NM State Aggies vs Nevada Wolfpack Football 8-27-22 Part 2

 

Continued from Part 1.

 

Halftime Recap

Let’s take a moment to look at the out-of-town scores.

 

NBC was finally running a NASCAR race tonight, as opposed to putting on cable where I can’t watch.  However, they were in a rain delay when I left for the game.  Ron had no Internet access at the stadium, so I didn’t find out until the next day that it had been rained out and moved to Sunday morning.  I missed it, but there was another rain delay before the end and I thought I could have watched, but it finished on cable.  It wasn’t meant to be.

 

Aggie pitching alum, Kyle Bradish, pitched the Orioles to victory on Friday over the Astros.  He went 8 innings and gave up 0 runs.  Aggie Soccer finished a three-game road trip on Saturday.  They went 0-1-1.  However, in their two losses, they only gave up 4 goals against very good teams.  Aggie Volleyball finished playing three matches in Tucson with three three-set sweeps.  They won two of those sweeps, but lost to host Arizona. 

 

At the same time as this game down the road, UTEP was also playing a Week 0 game against North Texas.  They also had a sellout program going and had 45,000 in attendance.  It’s kind of too bad both teams were playing the same day.  There might have been people who would have otherwise attended both.  They were on national (and local TV) on Stadium.  They also had weather issues, which included rain and an hour delay to the start of the game.  It was a 31-13 loss for the Miners.  (I downloaded their digital program.  It was a bit better.  There was a player interview.)

 

Third Quarter

Wave the Wonder Dog finally got to retrieve a tee after an Aggie kickoff.  Nevada got a first down on their first series, but holding call derailed them.  The Aggies got the ball back and there was another popup interception.  This would have been the fourth of the game and given the Wolfpack the ball on the Aggie 20.  The booth called for a review on the play and the catch was ruled a trap.  Whew!  But, it was still a 3-and-out.

 

Josh Carlson got off another good punt to put the Wolfpack on their 30.  Torren Union unloaded a huge hit on the receiver, who should fair caught that one.  Nate Cox came in as the new Nevada QB.   Shane Illingworth was no small fry, but at 6’9”, Cox was enormous on field and afterward when we saw him being interviewed on the concourse. 

 

Cox worked the ball downfield well at first.  The Aggies did have to take another timeout for untimely player subs.  Cox got one first down on a keeper.  Then another bad snap cost them 8 yards.  The defense came up big and stopped two pass plays with no gain.  Nevada also had a penalty, which was declined, and another penalty on the punt, which gave the Aggies 5 yards.  The Sundancers performed in the endzone after the change of possession.

 

Coach Kill also brought in a bigger quarterback in 6’4” Gavin Frakes.  There was some cheering for bringing in a sub after four interceptions (one waved off) and a fumble by the starter.  Frakes quickly ingratiated himself with the fans with a 67-yard bomb to Justice Powers, who probably also rushed for about 20 of that.  This totally charged up the crowd.  In the red zone, Frakes found Kordell David for the touchdown in the back corner.  (A lady walked by in front of me and totally obscured my view to it.)  17-9 Nevada.

Hey, where was the cannon fire?  For once, I was prepared for the post-scoring cannon shot that usually startles me, but nothing happened.  Ron told me that the ROTC students had abandoned their post at halftime.  Man, the Band and the Cheerleaders (and us) stayed to the end, but the soldiers deserted? 

 

That was some momentum, but Nevada came back with a long drive that depleted the rest of the quarter.  In Aggie territory, Wolfpack player, Jacob Nunez, got flattened on a play.  They brought out an air-cast and the cart for him.  The Cheerleaders took a kneeling position for him.  Nunez was helped up and out and got a round of applause from the crowd.

