Captain America #11 art by Adam Kubert and Matt Milla
There have been many writers of Captain America in the character’s nearly 80-year history, but Ta-Nehisi Coates is the first to go to Capitol Hill and call out the Senate Majority Leader during his comic-book run. Coates was in the national spotlight this week when he spoke at a hearing for H.R.40, which would create a commission to study and develop reparations proposals for black Americans whose ancestors were exploited under slavery, Jim Crow, and decades of legalized discrimination.
In response to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s claim that reparations are being sought for “something that happened 150 years ago when none of us currently living are responsible,” Coates pointed out that McConnell has been alive to witness numerous institutional injustices endured by black citizens before, during, and after the passing of civil rights legislation. “Enslavement reigned for 250 years on these shores,” said Coates. “When it ended, this country could have extended its hallowed principles—life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness—to all regardless of color, but America had other principles in mind. And so for a century after the Civil War, black people were subjected to a relentless campaign of terror. A campaign that extended well into the lifetime of Majority Leader McConnell.”
Coates has been very open about how he views the United States’ legacy, and when he looks back he sees the ugliness that is so often erased by revisionist history. He’s written extensively about the sins of America’s past and present in his novels and pieces for The Atlantic, but with Steve Rogers, Coates gets the opportunity to step into a new perspective and examine what it means to still be devoted to the idea of what this country could be if it truly stood for the ideals it proclaims in the Declaration of Independence. In his Atlantic essay, “Why I’m Writing Captain America,” Coates writes about the personal appeal of the character: “Captain America, the embodiment of a kind of Lincolnesque optimism, poses a direct question for me: Why would anyone believe in The Dream? What is exciting here is not some didactic act of putting my words in Captain America’s head, but attempting to put Captain America’s words in my head.”
To understand Rogers’ dedication, Coates would test it by having the hero’s country turn against him. It’s not the first time he’s been painted as a villain, and after Secret Empire, it’s not very hard to turn public opinion against Captain America. As misguided and sloppy as Secret Empire was, it did introduce a compelling character dynamic for Coates to explore in Captain America as Steve Rogers faced a country that could no longer trust his face. His doppelganger took over the world in Hydra’s name, and even though Hydra-Cap was a completely different person, people still see him when they look at Steve Rogers. His reputation is tarnished, and his enemies take advantage of that to instigate a total fall from grace.
A prologue to this run appeared in the Avengers/Captain America one-shot Marvel released for last year’s Free Comic Book Day, ending with two words that have major significance when it comes to storylines tearing down Marvel heroes: “Born again.” The legendary Daredevil storyline by Frank Miller and David Mazzuchelli dismantled Matt Murdock’s life to drag him to new lows, and Coates kicks off his Captain America story by pitting the hero against a squadron of Nukes, new models of the flag-faced super-soldier introduced in “Born Again.”
The Kingpin played a key role in that Daredevil story, and he also appears in Captain America as a member of the Power Elite, an international group of wealthy white people who see Steve Rogers as a threat to their world domination, working together to destroy his reputation and eventually the idea of Captain America. This arc is titled “Captain Of Nothing,” an insult that Captain America’s opponents have been hurling at him since the first chapter. Killing Steve Rogers will only make him a martyr, and he doesn’t stay dead anyway. They need to kill what he stands for; they need to kill The Dream. They frame Steve for murder and put him in prison, and then kill Steve’s doppelganger and force the press to run totally false stories claiming that Hydra’s Supreme Commander was actually just Steve Rogers all along.
Captain America is a symbol, but he is also a man. He feels shame and guilt and anger, and Coates uses the Secret Empire fallout to bring these emotions to the forefront of Steve’s character. He’s not responsible for the Hydra takeover, but he still carries it as a burden. When he’s framed for murder, he knows that fleeing will be seen as an admission of guilt, so he turns himself in because he’s already so concerned about how the world views him. But then the Power Elite goes too far. The lies grow and now the world thinks that there was no doppelganger, that Steve was responsible for everything. The scope of this plot has become clear, and now he knows that he needs to fight to keep The Dream alive. Luckily, there are other heroes who feel the same way, and they’re here to save him.
