The 70s wasn't the last we'd hear of the Commie Smasher Cap. He resurfaced again in Captain America #231-236 as the Grand Director. And in case the penny-ante Hitler remark didn't make it clear, this time around the Grand Director went full-on white supremacist. Dressed in what could only be described as a supervillain version of the KKK hood and robes, he also wore an armband with the swastika on it and led an organization called the National Force. The Grand Director was under the control of a Cap villain called Doctor Faustus, and the National Force's goal was to make America strong by purging undesirables, claiming that "a white America is a strong America." And Steve wasted no time in condemning them, saying that, "they're Nazis by a different name." No two ways about it, the National Force and the Grand Director were far-right American nationalists, no different from the KKK or other organisations appearing lately to throw around the claim of "white genocide."
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
