Regular readers of Marvel Comics know all too well that its writers have been obsessed with Donald Trump since his primary campaign. Twitter rants coincided with weird editorial decisions (e.g., turning the man into an alternative-universe M.O.D.O.K.), and writer Nick Spencer used multiple books — including the Secret Empire event — to throw political tantrums.
Marvel scribe Mark Waid, however, has taken the industry’s Trump Derangement Syndrome to a whole new level for the company’s “Legacy” run. Captain America #699 is a fascinating read for all the wrong reasons.
Yes, it is boring. Yes, it is predictable. Yes, it comes across as if it were written by a freshman college student who just completed his first semester of political sciences classes.
What makes Captain America: Out of Time it interesting, however, is the psychology behind it all. Mr. Waid does not seem to even realize that all of his irrational fears regarding the president are rooted in his own ideological extremism. He fears Mr. Trump because he sees much of himself in the man.
Mr. Waid is, whether he wants to admit it or not, eerily similar to the villain referred to as “King Baby,” aka Donald Trump. Check out my latest YouTube video for the full rundown, and as always feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section below.
Good video, Doug. Man, when did Mark Waid lose it? Was it before or after the election? 🙂 I used to love everything he put out. His previous runs on Captain America were fantastic– even though it delved into political topics, it wasn’t this kind of over-the-top madness.
After the Spencer run, I was looking forward to a return to form with Captain America. Nope. With 698’s mention of King Baby, I thought, “Oh no, they’re not going there again are they?” Yes, yes they are. Marvel is like Lucy with Charlie Brown’s football with me.
That contrast angle of Waid and King Baby is hilarious!
These people think we are in total freefall as a nation. The previous 8 years was just awesome, apparently. They didn’t get their way, and they’re throwing tantrums every day since. King Baby indeed!
Whatever, Waid– keep writing to the echo chamber. I won’t be buying any other issues. Let me know when Captain America is good again. He’s my favorite character, but I can’t buy Cap comics longer than 1-2 issues the past 4 years.
Good video, Doug. Man, when did Mark Waid lose it? Was it before or after the election?
Thanks, man! I think Mr. Waid had been backsliding for awhile, but the election basically pushed him over the edge. The quality of his writing appears to be inversely related with the intensity of his personal politics.
In his inauguration speech, Trump said that he wanted to return power to the people. Hillary Clinton said that working class people were irredeemable and deplorable. Yet Trump is portrayed as elitist.
Hillary was champing at the bit to go to war against Russia. And the Obama administration, with her as Secretary of State, destabilized Libya, created ISIS, and fanned the flames of civil war in Syria, all of which led to the “refugee” crisis. Yet it’s Trump who gets portrayed as a war monger.
But then, Waid lives in California. The state where they reduced the penalties for using a firearm to commit a crime (e.g., armed robbery), although they have severe restrictions on gun ownership by law-abiding citizens.
And where calling someone by the wrong pronoun is a felony, while intentionally infecting someone with HIV is a misdemeanor.
After we get the wall built from Brownsville to San Diego, we need to extend it north to the Canadian border, then west to the ocean. The west coast is one big psychiatric ward.
Jesus. I’ve known of this stuff for awhile, but reading it so bluntly stated makes me even happier that my family never did go through our plans to migrate to Commiefornia in 1998. Talk about dodging a huge bullet. (And all the more sorry for my poor uncle still wallowing in misery there).