The USPS Marvel Super Heroes stamp series (1)

I grew up reading comic books. That's a big part of how I learned to love reading. So I enjoy seeing comic book heroes making hit movies. And also the comic-book themed postage stamps the US Postal Service has been issuing. The latest features 10 heroes from the Marvel Comics universe. (Multiple universes are commonplace in the comics.)

Spider-Man has hit the big time with a major movie career, which just had a hit with the third in a series. He may have reached the limit that all science-fiction and comic-book series on the screen hit, where the action is so fantastic it has to go campy and silly. But for now, he's riding high:

And Franklin Roosevelt collected stamps. So anyone who thinks this post is geeky, well, you're just out of it.

The Hulk is a star of the Silver Screen, too. I particularly like the Hulk, because I've always had a soft spot for heroes that were named Bruce. Bruce Banner, in his case.

I'm sure Prince Namor, aka, the Sub-Mariner, will make it to Hollywood sooner or later. This could be a job for Brad Pitt. I mean, Ben Affleck is already playing Daredevil. It would be kind of a stretch to make Daredevil a twin to an water-breathing, sea-dwelling Atlantean prince.

The Fantastic Four are also on a roll at the box office. But with their second film, they may already be hitting the limits of comic-book film series' life span. I mean, after saving the earth from being devoured by a humongous galactic carnivore, how do you follow that up? Also, the Four's power are exotic enough that the require quite a bit of computer animation. But then, so do Spider-Man and the Hulk.

I'm always fascinated by how some literary characters enjoy incredibly long lives: Sherlock Holmes, Simon Templar aka the Saint, James Bond. Comic book characters may have a special advantage in the longevity department because their main fan base of kids constantly turns over. Captain America has been around since the 1940s. His current logevity was called into question earlier this year, when he was assassinated while resisting over-the-top government anti-terrorism measures that required all super-heroes to register with the government. But death is not a barrier to return appearances in the comics, either.

As I recall, back in the "Freedom Fries" days, the National Review crowd got worked up over some Captain America comic that depicted the World Trade Center attack and they thought it was insufficiently jingoistic. Now that's taking comic books pretty seriously!

Tags: captain america, hulk, the thing, spider-man, sub-mariner

Captain America murdered!

(Image: AP via El País)

Captain America is gunned down and killed in the issue of the comic book that is being released today: El Capitán América muere asesinado tras rechazar la ley antiterrorista de Estados Unidos El País 08.03.07; Marvel Comics kills Captain America by Geoff Boucher Los Angeles Times 03/08/07; Shocking event for Captain America CNN.com 03/07/07

Captain America in recent times has been part of the resistance movement against a repressive law called the Superhero Registration Act. Sources at Marvel Comics told CNN that the storyline "was intentionally written as an allegory to current real-life issues like the Patriot Act, the War on Terror and the September 11 attacks."

Captain America began his comic book career in 1941 fighting Hiter:

First appearance of Captain America (Image: AP via El País)

Now he's killed fighting against repressive measure of the fictional version of the Cheney Administration. Marvel Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada told CNN, "There is a lot to be read in there."

Believe it or not, Michael Medved, a leading conservative commentator, actually griped back in 2003 about Captain America's treasonous tendencies: Captain America, Traitor? National Review Online 04/04/03. Yes, at the high tide of Iraq War fever, things got that stupid among the wingnuts. And, yes, Medved seriously denounces Captain America for being "surprisingly sympathetic to terrorists".

Tags: captain america