Shannon Carter is living the American Dream

The last couple of years for the Fourth of July I’ve blogged about the most prominent patriotic comic book superhero, Captain America.  This time I wanted to do something a little different.  I’m taking a look at a character who was inspired by Cap: Shannon Carter aka American Dream, who was created by Tom DeFalco & Ron Frenz.

American Dream was introduced in A-Next, one of the titles that comprised the short-lived “MC2” line at Marvel Comics.  These all spun out of What If #105 (Feb 1998), the debut of May “Mayday” Parker, the teenage daughter of Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson in a reality where she was rescued after being abducted by Norman Osborn.  What If #105, which was set approximately 15 years in the future, had Mayday becoming Spider-Girl.

What If #105 was a big hit, and in late 1998 the MC2 books started.  Most of them unfortunately did not last long, although the Spider-Girl series written by DeFalco had a very lengthy run.

A-Next introduced “the next generation of Avengers.”  In this timeline, after a catastrophic battle in a parallel reality (yeah, another one) the Avengers disbanded.  A decade later, due to the scheming of the Asgardian god of evil Loki, a new team of Avengers assembles.  Yipes, that is always happening to Loki!

Shannon Carter is first briefly seen in A-Next #1 by DeFalco, Frenz & Brett Breeding as an unnamed tour guide at Avengers Mansion.  Two issues later we learn her first name and see her assisting Edwin Jarvis in setting up the support network for the new Avengers.  At the end of that issue Shannon returns to her apartment where three figures wait in the shadows.  She tells them “I have good news, my friends! Our long wait is over! We’ll make our move tomorrow – and these new Avengers will never know what hit them!”

Well that sounds ominous!  However, in A-Next #4 by DeFalco, Frenz, Breeding & Paul Ryan, we find out that these four actually intend to join the Avengers.  For the first time we see Shannon in costume as American Dream and properly meet her comrades Freebooter, Bluestreak and Crimson Curse.  This is also where we find out Shannon’s last name, and it is immediately apparent that she is intended to be a relative of S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Sharon Carter.

DeFalco & Frenz intended the “Dream Team” to be a tribute to the “Kooky Quartet” introduced way back in Avengers #16 in 1965.  The cover to A-Next #4 is even a nice homage by Frenz & Breeding to the Jack Kirby cover of that classic issue.

By the way… Bluestreak really needs watch those wandering hands!  Maybe the Avengers should be required to attend a seminar on sexual harassment in the workplace?

I immediately took a liking to American Dream.  Frenz did a superb job designing her, effectively modifying the classic style of Captain America’s uniform into an eye-catching, dramatic costume for a female character.

So who exactly is Shannon Carter?  A few issues later DeFalco confirms that she is a relative of Sharon, who at this point is deceased.  DeFalco would briefly touch upon her origin in Spider-Girl #32 (May 2001) before elaborating upon it in detailed flashbacks within a five issue American Dream miniseries (2008) illustrated by Todd Nauck & Scott Koblish.

Shannon’s father was a cousin of Sharon Carter.  When she was only a child Shannon’s parents were killed in a horrible car accident, and Shannon herself was seriously injured.  The orphaned Shannon was adopted by her aunt, Sharon’s older sister Peggy.  Peggy, hoping to motivate the mourning, depressed Shannon, gave her Sharon’s diaries to read.  Shannon, inspired by reading the experiences of Sharon and her boyfriend Captain America, finally entered physical rehabilitation and began the long, arduous road to recovery.

When she could once again walk, the diaries also motivated Shannon to train relentlessly, and she eventually became a skilled athlete.  Shannon wanted to follow in the footsteps of both her Aunt Sharon and Captain America.  Seeing her niece’s determination, Peggy introduced her to Clint Barton, formerly Hawkeye, who began instructing her.  It was at Clint’s dojo that Shannon would meet the other future members of the Dream Team.