 

Fourth Quarter

Well, this is what we wanted for this late-starting game with a lengthy weather delay; an injury delay and then a long break for the quarter.  I was glad I’d taken a nap this afternoon.  Ron and probably most of the rest of the remaining crowd were stifling yawns at around 11:30pm.  Ron reminded me that I’d said, “We’d evaluate staying after the third quarter.”  “Yeah, so?” was my response.  “That’s what I thought,” he said.  Admittedly, if the score was closer to his blowout prediction, there would have been a discussion.

 

The first play of the fourth was a Wolfpack field goal to give them a 20-9 lead.  Given the length of the drive, that was another good hold by the Aggie defense.  Frakes came out firing bullets and moving the Aggies downfield, but there was an ineligible receiver penalty on the drive.  Frakes ran for one first down on a blown bootleg being chased by two defenders.  A Nevada holding penalty on a third down gave the Aggies another first down.  If not for the call, there would have been another interception on the play.  A dropped pass on a crossing pattern forced the Aggies to settle for a 46-yard field by Ethan Albertson.  20-12 Wolfpack.   

 

Coach Kill was not happy and chewed out the offense when they got back to the sidelines.  The crowd was bleeding out with 8 minutes left in the game.  Nevada got the ball and began executing another long drive with short gains.  The defense would have gotten a stop at one point, but a facemask penalty gave Nevada a new set of downs.  There was a play where it looked like the Aggies might have gotten an interception on a popup, but it was waved off.  There was no review, disgruntling the remaining fans. 

 

The Aggies had to take a timeout to stop the clock.  The Band played the Macarena.  The Cheerleaders danced to it.  As the medley of songs continued, the girls started doing a doe-see-doe.  The defense held Nevada to a 38-yard field goal.  23-12 Wolfpack.

 

That large group of fans in the northwest corner of the stadium had not left.  Who are they?  Even the Cheerleaders were yawning now.  The Aggies started their drive with 1:35 on the clock and a false start.  After that, they got rolling with a series of first down passes.  A pass interference call gave them another first down.  Inside the Nevada 10 and under a minute, Frakes had to spike the ball on second down.  On third down, he threw into double coverage into the back corner of the endzone for another interception.  It was the fifth Aggie turnover (not including two reversed calls).  Cox took a knee for the last play and the win, 23-12 Wolfpack final.

 

I saw Athletic Director Mario Moccia unhappy on the sidelines late in the fourth quarter.  I can see not see being happy with the score and the weather delay, but really, everything under his control went well.  He hired a coach who has made the team look competitive.  Him and his staff filled the stadium for the game. 

 

I hope Mario’s not pissed at the fans for not evacuating the stadium when there was no imminent threat and is contemplating closing concessions down for the next two games to punish everyone.  (Of course that did happen after the Pack the Pan-Am incident (2-15-22) earlier in the year.  It’s fortunate the Men’s Basketball team went on to win the WAC Championship and an NCAA Tournament game and everyone forgot all about that.)

 

A couple had sat down behind us late in the game.  The girl looked familiar, but I wasn’t sure and didn’t want to bother anybody.  After the game, when they got up and left, I saw her strong thighs.  Oh, crap!  That was Jordan Abalos, one of my favorite former volleyball players.  And that was her husband, former football player, Dalton Herrington.  I was wearing the commemorative shirt from the bowl win he was part of. 

 

The Volleyball Twitter had posted a story that Jordan was coaching a volleyball team now.  She’d also recovered from her terrible injuries and managed to play beach volleyball for Arizona.  I felt like such a dummy for not saying something when they were right behind us.  They went down to the field and talked to a coach there.  Jordan played with Wave when he came by them.  I hoped they might come back into the stands, but didn’t.  Oh, well. 

 

So that’s it for midnight football tonight.  The Band played everyone out.  Ron and I had a long walk back in dark.  The boots I was wearing gave me a pair of sore legs the next day.  Pistol Pete passed by on a motorized skateboard, as did some of the Cheerleaders.  There was supposed to be a call-in talk show on the radio after the game.  My radio gave out before it happened.  I don’t know how people would have called in so late, but there were probably a few.  (From listening to some radio reaction later, the people in El Paso were pissed about the Miners.  They showed up and the team didn’t.)

