Nothing Says "America" Like a Machete to the Throat

I didn't address this when it was "news" a couple of months ago, but Ed Brubaker was repeatedly quoted as saying, "people forget that Captain America carried a gun a lot in World War II. Every three covers there was a shot of Captain America with a machine gun or a flamethrower - or an atom bomb." It was his way to justify the new, ex-Bucky, ex-Winter Soldier, Captain America carrying a sidearm.

Most comics fans with a sense of history agreed with Brubaker and scoffed at the unaware citizens who thought a gun-toting Cap was something new.

The thing is, though, Brubaker wasn't really telling the truth. Captain America was RARELY shown with a gun. If you look at the first 35 issues of Captain America comics (the bulk of the war-time run), Captain America is NEVER, not once, shown wielding a gun on any of the covers. Clearly, "every three covers there was a shot of Captain America with a machine gun" is not only an exaggeration, it's a statement that bears no resemblance to the truth.

But it doesn't really matter, because this new Captain America is the old Bucky and the old Bucky has ALWAYS been bad-ass. Look at this cover from Captain America Comics #40. Not only is Bucky carrying a gun, but he's leaping from a car bomb as he SLICES A JAP IN THE THROAT WITH A MACHETE.

Yeah, this new, shiny Captain America Brubaker's writing isn't your father's Cap--he's your grandfather's Bucky. And your grandfather could probably kick all of our pampered 21st century asses, couldn't he?