Last night Marvel head honcho (official title) Joe Quesada went on the Colbert Report to announce that Steve Rogers was stepping down from the mantle of Captain America. He would be replaced by Sam Wilson, Steve's best friend and previously the superhero known as Falcon. Now this has hardly been the first time that Steve Rogers has stepped away from being Captain America. Off the top of my head I think he's done it 4 times now in the last 30 years. Sam Wilson wouldn't be the first black Captain America either as that honor goes to Isiah Bradley the first super soldier who was retconned into Marvel history about 10 years ago.
I guess what I'm getting at is we're not exactly going over new ground here. Still an African American Captain America is a big thing and it's cool that Marvel is making some national news over their creative decisions. I probably won't be picking up the book, I find the writer to be really hit or miss and I didn't really like his first few issues of Cap. Still if this gets a few more people into the comic book shop that's a good thing. Sam Wilson being Captain America doesn't ruin the character, it doesn't do anything to damage his 70 year history. It's just a new chapter in the constantly growing mythology and it's an exciting one at that. Before RDJ made Iron Man a household name the 3 most recognizable Marvel characters were Spider-Man, Hulk and Captain America BY A MILE. One of those three characters is now a minority, that's not pandering that's just cool. It just so happens that it's also probably going to be very good for business.
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