 

The good news is that I think the Aggie defense is legit.  They gave up no big passing plays and just a couple of long runs.  (Wolfpack RB’s Toa Taua had over 100 yards and Devante Lee had 2 touchdowns rushing.)  The defense allowed two long series, but they ended in field goals.  The five turnovers on offense was a problem.  (Isaiah Essissima got 2 interceptions for the Wolfpack.  I guess I’m only highlighting Nevada players for this game.) 

 

Perhaps the bigger one was the lack of a running game, as QB Diego Pavia was the leading rusher.  Coach Kill stuck with him a little too long, though.  Then there were the penalties, substitution issues, and the dropped passes (I’m including two of those interceptions as essentially drops).

 

Ron was grouchy afterward, grumbling all the way back, but admitted the Aggies played better than he thought they would.  The newspaper account was reasonably encouraged, as was I.  The team should be able to improve on some of these issues.  I suspect both quarterbacks will be in play for a while and that issue isn’t settled.  I’m sort of planning on going to at least one more football game at some point, but let’s do this a bit earlier in the evening.    

 

NM State Aggies vs Nevada Wolfpack Football 8-27-22 Part 1

Welcome to the Kill Era.  Aggie Football is now under the leadership of Jerry Kill.  He comes in with an impressive record of turning around college football programs.  (Hopefully, he doesn’t leave here at the end of his contract in tears, a broken man.)  In an interview a couple of days before the game, he genuinely didn’t seem to know how the team was going to do, or how good the Nevada Wolfpack was.  Ron, who I was going to the game with, predicted a 35-3 Nevada win.  I was a bit more hopeful than that, but did say we’d “evaluate” staying for the whole game after the third quarter.    

 

This game was extensively marketed to the community and local businesses responded by picking up a large number of tickets.  AD Mario Moccia on the pregame was even having discussions about the absolute capacity of Aggie Memorial Stadium (29k).  Total attendance turned out to be 23,000, which was still pretty awesome, especially compared to the last game I was at (11-27-21).  Being a “Week 0” game with few other games going, this game also got national coverage on ESPN2.  Unfortunately, that set the game time back to 8:00pm, which is why I put in that “evaluation.”  The Aggies will accommodate anything to get on national TV.      

 

Most of the day it had been threatening with storms in the area.  By game time, it didn’t seem threatening at all.  Ron and I went for dinner at McAlisters and arrived at the stadium an hour early.  The Aggie Band was playing by the east side of the Pan Am Center when we got there.  The Pride of New Mexico Marching Band’s membership has swelled to over 260 members this year.  (Or was it 360?  I heard the number this week.)  Regardless, Ron didn’t want to pass by them on the way to the stadium and we went on the other side of the building.  (On the west side of the Pan Am there’s a bunch of large discarded junk, including an old scoreboard and a washing machine?)     

We got in thanks to tickets from my workplace.  (Thanks.)  They were handing out programs up front.  This image is not that program; this is from the “digital” program.  The physical program was just one page folded with the rosters.  The digital program was not much more informative, which was disappointing, given that you don’t have worry about the page count.  Trevor Brohard on the cover is one of the defensive leaders on the team.  During the game, they called his name a lot on tackles, along with Chris Ojoh.  I saw an older couple wearing matching jerseys with Brohard on the back at the front gate.  They might have been his parents.

 

I’d been wanting some kettle corn, so I took care of that up front, along with some cinnamon-roasted nuts.  The nuts were great, but, though they were popping the corn there, I didn’t seem to get a bag of the fresh stuff.  Our seats were on the south end, west side, in the lower bowl, row four.  We were close to the action, when it was on our end.  I said, “Hello,” to a few nearby co-workers.  One was Melika, our former Aggie Softball player.  She’d told me that her team used to be paid $2000 by the Football team to handout programs and then clean the stadium after the game.  Good times.

