and visuals from comic writers, artists, novelists, friends and acquaintances. At least that's the idea. This space is for thought. Or not.

We All Want to Change the World...

07.04.2001

You say you want a revolution? An American revolution? Well, y'know....

I apologize. I had to do it. I'm speaking of both using tired Beatles quotes and doing CAPTAIN AMERICA. The first is for your attention, now let's speak of the latter.

One of my earliest memories is that of July 4, 1976, America's bicentennial. 25 years ago to the day. My aunt's family came out to the country to celebrate the holiday with us. My cousin, a few years older than me, brought a gift. It was Captain America #200. To my four year-old eyes, the Jack Kirby art looked strange, but somehow appealing.

Do the math: July 4th of the bicentennial, Captain America #200, Jack Kirby and fireworks everywhere. Something was bound to come of it.

Since the beginning of Marvel Knights, Joe Quesada had been reaching out to me to do work for him. The time was just never right. Planetary was taking up most of my time and there wasn't any project available that struck my fancy. When he got the new EIC gig, we had a few talks about Captain America (I guess someone had filled him in on my love for the character). Joe knew what he was doing and to whom he was talking. The kid inside me was listening. As time passed, Joe would throw the occasional bug in my ear specifically about doing Cap. Planetary's schedule loosened up and I was left with time on my hands to play elsewhere. I bounced around doing covers and varied projects for fun and to keep busy while Planetary was being prepared, but what would it all amount to? I wanted to find something more meaningful to fill the void.

The kid inside me was clawing his way out.

For a long time I've wrestled with the idea of doing Cap. I wondered if I had outgrown him. Though I look at the work I do these days as a healthy mixture of costumed heroes and mature ideas, I wondered if, in today's world, there was a place for a man with the letter "A" stamped on his forehead. Growing up, Captain America was someone to aspire to. Not an alien, a spider-bite victim, or a mutant. He was human and because of this, his heroics seemed that much braver. But who is he now and what more is there to say about him...? I've always thought of Cap as a thing of beauty to be illustrated by the likes of J.C. Leyendecker on a Saturday Evening Post cover, but does that fit into today's maturing comic world? The challenge made it that much more appealing.

Despite my trepidations, it was all coming together. Joe was making daring strides at Marvel and the chance to do something different with my hero seemed real. I explained that under no circumstance would I not continue with Planetary. I'll be there until the end. They worked it out for me. I explained how I'd like to see Cap. They worked it out for me. For every question, they had an easy answer: they worked it out. I was left with nothing to debate over. I spoke with several friends and colleagues and finally, staring a hole through the mirror of a NYC bar, deep in thought over the matter, I caught my own eyes. They were excited and child-like. I knew my answer.

The kid inside me screamed, "yes!" Then the bartender kicked me out.

Beatles quote aside, I can't say this will be a revolution and a Cap unrecognizable. However, what John Rieber and I are putting together will deliver a Captain America that has more on his mind than beating super-villains-of-the-week senseless. Our Cap believes in the American standard, but you won't catch him delivering countless syrupy speeches. Our man's patriotic testosterone comes out of his angry fists, not endless rhetoric. A fighter, not a preacher, I want to deliver a hero you wouldn't fuck with. There's a difference between believing in a hero and a "believable" hero. Regardless of what some may think of the costume and assorted histories, I'm shooting for the latter.

Captain America doesn't just fight for the United States, he fights for the enslaved of the world. Fighting to preserve his idea of the American Dream, fearing he'll never have the chance to experience it himself. A soldier of few words, lugging around a burden of betrayal and a good measure of guilt. And it's got nothing to do with a dead kid-partner.

Hundreds of thousands died because of our Captain. And he has much to make up for.

Revolution? Maybe not.

But it is THE NEW DEAL.

- Johnny Mac Cassaday