10. He Hates The Tea Party
Marvel ComicsThis one was pretty controversial at the time, and it's telling that Rick Rememnder's current tenure on the main Captain America book has taken him as far from the political commentary of Ed Brubaker's. Mainly by having Steve Rogers marooned in an alternate universe where an immortal Nazi clones a son from him, but that's a story for another time (or never, preferably). Which is weird, because The Winter Soldier draws directly from stories Brubaker wrote both for the plot of the movie and also the way it uses a tale of superheroism as a way to explore the current state of politics in America and it's relationship with the rest of the world. It's probably down to the different reactions to the film and the comic. Whilst on screen Cap was praised for bringing such mature themes into a summer blockbuster, Brubaker was sharply criticised for taking some pretty blatant potshots at fringe groups within his Captain America stories. Specifically, an issue about Steve and Sam Wilson - better known as The Falcon - running surveillance on some dangerous characters, only to come across what suspiciously looks like a march by the Tea Party. For those unfamiliar, the Tea Party is a splinter group from the conservative Republicans in the US who think the mainstream party just aren't racist or paranoid enough. Well, that's the prevailing wisdom of everyone who isn't a member of the Tea Party, and that's the view that's portrayed by Wilson and Rogers in the story; people who are on the more racist and paranoid side, however, were quick to kick up a fuss, and the placards and dialogue that identified the group as Tea Party members was removed from all reprints and collected editions of the issue.