 

On the sidelines, I was a bit worried as I saw the camera operator on a crane car in front of us buttoning up his camera with a rain cover.  It didn’t seem like there was any nearby rain, but it was near sundown.  A squad of Cheerleaders was performing in front of us for the game.  The student section on the other side of the stadium was full (and they were standing as always), as were the center season ticketholder section and the northwest section.  I don’t know who was in that section, but when the Aggie players came off the field from warming up, they went up to the stands and saluted them. 

 

On the other side, the student section booed the Wolfpack coming off, though there were a good number of fans in the visitors section.  The band was introduced on to the field.  Wave the Wonder Dog got his own introduction.  Pistol Pete on horseback led the team back out.  On the other side, a titanic boo went up to greet the Wolfpack.  Unfortunately, Pete tried to ride the horse (I’ve heard the horse’s name, but can’t remember it) back up the ramp as the team was coming out.  The horse got spooked and Pete had to get off and lead him by the reins out of the stadium.  This seemed like a bad sign. 

 

(I’ve already gotten popcorn stuck in my teeth by this point and spit out several unpopped kernels.  This may have been a more ominous sign.) 

 

First Quarter

Nevada won the toss and deferred to the second half.  (All football writers are required to report on the coin toss.)  Me and Ron were listening to the radio call, which was occasionally drown out by the crowd.  I noticed flashes of lightning to the north as the game began.

 

Diego Pavia was the Aggie quarterback.  He’s listed at 6’, but seemed short on the field compared to the other players.  He rushed for a first down and had a 20 yard pass for another first down.  Unfortunately, the series came up dry after a missed 43-yard field goal by Ethan Albertson.  Shane Illingworth (6’ 6”) started at quarterback for the Wolfpack.  The Aggie defense was stout on their first series and caused a 3-and-out.

 

Hey, the Aggie Baseball team was on field right below us.  Melika had told me that the Baseball and Football teams hate each other from fighting over girlfriends.  (What a great source of gossip I now have access to.)  They were honored on field for winning the WAC Championship between quarters, but they were going to have to wait awhile for that.

 

I was still seeing flashes to the north.  The Aggies got the ball back.  Pavia got first downs on passes to Jamoni Jones and Dominic Gicinto.  Unfortunately on fourth and 3 on the Nevada 24, Pavia threw a pick into the endzone for an interception.  I thought he could have run for it, but Ron said there was a defender right on him that forced the throw. 

 

Then the referees suddenly stopped play.  An announcement was made that the game was in a lightning delay for at least 30 minutes.  The fans were instructed to vacate the stands.  Like I said, the stands were pretty much full, so this wasn’t going to be quick under emergency circumstances.  Under the circumstances here though, you couldn’t even hear the thunder.  (There was distant thunder once later.)  In other words, there was no perceived threat to merit mass response. 

 

So half the crowd didn’t move in spite of repeated announcements.  They even showed a picture of the lightning strike on the Jumbotron.  Actually, some fans appeared to be leaving just so they could hit the Concessions and then return to their seats.  Wave’s handler had him practice retrieving a tee on the field.  Just as attendants were starting to shoo people out their seats, the trainers came back on field and then the teams.  Someone shouted, “Thanks, ESPN!”  I wonder if they did have something to do with the game restarting more quickly.      

 

45-minutes later, we were back to the action and any thought of getting home before midnight evaporated.  Most of the crowd did come back or never moved.  We had the first penalty as a holding call moved Nevada back on their way to another 3-and-out.  The Aggies got the ball back on their 49-yard line.  There was an illegal formation call before the quarter expired.

 

Second Quarter

The Baseball team finally got their moment on field.  Hey, that ball boy kid that took infield with the team was with them.  They tossed souvenir balls (not baseballs) into the crowd.