Clint originally envisioned Shannon taking on the identity of Nomad, but she informed him that she wished “to evoke the image of Captain America.”  Clint warned her that “Wearing the flag is like painting a bullseye on your chest” but Shannon was undeterred.  She assumed the role of American Dream, which would soon lead to her joining the new Avengers.

Back in the present (well, the MC2 present, which is a decade and a half ahead of the regular Marvel Earth, but whatever) in the pages of A-Next #4, on their first mission as Avengers, the Dream Team encounters the Soldiers of the Serpent.  A new incarnation of the white supremacists the Sons of the Serpent, the terrorist Soldiers are as fanatical as their predecessors in their racist mission to “cleanse” the country.  American Dream proves herself a worthy successor to Captain America, defeating the Serpents’ leader while delivering a passionate rebuke:

“It’s over, Serpent! You’ve lost! Your cause is a sham, and you’re a disgrace to this country! You preach hatred, claiming to represent true Americans, but nothing could be further from the truth! America has always embraced its diversity! Our very differences help make us all stronger! I, for one, am proud to help defend this country from monsters like you!”

It is definitely a stirring speech worthy of Steve Rogers himself.  DeFalco’s scripting for Shannon in this scene is of course still extremely relevant to our country, especially in light of the events of the past month.

American Dream quickly becomes a mainstay of these new Avengers.  Several issues later, in A-Next #10-11 by DeFalco, Frenz & Al Milgrom, the team journeys to the dystopian nightmare world where the original Avengers fought their final battle.  In this reality the Red Skull assassinated Hitler and led the Nazis to victory in World War II.  In the present day the Skull’s successor Doctor Doom seeks to expand this fascist empire to all other alternate realities.

After helping to thwart Doom’s plans a decade before, Captain America stayed behind to organize a resistance movement against the totalitarian regime.  At first Cap is unhappy to meet these new Avengers and orders them to return home, fearing they will be killed.  American Dream and the rest of the team refuse and they join Cap in his assault on Doom and his super-human Thunder Guard.

Doom is narrowly defeated, with Crimson Curse apparently sacrificing her life.  Before returning home, these new Avengers are finally given a nod of approval by Cap.  America Dream gains the shield of that Earth’s Cap, who was killed decades before by the Skull.

A-Next ended with issue #12, but American Dream has continued to pop up since then.  Like many other denizens of Earth-982, she and her teammates would show up from time to time in Spider-Girl.  One noteworthy story was the six part “Season of the Serpent” by DeFalco, Frenz, Pat Olliffe, Al Williamson & Sal Buscema that ran in issue #s 54-59 (Jan to June 2003).  During that arc Spider-Girl, who has been fighting against the Soldiers of the Serpent and their leader the death-god Seth, joins American Dream on a brief trip back to the alternate Earth to enlist the aid of Thunderstrike and the original Captain America.

American Dream is among the numerous characters to appear in the miniseries Last Hero Standing (2005) by DeFalco, Olliffe & Koblish, and its follow-up Last Planet Standing (2006).  She is one of the heroes who plays a vital role in preventing Galactus from destroying the entire universe.  This led into the Avengers Next miniseries (2007) by DeFalco, Ron Lim & Koblish.  Months before, during Last Hero Standing, Captain America had been killed by Loki, and Shannon finally realized the enormity of following in his footsteps.  A major theme of Avengers Next is her uncertainty if she and the rest of the team are capable of living up to the original Avengers.

A year later Shannon received a solo outing in the aforementioned American Dream miniseries, which I enjoyed.  DeFalco did a good job delving into Shannon’s past.  He also showed her present-day attempts to establish a private civilian life while also serving as an iconic member of the Avengers, something that Cap himself also struggled with often.

I know that among certain readers DeFalco’s writing is an acquired taste.  He has a very Silver Age style to his work.  At times he tries a bit too hard to make his dialogue humorous or dramatic, resulting in rather corny or stilted scripting.  Nevertheless, considering how many writers want to do superhero comic books that are “realistic” or “dark,” often with variable results, there is definitely a refreshing, fun quality to DeFalco’s more traditional approach.