Coates’ first year on Black Panther was full of big ideas for the future of Wakanda, but the execution was sluggish and failed to tap into the dynamism of the superhero genre. The second year was a major improvement, with Coates bringing more excitement to his scripting with a better balance of action, character drama, and political intrigue. Black Panther #169 was a major step forward for Coates. The issue primarily focused on a silent fight scene masterfully depicted by artist Leonard Kirk and colorist Laura Martin, giving Coates a new challenge as he stopped relying on dialogue to drive the storytelling and trusted his artists with an action-heavy narrative. Eventually Coates realized he was writing superhero books where he didn’t have to sacrifice thrills to further character and plot, and his scripts for the latest volumes of Black Panther and Captain America are full of spectacular moments that energize these thematically rich narratives.
Captain America #11 is a prime example of this dynamic, staging a prison break instigated by the Daughters of Liberty, a group of female superheroes who believe in Steve Rogers’ innocence and refuse to see him imprisoned. Sharon Carter, Invisible Woman, Misty Knight, Echo, Toni Ho, White Tiger, Mockingbird, Spider-Woman, and the mysterious Dryad have started a riot by spreading a chaos virus among the inmates, and Steve Rogers becomes a general leading his supervillain soldiers against jetpack-riding armed guards, drones, and robotic Americops. This is a book that tackles serious topics like white supremacy, toxic masculinity, private prisons, U.S. collusion with Russia, and Russian manipulation of American media, but it’s also a rousing superhero story full of twists that make it succeed as popcorn entertainment.
It helps that Coates is paired with artists who have a strong grip on superhero fundamentals, working with Leinil Yu on the first arc and Adam Kubert on the second. This arc has Kubert digitally inking his pencils for the first time, and it’s a transition that simultaneously sharpens and loosens his linework. With digital technology he can zoom in on panels to add more detail, and the size of the toolkit creates new drawing opportunities because it’s so easy to change brushes and line weights. In the panel below, Steve’s body in motion is drawn with a sketchier line, adding a sense of life to his silhouette that isn’t present in the crisp, solid inks of the sink falling through the air beside him. Matt Milla fills in for regular colorist Frank Martin on this week’s issue, and while Milla doesn’t go as hard as Martin with the shading, his flatter colors bring more attention to Kubert’s linework.
Yu’s art has a lot of intensity but is very cold, and it can be hard to connect with his characters on a deeper emotional level. His Captain America is especially distant, largely because he whites out the hero’s pupils. I did a little experiment on my Twitter to see what Yu’s Cap would look like with pupils, and it completely changes the character’s presence on the page. Eyes are the window to the soul, and when Steve Rogers is in his Captain America costume during the first arc, his eyes are usually whited out or hidden in shadows. It makes the superhero alter ego come across as a hollow shell, which works well when Steve Rogers is uncertain about what Captain America means in the current world order. Adam Kubert hasn’t drawn Steve Rogers in costume at all during his Captain America arc, and the animated aspects of his art style give Steve a lot more personality. Kubert’s characters have much more vitality to them compared to Yu’s scowling statues, and this week’s issue hammers that home.
Yu’s issues are heavy on widescreen panels that give the book a more expansive scope, matching the look of big-screen blockbusters as Rogers travels the country to take out leftover factions of Hydra. That scope narrows significantly for Adam Kubert’s story, which traps Steve in a private prison owned by a government-pardoned supervillain. Kubert embraces the vertical to make his pages feel confined. The most fascinating thing about his page design is his use of black rectangles across the length of the page in the background of his layouts. The thickness of the rectangle changes, but it always accomplishes the same effect, adding two vertical borders that create the illusion of a tighter space on the page.
By putting this simple graphic element behind the panels, Kubert alters the entire ambiance of the page and ties the visuals to the narrative in a more figurative way. Kubert confirms the intent behind these rectangles in this week’s issue. When Steve fully commits to fighting in the riot, he throws a sink through his cell wall and jumps through the hole. There’s a thin black rectangle across the right side of the page, and when Steve breaks through the wall, he shatters the border of the rectangle. For the rest of the riot, there are no more black rectangles in the background because Steve is no longer confined. But the rectangles don’t disappear for the full issue. They come back once Steve has full escaped, but the shapes don’t run the full length of the page anymore. Now there’s a white border around the rectangle, which gets smaller as the page turns. Steve is out of prison but he isn’t free, and as a fugitive, he’ll now have forces closing in on him from all sides.