 

The Aggie drive resumed, but turned into a 3-and-out after a dropped third down pass.  Josh Carlson punted and sent the Wolfpack back to their 13-yard line.  I wonder if he’s still dating Lindsay Blakey, who’s MIA from the Volleyball team.  Illingworth took a bad snap on third down and had to fall on it in the endzone.  Safety!  We have a score 2-0 Aggies.  There’s a kickoff after to the Aggies.  I thought it was a free kick (punt) after a safety?      

 

During their series, the Aggies had to burn their second timeout.  Both times, it was because of personnel running on and off the field.  Coach Kill was chewing out the team during the break.  Pavia rushed on two straight plays and took a hard lick on both as he ran to the sideline.  On the second one, he got 27 yards and a 15-yard chop block penalty was added to it.  Unfortunately, the next pass deflected off the receiver and popped up for another pick.   

 

Starting from their 20, Wolfpack picked up 5 yards on an illegal substitution.  More personnel coming on and off problems for the Aggies.  The Wolfpack went up tempo.  They broke off a long run to midfield.  A 30+ yard run took Nevada to the endzone and a 7-2 lead.  It was just that easy.  

Worse, when the Aggies got the ball back, they had another interception on a pass downfield.  The Wolfpack got the ball back near midfield.  Coach Kill was giving it to one of the refs after the first play, so he’ll go after anybody.  Nevada went down and got it to first and goal.  The Aggie defense came up big and held, including a sack by Lazarus Williams (pictured in the poster above).  The Aggies had to burn their last timeout to avoid flag right after.  They still held Nevada to a field goal.  10-2 Wolfpack.

 

The Aggies were temporarily in possession of the ball.  On third down, there was a sack and fumble on the Aggie 18-yard line by Pavia.  The Wolfpack got a first down from there.  Brohard completely upended Illingworth on a rush, but he would throw a touchdown on the next play.  The Aggies were also offsides on the play.  17-2 Nevada.  The Aggies got in one play before halftime. 

 

Halftime

The Cheerleaders on sidelines danced during the break to a Michael Jackson song.  They had the moves.  They then immediately dispersed into the stands.  Kids were rolling on the grassy hill in front of the Fulton Center at the south end of the stadium.        

 

I went to the bathroom.  The Band performed, but either it was a short set or I was in line longer than I thought I was and missed all of it.  Some athletic, classy-looking young women gathered on the sidelines.  Ron and I decided they were the Aggie Women’s Golf team.  (I wonder if the football and baseball players are fighting over them.  They're attractive and could help with their golf game.)  They were waiting to be honored on field later for winning the WAC, but in the meantime, their coach gave them their Championship rings, which delighted them.  (Melika showed me her Softball Championship ring.  It’s huge and magnificent.) 

 

Most of the original crowd was still here after the half, though a bunch of students had left.  It was past their bedtime.  Before the start of the second half, Pistol Pete took to an elevated crane, which raised him over the goalpost to unveil a banner and he waved an Aggie flag.

 

Continued in Part 2.  

Comics Review: Captain America-Penguin Classics Marvel Collection

 

When I read the Captain America commemorative magazine (9-17-21), I came away with rather ambiguous feelings.  The patriotic superhero hasn’t been quite the flag-waver you’d think over the years.  I was sort of vaguely aware of that, but the magazine spelled it out explicitly and celebrated it.  At the moment, my own nationalistic feelings are a bit mixed on some issues.  It’s complicated and this is a book review, so let’s move on.

 

The one definite about thing the magazine was that it made want to read some Captain America comics, especially the issues drawn by Jim Steranko.  Lo, there suddenly appeared at Barnes & Noble a set of three volumes featuring classic comic book material.  My birthday was coming up.  I asked dad for the Captain America one as a present, which he obliged. 

 

These Marvel Collection volumes are produced by Penguin Classics.  By virtue of this publishing, these comic book stories are now considered “literature.”  The two other volumes featured 60’s Spider-Man and Black Panther.  I thought I’d probably already read the Spider-Man material (likely from reading Marvel Tales reprints back in the 80’s). 