The art by Nauck & Koblish on American Dream was fantastic.  I was already a fan of both artists before this miniseries came out, so it was great to see them work together.

American Dream has also popped up in stories by other writers.  She was one of the literally hundreds of alternate reality Avengers to make cameos in the sprawling, epic twelve chapter Avengers Forever series (Dec 1998 to Feb 2000) by Kurt Busiek, Roger Stern, Carlos Pacheco & Jesus Merino.

A decade later Stern had the opportunity to write a story that properly co-starred American Dream when Captain America Corps was published in 2011.  It was illustrated by Phillippe Briones with covers by Phil Jimenez.  This five issue miniseries featured several incarnations of Cap from various time periods, namely Steve Rogers from 1941, U.S. Agent and Bucky Barnes / the Winter Soldier from the present day era, American Dream from Earth-982 and Commander A from the 25th Century.  The Elder of the Universe known as the Contemplator gathered them together in order to thwart Cap’s old foe Superia, whose reckless attempts to alter history threatened to unravel all of reality.

I have always enjoyed Stern’s work on Captain America.  Stern’s short run with John Byrne & Josef Rubinstein on Cap’s solo series is justifiably referred to as classic, and his longer run writing Avengers in the mid-1980s is also extremely well-regarded.  Since then Stern has occasionally had the opportunity to return to the character, such as in this Captain America Corps miniseries.  It was a really exciting read.  It was great to see Stern team up American Dream with Steve and Bucky.

Offhand I don’t recall if American Dream has appeared in the last several years.  Hopefully at some point she will show up again.  I would certainly be happy if DeFalco had another opportunity to write her and the other Avengers of Earth-982.  Of course, sooner or later Marvel ends up reviving any & every character that they have ever published (just look at all of the parallel universes and old crossovers that are being revisited within the current Secret Wars mega-event).  So cross your fingers that one day we will see Shannon Carter return.

Happy birthday to John Romita

Here’s wishing a very happy 85th birthday to legendary comic book artist John Romita, who was born on January 24, 1930.  The prolific Romita has had a long association with Marvel Comics over the decades, at one time or another drawing many of the company’s major characters, as well as having a hand in designing a number of them.

Romita’s first regular assignment at Marvel was Daredevil.  He worked on issue #s 12-19 (cover dates Jan to Aug 1966).  It was while on Daredevil that Romita first drew the character of Spider-Man in a two-part guest appearance in #s 16-17.  This actually led to Romita becoming only the second artist to draw Amazing Spider-Man, after co-creator Steve Ditko departed from Marvel.  Romita’s first issue was #39 (Aug 1966), teamed up with writer & editor Stan Lee.

During his time working on Amazing Spider-Man Romita designed several new villains, most prominently the Rhino, the Shocker, and the Kingpin.  Romita also made his mark as an artist who was talented at rendering beautiful women.  He revealed what Mary Jane Watson actually looked like, and he gradually transformed Gwen Stacy from Ditko’s ice queen into more of a sweet girl-next-door type.  He also completely redesigned the look of the Black Widow, giving Natasha her now-iconic long red hair, leather jumpsuit and wrist-blasters in issue #86 (July 1970).

Before his time at Marvel, Romita had spent nearly a decade at DC Comics working on their romance titles.  This definitely made him very well-suited to working on Amazing Spider-Man.  During this time Stan Lee’s stories were as much soap opera as super-heroes.  Romita was the perfect artist to illustrate Peter Parker’s personal life and rocky romances with Mary Jane and Gwen.

Confession time: I am not an especially huge fan of Spider-Man, although there are certain runs and storylines featuring the web-slinger that I have enjoyed.  Consequently, I do not have all that many issues of his various comic titles and most of those that I do own are from the 1980s onward.  So sadly I don’t actually have many of the issues Romita worked on.  I really need to pick up some trade paperbacks!

