InsaneJournal

From Daredevil v1 #233, by Frank Miller and David Mazzuchelli.
A modern super-soldier has made a warzone of Hell's Kitchen. Daredevil took him down before the Avengers came in to take over, so Matt takes care of Karen, who was caught in the crossfire. At the church-turned-hospital-ward, Matt realizes he's being followed.




DD being blind isn't really common knowledge at this point. Those that know he's Matt Murdock figure being blind's an act, so he ends up coming off as a huge dick here. And the eighties are getting to Cap. :(
He goes on to break into a military institution to get to the bottom of this.

From Captain America v4 #1, by John Ney Rieber and John Cassaday.
It's September 12, 2001. Cap is exactly where you'd expect him, working Ground Zero.


There aren't words to explain how big a hit this would've been to Steve. As he tells Nick Fury when he comes in and tries to ship him out to Kandahar, there is nowhere else more right for him to be then helping the rescue effort.
The issue only gets better and more human from here. Shit, the whole arc, collected in Captain America: The New Deal is amazing, I couldn't recommend it enough. I've got a few more moments from it here...

#3 has this moment, after Cap has killed a terrorist in charge of an attack on a small Midwest town.




Which carries over a bit into the next issue...

Steve knows what he represents, and he knows the trouble he could bring in such a sensitive sociopolitical climate by doing what he did. He would rather expose himself to that danger than for innocent people to suffer for his actions.

#4 is another "Cap storming a military base" story. I'm kind of a sucker for them because they show exactly where his loyalties are, that he's not some glorified jingoistic thug like Ultimate Cap. I'm not posting those scans, though (and i regret at least not line about how nothing would survive a full nuclear assault but rats and cockroaches...and Cap!) Instead you get this...


What the guy's saying here isn't necessarily true, but that's not the important part. The important part is that Steve does inspire those feelings in people, that if they cared enough the world could be a better place. He carries the hopes and dreams of the world (yes, he wears an A on his helmet, but that's only because Captain Planet was taken and Captain Earth or World sound ridiculous) on his shoulders. He understands the responsibility there and has always worked to do right by The Dream.

The current Marvel Universe is a place where that dream has died and there is no place for hope. If Dark Reign and OMD are really about a world at its bleakest because Steve Rogers, its very heart, has been cut out, I will take back (almost) every negative thing I ever said about Joe Q, but I really don't have that kind of faith in him.

now i need to put together a Frank Einstein post