 

The Black Panther one looked fun and interesting, until I flipped to the back and he was fighting the Klan.  Oh, boy.  Here’s another topic I’m going to dodge.  (This review is going to get long enough just covering the material.)  Suffice to say, regardless of the cultural relevance of its time, it made me uncomfortable, especially the extreme mixed metaphor panel I saw featuring Black Panther strapped to a flaming cross. 

 

I was wondering why one of the volumes wasn’t the Fantastic Four, arguably the most important title in creating Marvel comics.  That volume and an Avengers volume are mentioned in the text of the Captain America volume, though neither has actually come out to this point.  I suppose we can also look forward to Iron Man, Hulk, Thor, and the X-Men being added to the collection.  However, if they’re all featuring just 60’s material, that’s not their best runs.  (Definitely not the X-Men, but that’d probably be the most iconic Fantastic Four run.) 

 

This is a hefty book coming in at 360 pages and printed on thick bright white paper.  (This kind of paper may reproduce the color and art better than slick paper.)  It was $28 retail, which isn’t unreasonable.  It took me awhile to read this.  I wanted to really look over the artwork and enjoy it.  The book also smells good.  The fragrance could be called “Pleasantly Booky.” 

 

There are three text intros upfront.  Yes, three.  There is a Series Introduction to the Marvel Collection (including a discussion about the “Marvel Method” of creating comics).  It’s informational.  There’s a Forward by cartoonist, Gene Luen Yang, whose qualification to write this was that he’s a Captain America fan.  Then there’s the Volume Introduction talking about Captain America’s publishing history from 1941 to 1969, which are covered by this book. 

 

It’s over 30 pages of text and is fairly comprehensive on the creation of the character and his subsequent revival.  Frankly though, it’s kind of a slow start to a book that everyone is buying to for the action comic pages.  There are a few interspersed text pages to introduce specific material.  There is some brutally honest commentary regarding the writing and art.  In an effort to look more prestigious, there are a few pretentious blank title pages.  There’s even an outright filler page so that a double page spread could be displayed on the next page.  Even with the wasted space, you’re going to get plenty of comics. 

The comics section begins with Captain America’s 40’s origin, along with a couple of other stories from that era by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, including the first appearance of the Red Skull.  The stories and art are a bit rough here, but there is an energy and enthusiasm common to the Golden Age.

 

After WWII, Captain America was cancelled.  (Twitter was vicious, even back then.)  There was an attempt at bringing him back in the 50’s as the “Commie Smasher,” but that fell away, too.  In 1963, Captain America was revived in Avengers #4 (partially reprinted in one of the appendices).  He then shared a dual-bill comic in Tales of Suspense with Iron Man.  Stan Lee and Jack Kirby handled the writing and art.  Being half an issue, these stories focused mostly on action in a single setting. 

When I was a kid, I’d seen Kirby’s blockier and overly inked art in Devil Dinosaur and Black Panther in the 70’s and wasn’t impressed.  (Though I did like his Captain America Bicentennial Battles Treasury edition.)  In the comics in this section, we can see Kirby’s furiously dynamic art style in full stride.  It is impressive.    

After a modern story, which was pretty much just a long fight scene, the next story flashed back to retell of Captain America’s origin, along with redoing the other Golden Age stories printed earlier.  This seemed like an unnecessary repetition.  The updated versions were much better than the originals.  I can see the editor being in a quandary of which to include and chose them both.   

I admit to loving the bizarre premise of Captain America’s alter ego, Steve Rogers, being a screw up private harassed by a domineering sergeant and hanging out with the camp mascot, Bucky.  Some of the letters pages from the issues are reprinted giving the fan reactions to Cap’s reappearance.  I kind of dug the Old School Checklist on the pages.