One of the Spider-Man books by Romita that I do have, though, is from much later in his career.  Published in 1997, the Spider-Man/Kingpin: To the Death special was a reunion Romita in more than one way.  It was his first full-length Spider-Man story in a number of years.  It also saw him once again drawing the Kingpin and Daredevil.  The book also reunited him with Stan Lee, who scripted over a plot by another long-time Spider-Man writer, Tom DeFalco.  Romita’s pencils were effectively inked by Dan Green.  I thought it was a nice collaboration.  Green’s embellishment seemed to bring out the Milton Caniff influence in Romita’s style.

Although certainly not nearly as prominent as his association with Spider-Man, Romita also contributed a small but impressive body of work featuring another of Marvel’s iconic characters, Captain America.  Actually some of Romita’s earliest professional work was on the very short-lived revival of the Captain America title in 1954.

After Romita became firmly established at Marvel in the mid-1960s, he illustrated Captain America on a few occasions.  He drew the Cap stories in Tales of Suspense #76-77 (April-May 1966).  The second of those tales, on which Romita penciled over Jack Kirby’s layouts, introduced Cap’s wartime love interest & ally Peggy Carter, the older sister (later retconned into the aunt) of his current girlfriend, S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Sharon Carter.

Tales of Suspense was re-titled Captain America with issue #100.  Romita guest-penciled issue #114 (June 1969) and a couple of years later briefly became the book’s regular artist, working on #s 138-145 (June 1971 to Jan 1972).  Although the writing on some of these issues was a bit underwhelming, particularly the ones featuring the Grey Gargoyle, the art by Romita was nevertheless very good.

Towards the end of this brief run, under writer Gary Friedrich, the stories got a bit better.  Africa-American social activist Leila Taylor was introduced as a love interest for the Falcon who would frequently challenge his political views.  Cap’s arch-foe the racist Red Skull was unmasked as an agent provocateur who was attempting to discredit Leila’s militant civil rights group by inciting them to violence.  Romita’s final issue of Captain America was the first chapter of an exciting story arc that saw Cap, Sharon Carter and the forces of S.H.I.E.L.D. pitted against the hordes of Hydra.  His cover to #145 was incredibly striking, with a rage-filled Cap standing over the fallen Sharon, swearing vengeance against Hydra.  He worked on a number of additional covers for Captain America throughout the 1970s.

I mentioned before how adept John Romita is at drawing beautiful women.  This was very well encapsulated on the cover to Marvel Age #111.  Romita drew himself day-dreaming, surrounded by a bevy of the lovely ladies he had rendered over the decades, among them Gwen Stacy, Mary Jane Watson, and the Black Widow.  In a humorous, self-deprecating touch, in the upper right hand corner Romita draws his wife Virginia popping in to his studio to ask him if he’s finished drawing the cover yet!

Romita’s son John Romita Jr also went into the comic book biz, himself becoming an equally prolific artist who worked on numerous titles.  There are similarities between the styles of father and son, although I would describe John Jr’s work as more gritty.  The two have worked together on occasion, with Romita inking his son’s pencils.

I’ve been fortunate enough to meet Romita on a couple of times at comic book conventions, where I was able to get a few of the books he worked on autographed.  I didn’t have much of an opportunity to speak with him, but he seemed to be a polite, pleasant individual.

Although mostly retired nowadays, Romita does from time-to-time dip his toe back into the waters of the biz, drawing the occasional cover here and there.  It’s always nice to see new work from such a talented legend.

How I discovered Jack Kirby

Jack Kirby is rightfully considered one of the all-time greatest creators to have ever worked in the comic book industry.  Born Jacob Kurtzberg on August 28, 1917, the man who came to be known as Jack Kirby was responsible for creating or co-creating a huge percentage of what we now know as the Marvel Comics universe, as well as a number of key characters over at DC Comics.  He also conceived a number of concepts for series that either came out through smaller companies which allowed him to retain ownership or that unfortunately never saw print in his lifetime.  I’ve blogged about Kirby before.  So today, on what would have been his 96th birthday, I am going to look back on how I personally came to be a fan of his work.

