Captain America: Rightbloggers Find a New Enemy of the People

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As seen from the French Revolution forward, partisans of a populist movement that claims to represent the will of the people against The Man must be constantly on guard against mockery or criticism by its enemies. No slight, however minor, can be left unaddressed, lest it feed the worm of doubt, which might undermine the cause.

A recent case in point: The inclusion of some Tea Party taglines in a Captain America comic book.

Even casual readers of comics may have noticed that superheroes have been tackling controversial topics since the 60s at least — remember the groovy Green Lantern/Green Arrow racism and heroin story lines? — and, as Skulls in the Stars points out, since being thawed out of his block of ice in 1964, Marvel’s Captain America has been no exception. But till now, such adventures were mostly hotly debated only by comics nerds, rather than by the political kind.