As I've probably demonstrated up to this point, the Cap comics have always reflected what was going on in contemporary American politics. And no event changed America as much as 9/11. John Ney Rieber and John Cassaday launched a new Captain America volume and their first six-issue story-arc dealt with Cap's reaction to 9/11 and subsequent involvement in the War on Terror. When the Towers fell, Steve Rogers worked in his civilian identity to help survivors. Later in a New York neighborhood, he intervened when he saw a group of people try and attack a Muslim American. He told the attackers that what they're doing wasn't justice. The Muslim character intervened, trying to talk with the man who tried to kill him. Cap also went on a mission for SHIELD to take out a terrorist named al-Tariq operating in an American town called Centerville where there's a bomb factory. The trail from al-Tariq leads Cap to face a ringleader who gives a speech telling Cap that his family was killed and he was disfigured in one of many areas America supported guerillas during the Cold War. He asks Cap, "Tell your monster where he's from" and Cap can't. It was a powerful series of issues that refused to paint the War on Terror in the simple black and white that politicians and the media kept pushing.
Percival Constantine is the author of several novels and short stories, including the Vanguard superhero series, and regularly writes and comments on movies, comics, and other pop culture. More information can be found at his website, PercivalConstantine.com
