Ah, but Captain America wasn't an immensely powerful being. While he did take the Super Serum, it only pushed his body to around the human limit - while no slouch, he wasn't superhuman.

I'd quibble with the comic book analogies: Captain America could never have taken over the world, the Justice League and the Avengers both followed World War II by more than a decade so they aren't very relevant to the "Greatest Generation", and Spiderman seems like a bad example because he actually is usually a loner and outlaw. But like I said, quibbling.

More substantively, I agree with and like the column. My only real problem with it is that talking about America as one single entity is too reductive. America is a nation of about 300 million people, who make up at the very least two cultural and ideological factions, and probably dozens. In the months immediately following 9/11, there was near-unanimity on a Jack Bauer foreign policy, but judging by polling shortly before the war, people only supported the war on condition that it would be a Superman's war rather than a Jack Bauer's. After the war there was a "rally round the flag" effect, but that faded well before its effects manifested in elections and stuff.

The faction(s) now in power in America have a Jack Bauer mentality, definitely. America as a whole, though, the hypothetical median American, had a Jack Bauer mentality in late 2001 and through 2002, but not before or since.

Maybe that's a distinction without a difference, or maybe it doesn't matter because what I'm saying focused too much on partisan politics and not enough on principles, I don't know. But to me it looks like attributing the Jack Bauer mentality to "the country" seems fatalistic. "America's national anxieties led to a disastrous foreign policy. Well, it's not like we can get America on a psychologist's couch, so we just have to live with it. Too bad. You know, the Ledeen Doctrine sounds like a good confidence-building exercise."

Phthppt.

Where does Green Lantern fit in?

I have to disagree on a few fundamental points here. First, Captain America definitely killed people. He went through whole platoons of Nazis - you think he hit everyone just right with his shield so they'd have a bad headache and nothing more?? Second, Spiderman's maxim about "with great power comes great responsibility" was not about restraint; it specifically was about the obligation of the powerful to stand up for/protect the powerless. Third, Superman was kind of a tool. I mean, who the hell names himself Superman and then, as if that wasn't enough, puts a freakin' "S" on his chest to make sure everyone knows how super he is? Lame...

and don't forget the upcoming Iron Man movie. Iron Man was initially the most extreme American imperialist,,, but eventually came out against Vietnam and repudiated his entire history up to that point. Ahhh... being a teen reading comics in the '70s.

and don't forget the upcoming Iron Man movie. Iron Man was initially the most extreme American imperialist,,, but eventually came out against Vietnam and repudiated his entire history up to that point. Ahhh... being a teen reading comics in the '70s.

Captain America has some super powers. He is virtually immune to disease and is highly resistant to all poisons. The super-soldier serum also prevents the build-up of toxins in his system, which prevents him from tiring or becomming weaker during a fight. This enables him to do things that are outside of human parameters, so it's classifiable as a 'super-power'.

He also has some specialized equipment, thought it's debateble if that counts. His bullet and impact-proof shield can be thrown and controlled with magnetic devices in his wrists (though he periodically removes them), and he wears specialized chain-mail (as said in the comics, but it's obviously scale-mail in the artwork).

Yes, I know I'm a dork.

What about a U.S. - Batman analogy? Batman constantly worked outside the law, was never concerned with questions of due process or protection against illegal searches and seizures. Basically nothing Batman ever did could have ever been admissible by a prosecutor in court under normal circumstances. It's a Constitutional nightmare.

Err, had. I guess. Though I have my doubts.

And if it stays this way, Bucky has a cyborg arm and thats definately a super-power.

Jesse, a guy who bench presses 747's and shoots death-rays out of his eyes.

If he were real, would you argue with him?

Don't forget, Superman is a Dick.

Number 54 is particularly relevant.

The DC Comics Universe is not a suicide pact.

Soullite,

I would not argue with him, but I would certainly speak ill of him behind his back (or just make rude hand gestures, since he does have super-hearing).

Shawn: All true, but last time I checked the U.S. does kill while Batman does not. Also Batman's kind of isolationist, he has a habit of pulling out of various leagues or groups so that he can focus on crime-fighting in Gotham.

Also, I did have a similar idea as the one suggested by Ropty. This article really naturally leads to a Superman vs. Green Lantern vs. Batman IR Theory discussion.

Oh, they covered where Green Lantern fits in a while ago - modern conservatives as a whole base their support of war on the GL Corps. Namely, that by having enough will, they can overcome anything. Great idea for a comic book, tremendously bad idea for a foreign policy.

You know, if we're going to really get into Captain America as symbol of American foreign policy, we also have to bring up U.S. Agent, his would-be replacement and, in canon, much more controversial figure. Agent was promoting the Jack Bauer way well before Bauer was.

Not bad, but could use a bit more analysis.

For example, Superman/Captain America represent more than just "America" the good. They represent particular snapshots of America. Superman, for example, is tied into the assimilation myth - he's the ultimate immigrant success story (an undocumented immigrant at that!), transformed by the simple virtues of rural Kansas. Now, politically, he's something of a mess. On the one hand, his intro story has him cracking down on a gang of criminals trying to circumvent NRA rubber codes. On the other, he's been portrayed as the "Ultimate Boy Scout," very much in hand with government - a theme Frank Miller took to the extreme in Batman Returns.

Captain America is even more defined - he represents America as the Arsenal of Democracy, that one shining moment when we lived up to our own rhetoric. Captain America is supposed to be an unemployed New Yorker (not a farmboy) who volunteers for the War Against Fascism, who preserves the memory of the Four Freedoms, the Economic Bill of Rights, the Full Employment Act. During the Marvel Civil War event, Captain America stands up for habeus corpus, due process, etc. and leads a resistance movement against the government.

As for Green Lantern, I always took the GL Corps as an analogue to UN Peacekeepers done right: a multi-national, multi-ethnic force, upholding human rights throughout the universe, etc.

1) Captain America didn't form the Avengers, they were already formed and found him in ice.

2) Which version of Captain America are we talking about here and which Superman?

3) In Superman IV, Superman wasn't benevolent and decided to shape international policy by destroying all nuclear weapons, similar to to what the US is doing today with it's bringing democracy. But Supe's case it was peace.

4) I think a much better topic would be the recent assassination of Captain America and it's statement on liberty.

"If Superman and Captain America were the emblems of the national mood directly after World War II.." - Ezra you need to check your history, both characters existed pre-WWII and Marvel's universe entered WWII before the real US did.

I'll have a much longer rebuttal at my blog covering comics and politics, www.graphicpolicy.com

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