InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "I'll call you Steve French."

harmoner (harmoner) wrote in scans_daily,
@ 2009-06-23 23:29:00

Entry tags:

char: black widow/natasha romanova, char: captain america/bucky barnes, creator: roger stern, publisher: marvel comics

4 pages from Young Allies 70th Anniversary Special. Written by Roger Stern and art by Paolo Rivera.

Story starts with Bucky reminiscing in Arlington in December. He visits the Young Allies memorial and discovers that two of them are still alive. He then decides to visit them at the hospital. After explaining that he was never killed etc. they settle down and remember. The last page made me tear up.

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	thandrak 2009-06-23 05:42 pm UTC (link)
	... What about Gwenny Lou, you jerks! (Died, 1961) Shouldn't she be on the memorial? (This is on my Pile to Read. I've got the Mysteries next) (Reply to this) (Thread)

	icon_uk 2009-06-23 06:17 pm UTC (link)
	Yeah, that was my first thought too. Golden Girl should be on there somewhere. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	dr_hermes 2009-06-23 06:51 pm UTC (link)
	Are these the actual characters who appeared in YOUNG ALLIES COMICS in the 1940s? Gwenny Lou (Golden Girl) was a 1970s Roy Thomas creation from THE INVADERS and wasn't around in the Golden Age this references. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	icon_uk 2009-06-23 06:59 pm UTC (link)
	Yeah, this seems to be the originals, judging by the names on the memorial. But even so, the Young Allies team including Bucky, Toro, Golden Girl and Human Top are contemporaneous with this team, since both were active in WWII and are a part of Bucky's wartime life. Them not getting a namecheck seems odd. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

dr_hermes
2009-06-23 08:09 pm UTC (link)

There's a distinction I make (and some writers to favor when they can) between the stories actually printed in real comics during the Golden Age, and all the fiddling and retcons and rewriting history that's been done since then. Maybe this is a tribute and farewell to the Young Allies who appeared during WW II, leaving out the characters created thirty or forty years later and retroactively claimed to have been around back then.

Publishers and creators can wipe out and rebuild universes all they like, that's their privilege. But as long as the actual issues of MARVEL MYSTERY COMICS and ALL-STAR COMICS and THE MARVEL FAMILY survive, those characters and their stories still exist. There may be new versions refashioned for modern readers, but the originals are beyond being harmed. That's how I feel, anyway.

\

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	khaosworks 2009-06-23 08:26 pm UTC (link)
	One of the central conceits of this issue is that the Golden Age stories of the Young Allies were fictional - comics published for the war effort only peripherally based on the boys' real exploits (their names here are also subtly changed from their "comic book" names). Not sure how - if at all - Golden Girl will fit into this view. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

dr_hermes
2009-06-23 08:44 pm UTC (link)

Well, that's not a bad idea. Thanks for the information. The original YOUNG ALLIES comics were shoddy even by Timely's wartime standards. The way Whitewash was depicted makes the Spirit's Ebony look realistic.

It's a part of ongoing storytelling, I suppose. If you want to keep characters going sixty or more years, they're going to have to be revised and large chunks of their history rewritten. I don't care for it, but then I'm not the target audience Marvel is aiming for.

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	thandrak 2009-06-23 10:20 pm UTC (link)
	Oh, it's the Young Allies? I added Bucky and Toro and a black kid and went 'Oh! Kid Commandos!' Right. A closer read says 'Duh, they don't know who Toro was, so it can't be the Kid Commandos.' Would make more sense when I read the entire story, not just part of it. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	dr_hermes 2009-06-23 11:22 pm UTC (link)
	I want to add that of course Roy Thomas' Kid Commandos from THE INVADERS are just as valid as the original Young Allies (and more acceptable to modern readers). I don't want to imply I feel that comics after the Silver Age or so aren't "real" in that sense. I prefer 1940s stuff because I'm severely retro, but that's just my preference. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	amancalledblaze 2009-06-23 06:23 pm UTC (link)
	After watching band of brothers again on the history channel this past weekend..well..excuse me, I seem to have something in my eyes. (Reply to this) (Thread)

	queenrikki 2009-06-23 07:36 pm UTC (link)
	Whatever it is, it's catching. Making my eyes water a tad. sniffles (Reply to this) (Parent)

	salamangkiero 2009-06-25 01:33 am UTC (link)
	Oh, damn. Excuse me, I have to go somewhere and wipe my eyes. (Reply to this)

	kijikun 2009-06-25 04:02 am UTC (link)
	I think I need to buy this. (Reply to this) (Thread)

	kijikun 2009-06-25 04:05 am UTC (link)
	But one quibble doesn't Steve have a memorial? I thought he had a statue at least because Thor meet his "spirit" there? (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	harmoner 2009-06-25 08:05 am UTC (link)
	There is a memorial for Steve in Arlington but the body there is fake. Tony put him back in the sea where he was found. Only explaination I can think of is that Bucky knows Steve is not buried at the statue in Arlington. (Reply to this) (Parent)

joysweeper
2009-06-25 09:35 am UTC (link)

As the sliding timescale goes on, Steve and Bucky's stories just get that much more poignant. When he was first reintroduced, Steve was twenty years out of time - jarring for him, yeah, and he didn't have anyone to go back to, but a random policeman recognized him. He had some old friends like Sharon's ~~sister~~ aunt, Arnie Roth, and the Invaders, and people he knew/rescued like Anna Kapplebaum, who were all middle-aged to old but still pretty mobile and active.

Time passes and the timescale slides, though. He's generally thought to have thawed around fifteen years before the "present", right? By now any stories involving people he knew have to have a reason for why they're not basically invalids(like Namor, Nick Fury, and Bucky). The old stories sort of quietly pass out of canon. Before long Cap and Bucky will have thawed and been unbrainwashed respectively after very nearly everyone they ever knew has died.

That's what this post made me think of. It's sad, really.

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Young Allies
(Anonymous)
2009-07-07 01:16 am UTC (link)

very sad. im black and its insulting the way this character is portrayed even in the 40's. hopefully with this being remade the black kid will be in charge and in the forefront of the comic. its obvious that african americans are smarter and are in more leadership roles in america. we are now in charge of america, hopefully. almost every black actor in tv is the most intelligent and most respected. im praying to god that white americans know this now. at least 52& of america knows this. thank you.

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