42 Comments
I’ve been a big fan of his Cap series since the first issue, much more than Black Panther which I found (early on at least) so bluntly didactic as to completely interfere with the narrative. It’s not that I disagree with his points, they just felt told in an immature manner (which, coming from a first-time writer of the medium is not surprising0. Captain America feels much better-written to me, leaner, more energetic and with more tension. And I appreciate the timely nature of the political realities reflected in it.I’m really glad to see you talking so much about the effect of the art and the purpose of the respective artists, Oliver. If anything it’s more important to comics, which can be completely “silent,” than the writing. So far I’ve preferred Yu’s work on this series, but your analysis of panel structure has me wanting to go back and take a closer look at the visual narrative Kubert put in now. Thanks.Also, while I have never much been a fan of Alex Ross, but between these covers and Immortal Hulk he’s really been nailing it of late. But especially with Hulk.
And cue Squamate Primate to whine about how superhero comics suck and anyone who likes them are scum as if he’s the arbiter of what people should like.
If we traded him for someone who whined that minorities in comix maek profitz go down, and how much that means things, would that be a step up or down?
+1 superior nerd complex
Good to hear Coates improved because, while I liked him as a writer overall, I gave up on BP because it was so slow and dull that it made Bendis’ most decompressed issues look like breathtaking, non-stop action.
I love Alex Ross’ work. I’m rereading all of Astro City and I stop and soak in each cover of every issues.
Yeah and Brent Anderson’s interiors are phenomenal.Somewhat related, I love Astro City (haven’t finished it) and find Busiek’s writing just wonderful and subtle across the series thus far. But I just read the first 50 issues of Thunderbolts and I was totally surprised by how terrible Busiek’s writing was on what was supposed to be one of his landmark series. The writing got better when Fabian Nicieza took over, but I was so confused how wide a gap in quality there was between Busiek’s two works.
Yeaahhh. He’s real hit or miss for me but when he misses, he misses big. Like the follow-up to DC’s 52 he wrote, Trinity. That was terrible. It was a chore to get through.
Busiek’s traditional superhero work leaves me unimpressed. It’s when he’s deconstructing the genre or taking outsider perspectives, like in Astro City or Marvels, that he’s one of the best writers out there.
That’s a shame. I was thinking I might read his Thunderbolts run next. I heard good things back in the day when it wasn’t coming out.
He takes a lot longer writing Astro City. At his sickest, that’s why Astro City disappeared for years. Regular books don’t require the same level of engagement from him.
And part of the legend of Thunderbolts is the big twist at the end of #1 was probably the last huge superhero comics surprise.
It ended up poorly, but the recent Hail Hydra moment was pretty huge.
Astro City is amazing, a great homage love letter to comic books in general. One of my favorites is Tarnished Angel.
“But I’m payin’ it off in installments.”Tears on my cheeks when I read that last page.
I really need to jump on the trades for this eventually. I stuck around for the first 12 issues of his Black Panther run, and just wasn’t totally into it at least partly due to reasons brought up here. I tried his Cap run as a part of my efforts to try and hop back onto a number of “core” Marvel titles last year when a bunch of them relaunched (specifically Iron Man and Avengers, but just now recalled I’d jumped onto Cap when Waid took over after Secret Empire and simply decided to keep with it after the relaunch), and did find that to be a pretty solid read. And then dropped it (and Iron Man and Avengers) just to clear some space on my pull list. And now basically continue to more or less wish I’d held on to all three.
I don’t know how you held on through Mark Waid’s last run. That may have been the worst comics I’ve ever read. Coates’ run is boring with mild cringe but it’s like Shakespeare compared to waid’s last go at the character. Given his track record with the character, I had high hopes.
I really don’t get Coates. For a figure that was supposed to represent the intellectual heights of the Obama agenda, under Trump he has turned into a comic book writer. It is just weird.
Killing alt Steve Rogers wasted an opportunity, turn him into the next Red Skull…subvert the dynamic of an Johan Schmidt resurrection but keep the Skull, who now knows Cap intimately.
I’ve been wondering how this is. Just finished Superman: Birthright and loved Yu’s art in it, didn’t find it cold at all. Still, I’ll definitely check this out.
Free-Spirit and Tigra should have been included in that Daughters Of Liberty team. They have great history and admiration for Cap and fit that team perfectly. I’ll have to check this out. Thanks Oliver.
You know, I’m old enough to remember when you find but a comic book just to enjoy the fantasy and escape… a place a child could go, to retreat to where all their dreams would became real and where all fears and prejudices would NEVER go… too bad children today can’t just enough a happy peaceful youth, playing enjoying life without some grown-up telling them they have to face the whole world NOW…
Glad to see I’m not the only one who felt Coates had a problem with pacing/action early in his BP run. I like Coates’ nonfiction work post-Atlantic, but couldn’t stay engaged with his BP work. Way too much dialogue and too little action. It was like someone illustrated an off Broadway play. The action in the panels above is alright, but I hope there are even better action scenes in the actual book. There are also minor issues that are probably more the fault of the artist, like Cap’s shield being thrown with his right hand and inexplicably coming into the panel from the right side (and only hitting two of the three opponents who were shooting at him in a prior panel on the same page). The editor should have caught that.