 

As documented in the text, the creators seemed to struggled with what to do with Captain America in his solo title.  They settled for a while on doing WWII stories.  One story reprinted in the book has the Red Skull telling Cap his own origin after capturing him. After brainwashing Cap, we then get this amusing encounter with Hitler. 

Captain America’s adventures returned to the present with a new direction.  Cold War spying was the zeitgeist of the era.  The James Bond influence was everywhere in the mid-60’s.  (Even Archie rifted off it as the Man from RIVERDALE.)  Nick Fury, Agent of SHIELD was already a Marvel comic.  Cap as a superpowered hero against shadowy organizations bent on world domination was a natural.  (Where are you now, Cap?  The WEF is right out in the open.)  Captain America becomes affiliated with Fury and has a SHIELD badge, but isn’t quite a government agent.  They wanted to keep him independent for now to continue with the Avengers and to not be subject to orders from superiors.

 

However, Captain America was still always haunted by his past, much like other Marvel heroes.  Apart from blaming himself for Bucky’s death, he’s also pining away for a beautiful unnamed French Partisan girl he was in love with.  In the present day (the 60’s), Cap runs into an unnamed SHIELD agent that powerfully reminds him of her and reawakens his feelings.  (Yes, being nameless was really awkward in these stories.)    

Cap encounters Batroc in this volume, runs afoul of Them (which is either the worst or the best name for an international conspiracy, I don’t know which), he fights an all-powerful Red Skull holding the Cosmic Cube, and fights AIM, who works for Them, but who were also tricked into serving the Red Skull, it’s a multilayered conspiracy.  (Notice that all these 60’s secret agent characters weren’t fighting real world villain organizations, unlike Black Panther as mentioned above.) 

 

The prize villain here (in my opinion) is Modok!  He’s Kirby-level magnificent in appearance.  AIM, working for Them, was also subordinate to their own creation, a Big Giant Head in a floating chair.  (I’m beginning to understand why, when Dracula encountered an AIM operative in an issue of Dr. Strange, he referred to him as “A yellow-clad clown.”) 

 

After this, Cap proposes to Agent 13.  (During his adventure with her, Cap only got her SHIELD designation.)  She turns him down.  Given that she won’t give Cap her name, this isn’t surprising, except to every other woman on the planet, who of course would have married Captain America immediately.  (Yes, this woman is Sharon Carter.  It’s not brought up in the book.)  Cap goes ahead and uncovers his secret identity as Steve Rogers anyway and retires, shocking the nation.  

This leads into what I mostly bought this volume for: three full-size issues by Jim Steranko.  Captain America took over from sharing the comic with Iron Man and the title was renamed.  Steranko, off his run on Nick Fury (which I’d love to take a look at), came in to sort of reset the character.  The powerful action, stylish presentation, along with some, at times, “trippy” visuals, have marked these three issues as probably a peak in comic book art at the time.  In the appendices, there is a reprinted article where Steranko breaks down his art in the issues. 

 

Functionally, the story involves Cap fighting Hydra.  (I guess AIM and Them were no longer credible foes.)  Madame Hydra (known later as Viper) is introduced.  Cap gains a new partner in Rick Jones to take Bucky’s place.  (Rick Jones . . .  Oh, there’s another rabbit hole I’m not going down today.)  Cap fakes his death and in doing so gets his secret identity back.  (The Avengers also give him a burial, get knocked out, and nearly get buried alive before Cap rescues them.  Minor details.)  

These changes didn’t last.  However in the reprinted letters column, a long-term change to the character would be introduced.  A letter from one, Albert Rodriguez, questioned Captain America’s motives and what he was fighting for.  Awkwardly, he argued that WWII patriotism was no longer relevant.  “It would fit the standards of today, though, if he were more liberal.”

 

There was a response in next issue’s letters column from another reader, “Perhaps the unhappy day shall dawn in this nation when ‘liberalism’ reaches its absolute as ‘conservatism’ did in Nazi Germany (when either reaches that point, they are no longer distinguishable).”  But the damage was done.  Many young readers in the late 60’s and early 70’s questioned the nation’s status quo and eventually Marvel changed their editorial bent to serve them.

