24 Pages

In summer 2009, Marvel teased an upcoming Captain America storyline. They released secretive ads and hinted at something major, something that even the mainstream media might care about. It ended up being rather anticlimactic. The story was Reborn , featuring the resurrection of Steve Rogers (the original Cap), something everyone had expected to happen sooner than later. This detail might be lost to time, but before the real story was revealed, there was a rumor that Captain America's mantle would be picked back up by Isaiah Bradley , a black soldier enhanced by the same Super Soldier Serum as Rogers (detailed in the 2003 miniseries Truth: Red, White, and Black ). I, for one, hoped this would be the case. What better time than during the administration of the first black president for America's most patriotic hero be black as well? It didn't happen, of course. Blond-haired blue-eyed Rogers came back. And Isiaiah Bradley remains on the sidelines, as does the idea of a main...

Watchmen , a 12 issue miniseries from DC Comics that ran from September 1986 to October 1987, is almost universally hailed as a groundbreaking work. Sophisticated, literate, complex, and bleak, it's considered the first time we really saw superheroes behaving badly, and the debut of the costumed hero who lived in the moral gray areas of reality. But it's not (excuse me while I sweep away the remnants of that straw man I just knocked down). I submit to you Marvel's Squadron Supreme , a 12-issue miniseries that ran from September 1985 to August 1986. The run has some interesting parallels to Watchmen . Both starred analogues of existing heroes (the Watchmen characters were based on Charlton heroes Blue Beetle, Lady Phantom, Captain Atom, Thunderbolt, Peacemaker, and The Question; the Squadron Supreme were created as parodies of DC's Justice League of America ). Both series ran for 12 issues and featured shocking moments and big ideas. And yes, both forced their heroes t...