21 Guns
The last issue of Fallen Son drops on Thursday. I’ve been some what underwhelmed by the send off. While Loeb’s theme/issue breakdowns are simple and effective the execution has come off clunky.
Wolverine acts as the common thread between issues; perusing his own investigation into Cap’s death. As far as devices go, it works.
Of course one of Cap’s old war buddies, the grisliest of all, is going to go poking around. Fits especially well with all of Logan’s adopted samurai ethics too. But somehow it never really takes off. We keep covering ground that was mined in main-titles and minis/specials that shipped on time.
Not to mention determining the validity of Cap’s corpse has been the subject of no less than three Marvel stories since March. Two of which include Wolverine.
Even though much of it was alluded to at the wake in Captain America #26, the actual funeral is the only new insight promised in this book. According to an associated press article the finale intends to see Captain Steve Rogers entombed at Arlington National Cemetery. This turn of events feels especially awkward.
Captain America went down in public disgrace. That’s how you take down a hero, his name has to be mud first otherwise you risk the Martyr factor. If Civil War did nothing else it set Cap and his ideals against popular opinion. The stunt burial at Arlington feels like back peddling on that story.
He was at odds with the current administration’s policies. Sure, maybe no one wants to speak ill of the dead but they aren’t throwing this guy any parades. He was the resistance, he was seeking to undermine the authority of the State. He and his secret Avengers were 100% committed to revolutionary action which effectively amounts to treason when you lose.
The way I see it Steve Rogers gets a plaque in DC at the WW2 monument. Maybe he’s laid to rest in Central Park. It would be this final insult to Captain America’s legacy. It’s lip service to his war time contribution while failing to recognize his life-time service as a United States solider.
This mini could have done more good for Captain America’s legacy by trashing it instead of artificially inflating it.
-Johnny Zito
