The early nineties were a difficult time for comic books. In the wake of deconstructionist works like Watchmen and The Dark Knight Returns superhero titles were struggling to maintain their relevancy, and a huge sojourn of artistic talent from the Big Two to independent, creator owned publishers meant a loss of people to try and help them in this predicament. In most cases, both Marvel and DC chose to up the moodiness, the viciousness, and the body count, totally misunderstanding the point of characters like Rorschach. Thats the state of mind that lead to the otherwise inexplicable teaming up of Captain America and The Punisher in the 1992 miniseries Blood & Glory. Yes, theyre both war veterans, but of very different wars, and their approaches to crime fighting afterwards couldnt be more different. Still, despite all their difference its actually mind control that causes The Punisher to shoot Captain America, who tells Nick Fury to let him die on the operating table. Theres a funeral. People cry. He is faking it again.
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