 

After this, Captain America became more of a living symbol of democrat liberal ideals and questioning authority if it was in the hands of republicans.  In a later story, Captain America punches out President Nixon (or a remarkable facsimile), who had been plotting against him.  Much later in Civil War, Cap was leading a group of superheroes against the government (rightly or wrongly).  Finally, Captain America was revealed to be have been an agent of Hydra all along.  (And what does that say about his political affiliations?)  Meanwhile in the Ultimates Universe, Captain America was a super-patriotic government agent, and that wasn’t all a good thing.  (He seemed like kind of a jerk.)  All of this material falls outside of what is covered in this book, though. 

 

Captain America is confrontational.  From the cover of his first appearance, he’s punching out Hitler at a time when America wasn’t at war with him.  Unlike other superheroes, Cap provokes a reaction.  Some are inspired with patriotism.  Some are repulsed by the (fictional) living symbol of a deeply flawed nation.  It’s not even that simple.  Lately in the comics, Captain America has become something like a franchise farmed out to others and fighting ideological wars against other Americans. 

 

There are some deep questions that Captain America stirs up by his very existence.  Who should Captain America be fighting?  America’s enemies?  Who are they?  Some would say some foreign governments and international conspiracies.  Others would point at internal enemies, corrupt and ideological.  If he’s working independent of the government and his ideals transcend politics, what exactly are they?  What about the citizens who don’t agree with his decisions?  How would they view him?  By virtue of his character and his actions over his career, both sides would have reasons to be skeptical. 

 

Maybe Captain America should have been left behind after WWII.  His natural enemies are Nazis, who no longer exist with any power (in spite of what Twitter says).  The “Man out of his own time” bit seems to have been played out.  Using Cap as a political/social warrior or some sort of national conscience is going to ensure that some people are going to be polarized into disagreeing with him.  I would relaunch this character with a clear mission.  Choosing the mission would be the hard part.  Would you want Captain America to be someone who tries to bring Americans together or someone who challenges people and their beliefs?       

 

(See, I was saving my strength to write out that digression.  It’s been like stepping on landmine after landmine in this post.  No wonder it’s taken so long to write.) 

 

Bottom line on the book, it’s entertaining and likely worth it for the price.  Kirby and Steranko’s dynamic artwork are the main draw (pardon the pun).  That said, this is not a Captain America Best Of or even necessarily a run of fun material, like a pile of old 70’s, 80’s, or 90’s comics.  The 40’s reprints are primitive, no question.  The 60’s stuff is not well-developed due to the half-issue format, story or character-wise.  (There are some character moments, but it’s mostly Steve Rogers moping.)  While the Steranko material is groundbreaking, it’s very superhero comic book-y to the point of a complete hand-wave on all logic.  (A gas trap taking out all of the Avengers?)

 

Whew!  We’re done here.  So will I be getting more of the Marvel Collection?  If that Fantastic Four one comes out, I’ll be looking at it.

Postcards from the Edge: Blanks 3

The Lariat Trail to Lookout Mountain, Colorado.  There is an "M" on the mountain over the trail put there by university students.  We have the same tradition here in Las Cruces, New Mexico with "A" Mountain.

This is a fun Halloween postcard from Germany.

City View Camp, Harrison, Arkansas.  

Postcards from the Edge: Blanks 2

Here are some religious postcards.  The first one is advertising an Easter service at the Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs, Colorado.  Here in Las Cruces, New Mexico, the City of the Crosses, we have a monument that looks kind of like this.

 

I think this is a performer using a musical saw for a church.

This is an artist's conception of the Christ of the Ozarks statue on Magnetic Mountain, Eureka Springs, Arkansas.  It hadn't been built at the time, but has been now.  (It doesn't look this good in real life.)