Fantastic Fangirls: Comics and Culture

Posted by Jennifer

It’s no secret that I’m a Captain America fan. But while my love for Captain America was kindled by Ed Brubaker’s run on the title, coupled with Brian Michael Bendis’ New Avengers, I don’t think I truly appreciated the character until I discovered J.M. DeMatteis’ work from the early 1980s. Brubaker and Bendis may have taught me to love Cap, but in issues 267 through 300 DeMatteis taught me to love Steve Rogers as well. The run, which is frequently overlooked and not currently collected in trade, featured a Steve Rogers who was, for the first time in his history, truly living a civilian life in his private identity in addition to his work as Captain America. Steve had a civilian apartment, a civilian job as a commercial artist, civilian friends, and his first real civilian girlfriend, fabulous Brooklyn glassblower Bernie Rosenthal. Steve still had his fair share of superheroic adventures, but the scenes of his private life helped to give them weight, and give readers a sense of the man behind the mask.

So when I heard that J.M. DeMatteis was going to write a comic for IDW based partially on a scrapped idea from his Captain America run, I was more than a little intrigued. The Life and Times of Savior 28 promised to tell a story of a Captain America figure who suddenly turns to pacifism and is assassinated for those newfound beliefs. That had been DeMatteis’ plan, originally – to have Steve Rogers realize that violence isn’t always the answer, and to have him assassinated as a result. Marvel, put off by such a drastic storytelling turn, nixed the idea, and DeMatteis left the book.

But now, over twenty years later, the world is all the better for it, because Savior 28 is the story Captain America could never have been. When DC denied Alan Moore the rights to the Charlton characters for Watchmen, Moore came back with a masterpiece that never would have worked had he been restrained by the limitations of licensed characters. Likewise, DeMatteis never could have told a story like Savior 28 with Captain America, a character whose long history and presence within the Marvel Universe wouldn’t have allowed for a complete conversion to pacifism. The Marvel U is, to be blunt, founded on the idea that beating up supervillains is the ultimate expression of heroism. If that universe’s moral center, the character all others look up to, were to question that foundation, the universe would fall apart. Either all superheroes would have to become pacifists, effectively destroying the genre, or they’d continue to fight and be branded as anti-heroes or outright villains as a result.

Or, as is the case in Savior 28, the fictional universe would have to rise up to oppose pacifism as an option – raising incredibly sticky moral questions for the audience.

It’s this moral question from which Savior 28 begins. The assassination is telegraphed on the cover of issue one, and the hero is dead by page 6. This is not a story about a man grappling with the idea of pacifism after a lifetime of violence, culminating in his tragic demise. It is, rather, the story of that man’s attempt to spread the peace he suddenly believes in, and the ways in which a society used to superheroic protection would react to such a message. Told largely in flashback by the narrator – who also happens to be Savior 28’s conflicted former sidekick – the 5-issue story paints a picture of a universe much like Marvel’s or DC’s, but without a status quo that needs to be preserved indefinitely. As a result, all bets are off, and the inevitable questions the scenario raises are explored with all due complexity.

Savior 28 also benefits from having a completely original character as its hero. While the idea may have come from a Captain America story, and the patriotic costume and World War II origin remain, Savior 28’s alter ego James Smith is an altogether different man than Steve Rogers. He’s an alcoholic and an egotist, savoring the spotlight more than he’d ever admit – in many ways, the complete opposite of Steve. But that makes his transformation to pacifism all the more interesting, because he was never a paragon of virtue to begin with. When he starts to preach peace, his motives are as questionable as his ideals – does he believe what he says, or does he simply crave the attention it brings? It’s an important question, and one that never would have worked had DeMatteis not labored to craft the brilliantly layered characterization that drew me to his writing in the first place.

Finally, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Mike Cavallaro’s gorgeous art. DeMatteis has said that he believes the story languished on the backburner of his mind for so long because it was waiting for the right artist to come along, and I can’t imagine a better fit than Cavallaro. His work, with its clean lines and exaggerated expressions, creates a Jack Kirby-esque look that fits perfectly with the series’ tone and sense of historic resonance. The backgrounds are detailed, the layouts dynamic, the storytelling clear, and the crowd scenes full of expressive individuals. And perhaps most impressively, Cavallaro manages to include images of real political figures in the story which look neither traced nor cartoony; the politicians are all instantly recognizable, but they look absolutely natural standing next to the book’s fictional characters. (A quick look at Cavallaro’s website further demonstrates the artist’s incredible talent and versatility; I hope to see him on many more titles in the future.)

All of this combines to create a truly original deconstruction of the superhero genre, at a time when it seems every angle of analysis has been done ten times before. Though squeezed by economic necessity from a planned 6 issues to 5, The Life and Times of Savior 28 is a complete story worthy of any comic reader’s shelf, and it’s now available in trade. Pick it up, check it out, and see for yourself the story that had me bursting with excitement for the better part of last year.

By Jennifer Smith
E-mail: Jennifer@fantasticfangirls.org
Twitter: throughthebrush