Captain America

No this isn't about the movie, I hear it is good though! I will check it out at some point. This is about the comics.

As some of you may be aware, there is a new Captain America comic series out, the first issue ends with Cap revealing he has somehow been a Hydra double agent - essentially a Nazi, for decades. Some folks are in an uproar about this, it being a giant change to character who has stood for everything the Nazi's aren't for generations.

Sometimes I wonder if nerds read the same comics I do, I mean, who gives a crap as long as it is a good story? Also, anyone who has read comics for any length of time knows that they always revert to the status quo, no one stays dead, no plot hook is left alone forever, and no major changes stick around. Off the top of my head I can think of a few options to explain the change: A clone, alternate dimension duplicate, really good disguise or a shapeshifter replacing Cap. Or how about mind control? No shortage of that in the Marvel universe, could be a robot I suppose, or a reality warping power, Hydra always seems to have a Cosmic Cube when it needs one, or if you want to get really ridiculous, Cap has always been a double agent, except... he's actually been a super secret triple agent working for SHIELD all along!

All of that took exactly one minute to think of, I am sure there are others but I imagine one or more of the above will be the explanation. I don't feel like it is controversial to say that a few issues of a maybe evil Captain America don't really matter, even in comics.

But really, doing that would almost be a cop out, I mean if you are going to make a controversial change to an iconic character, go all out, if the creative team think they have a good enough explanation to make something like that stick, then I feel like they should totally go for it, I want to read something that can convince me a change like this makes sense in the context of the comic book.

An iconic institution, possibly the most visible example of freedom and justice that can be found, turns out that, once a bit of digging is done, it is founded upon lies and has worked against those ideals since its very inception.
Am I talking about the Captain, or just America? Yeah it's a heavy handed metaphor, but super hero comics are not usually a subtle format. You can extend it further though, let's say Steve Rodgers is a villain and either dies or continues as such for the rest of his existence in comic books, this change is permanent, you think the Captain America name will be dropped? Just because something doesn't live up to the ideals doesn't mean those ideals aren't worth it, someone else will pick up the mantle and fight the fight.

The first theory, the "not really Cap" one, is probably more accurate, but I want to see the latter option, let's see writers really go for a brand new interpretation of the character and use it to tell some stories that might make us uncomfortable, and to at least look askance at the institutions we place trust in, there isn't anything wrong with that at all.