When I first began reading comic books in the 1980s, from time to time I would see Jack Kirby’s name mentioned in various lettercols or editorial pages, usually referring to him in glowing terms as an exceptional artist and a brilliant designer of characters.  However, back in those days, trade paperback collections were few & far between, and back issues from the 1960s that he had worked on were typically well out of the budget of a ten year old.  It would be a few years before I would actually have the opportunity to see Kirby’s artwork with own eyes.

In hindsight, I now realize that selected panels from some of his early 1960s work appeared in the Marvel Saga series that was published in the mid-1980s.  But the first entire issue illustrated by him that I ever owned was Fantastic Four #74, which I picked out of the back issue bins of some comic shop or another around 1986, probably because it had a cool cover.

I managed to buy that copy of FF #74 pretty cheap, for maybe $5.00 or so.  That’s because it was certainly not in mint condition, to say the least.  It must have changed hands at least a few times before I acquired it.  And at least one of the previous owners had decided to use a magic marker to trace the outlines of the figures in a few of the panels.  Eeeek!  Even at ten years old, I knew that was a no-no!  Nevertheless, most of the pages were left untouched, and I was able to appreciate the artwork of Kirby inked by Joe Sinnott.

FF #74 was a pretty cool comic book.  I haven’t looked at in a while, but as I recall the Silver Surfer, imprisoned on Earth by Galactus, is moping about the apartment of blind sculptress Alicia Masters.  Ben Grimm, aka the Thing, is none too thrilled that the Surfer is hanging out with his best gal, and doesn’t exactly offer a sympathetic ear to the former sentinel of the spaceways.  Next thing you know, the Surfer decides to lay a cosmic powered smack-down on the gruff Thing.  Before their grudge can proceed further, Galactus returns to Earth, hoping to re-enlist his former herald.  The devourer of worlds dispatches his servant the Punisher to retrieve the Surfer… no no no, not the guy with the skull on his chest who goes around shooting criminals full of holes.  This Punisher is a funny-looking robot dude who predates Frank Castle by almost a decade.  A big fight ensues between the FF and the Punisher.  Then, next thing you know, the story ends on a cliffhanger, and a ten year old Ben Herman threw up his hands in despair, wondering how he was ever going to find a copy of issue #75, and even if he did, would he even be able to afford it!?!

I believe that my next major look at Jack Kirby’s work was maybe three years later, in early 1989.  In the latest issues of Captain America, writer Mark Gruenwald had resurrected the diabolical Red Skull, in the process taking the opportunity to bring readers up to speed on the history of the crimson-masked fiend.  I was really curious to check out some of those past storylines Gruenwald had flashed back to in issue #350.  So once again, I dove into the back issue bins, pulling out a copy of Captain America #210, with its strikingly odd cover of the Red Skull’s metaphorical tentacles entrapping the book’s cast.

“Showdown Day” was written & penciled by Kirby, with inking by Mike Royer.  If I thought the cover was unusual, well, that was just the tip of the iceberg.  Picking up mid-story, this issue sees Cap and the lovely Donna Maria Puentes tussling with the ultra-bizarre, supremely twisted Nazi genetic engineer known as Arnim Zola, as well as his grotesque army of mutant creations.  Meanwhile, SHIELD agent Sharon Carter is investigating an eccentric millionaire recluse named Cyrus Fenton, who is actually none other than the Red Skull in disguise, funding Zola’s experiments from behind the scenes.  Oh, yeah, and the Falcon gets attacked by a giant bird.

Truthfully, my first impression of Kirby’s artwork on this issue was that I thought it was really bizarre.  Even so, I had to admit that he drew an evil-looking Red Skull.  As for Donna Maria and Sharon, wow, both of them were really sexy babes who left a memorable impression on my 13 year old mind.  And, as for Kirby’s writing, setting aside the fact that Captain America is actually absent from the second half of the story, it was interesting.  Kirby deftly scripted the Red Skull as this icy schemer, really imbuing him with a palpable air of menace.