So I just learned that Baron von Strucker wears boxer briefs.
I so disagree with any characterization of Kubert’s are being superior to Yu. Yu’s art energized a story short on action and hard on a comic panel structure. Yu made it pop and vibrate. Since Kubert took over (overrated and riding his father’s coattails) I’ve lost interest. Comics are a visual medium let’s not forget that. Coates story needs a strong visual presentation as well or it all gets lost.
Just thought this needed to be said:What is the American Dream, anyway?Freedom from want. Freedom from fear. Freedom of belief. Freedom of speech.And it should be remembered: Your freedom ends where mine begins. My freedom ends where yours begins.
The conventional definition of the American Dream is the idea of equality of opportunity. The idea that anyone, no matter where they start off in society (social class, race, etc), can achieve their goals and succeed. Social mobility without barriers, assuming you put in an unspecified amount of elbow grease.
In other words, much like literal dreams, it is imaginary.
He’s a lying propagandist asshole who quoted completely false and discredited stats to Congress about the southern economy. Comics are doomed thanks to Marvel and DC both being taken in by no-talent race-hustlers like Coates.
I am fucking DOWN for this. You’re right, too; pupils make a big difference.
People are thinking about way too much for a comic book. Its entertainment not philosophy
I enjoyed this write up – good points made all around. In general though, I’ve been super disappointed with Coates time at marvel, esp. considering what esteem I hold him in and his obvious talent for writing. I think one major problems with all his runs is Marvel selling out the art as soon as they think they can get away with it (Yu for Kubert? thats a pass) I’ve found all his arcs just kind of…boring? They don’t go anywhere in particular. Its funny, for a man of such obvious talent and vision to be churning out some ass comics, but no one said it was easy
Still reading the book, though I much preferred the optimistic take on a post-Secret Empire Cap that Mark Waid was writing prior to Coates’ run….and I can’t help but feel like the storyline with wealthy & powerful Russians manipulating public opinion sounded a lot better to the editors during the Mueller investigation than the story we’re stuck with in a post-Mueller Report era. (That isn’t to say we need a Cap that’s more Trump-like; Steve Rogers is always going to have a New Deal liberal political bend to him as a character. If the writers / editorial wanted a Trumpian foil for Cap, that’s what U.S. Agent is kept around for.) The thought process that the American people are so fickle and tractable as to embrace the “new normal” set forth in the early issues of Coates’ run, that’s just not a perspective that’s ever going to resonate with me….or it could just be that I’m not a fan of the GrimDark tone the current run is aiming for.
it feels somehow out of step with the rest of the MCU too – it moves glacially. Feels like cap’s been slowly going to jail for like 10 issues.
Feels like cape comics were plagued with “GRRRRRRRRRRRRIMMMMMMMMMDARRRRRRRRRRRRRRK” for the past 2 decades now, and it’s making them, well, boring.And I don’t think U.S.Agent could ever be described as “Trumpian”. He could be a lot of things Rogers isn’t, but racist is not one of them. I don’t think he took Hydra-Cap’s side in Secret Empire.
I don’t think he took Hydra-Cap’s side in Secret Empire. Looked it up, can confirm he didn’t.
It is boring but not as laughably bad as Waid’s last run.
The whole idea of Cap being emotionally affected by other people wearing the same flag as him (the Nukes) and fighting on an opposite side is exactly the kind of conflict I hoped for when Coates announced he was on this. I just love how much Cap has to sell himself on being Cap in this run.
Kubert’s doing Captain America? With Coates? Shit, count me in. I gotta go pick up this run when I get home today.
Did you check it out?
It’s on my wish list for my next comics purchase.
He’s writing a good Cap. No idea what’s going on in Black Panther right now though. I’m not criticizing it, I’m reading it and I actually have no idea what is going on. Is it the present? The future? Is that a new incarnation of T’Challa or our T’Challa who is currently lost through a wormhole?
I stopped reading Coates’ run once it was obvious he was using the character to make his own personal political points. I didn’t miss anything it appears. I have all of the books (and every Cap book since 1964) so maybe I’ll pick them back up and give Coates’ run another try. I was able to make it through Between the World and Me so this should be cake.