As with that Fantastic Four issue, Captain America #210 also ends with a “to be continued.”  Fortunately, most of Kirby’s mid-1970s Marvel work was both easier to find and cheaper to purchase than his comics from the previous decade, and within a few years I managed to track down the entire story arc.

And this brings me to my discovery of Kirby’s celebrated work at DC in the early 1970s, when he created the Fourth World.  By the time I was in high school, I had known about the tyrannical Darkseid and his evil followers from Apokolips for several years, first due to their inclusion in the Super Friends cartoons, and then their appearances in John Byrne’s run on the Superman books, plus the Cosmic Odyssey miniseries by Jim Starlin & Mike Mignola.  I really wanted to read the original Kirby issues but, again, they were both expensive and difficult to find.  Finally, in the early 1990s, at a comic con in Westchester, I was able to purchase Forever People #4 and #9 for relatively reasonable prices.

Eagerly pulling those two comics out of their bags, I read them and…. okay, once again, I’ll be honest.  The artwork was great, the writing not so much.  At least, that’s how I felt at the time.  From those two issues, I was left with the impression that Kirby may have been a brilliant artist, but he sure was a lousy writer.

So a couple of more years passed, and I managed to find a few more of the Fourth World books at inexpensive prices.  Specifically, I picked up New Gods #7 as well as Mister Miracle #9 and #18.  I don’t know, maybe I was slightly more mature, or maybe those were better stories, or maybe it was just a matter of having more realistic expectations.  Whatever the case, I liked those three issues a lot more.  And, of course, a few years later I learned that New Gods #7, “The Pact,” is considered by many to be one of the greatest single issues that Kirby ever created.

Finally in 1998 DC released an inexpensive black & white three volume set of trade paperbacks that reprinted the majority of his New Gods, Forever People, and Mister Miracle issues.  I picked them up and fell in love with the material.  Able to read almost the entire run of stories from beginning to end, suddenly everything fell into place.  Also, by this point I had come to recognize that Kirby’s stylized scripting, the cadence of his dialogue, while it undoubtedly had its peculiarities, also possessed an appealing quality to it that suited the material.  Kirby had crafted an incredibly epic, poignant odyssey in his trilogy of titles which, sadly, was brought to much too premature an end.

And that is how I became a fan of Jack Kirby.  Nowadays, practically everything he worked on during his lifetime has been brought back into print.  Kirby envisioned the day when comic books would be read like full length novels.  That has come to pass, with trade paperbacks and graphic novels now an industry standard.

I’ve said this before, but I cannot help thinking Kirby died too young.  He passed away on February 6, 1994 at the age of 76, and for the last dozen or so years of his life ill health had resulted in a decline in the quality of his artwork.  I wish that Kirby could have lived longer, retaining his vitality & drawing ability.  He dabbled in creator-owned work in the early 1980s, but between his health problems and the then relatively new, uncertain status of the direct market those series did not last long.

Imagine if Kirby had still been at the peak of his talents in the 1990s when Image Comics had exploded.  He could have taken some of his myriad unpublished, unrealized ideas for characters over to that company and created long-running titles that he held full creative control and ownership.

I know, I know… asking what if and if only and all that other hypothesizing is pointless.  What’s done is done.  I’m just sorry that Kirby isn’t here to see how much of an influence, an inspiration he has become to so many, how much enjoyment his work has brought to a legion of fans.

As I was writing this up, I recalled an anecdote that concerns James M. Cain.  Reputedly the authors was once asked by a reporter if, in the course of his works being made into less-than-faithful movie adaptations by Hollywood, he felt that his books had been ruined.  And in response Cain apparently led the questioner to a bookshelf in his study, pointed to it, and replied “They haven’t done anything to my books. They’re still right there on the shelf. They’re fine.”  In a way, that applies here.  Jack Kirby, sadly, is no longer with us.  But his innumerable amazing works remain behind for us to continue to enjoy for many years to come.