LOL! That was my snarky comment to the LA Times concerning Sam Wilson taking over as Cap. Here is the broader context of my remarks:

“…what do you think publishers can do to better engage a diverse audience that will produce new comics storytellers?”

Hire some actual black people.

Sam Wilson, as I understand him, would never take on the Cap role: it’s not who he is. He *might* do it to honor Steve Rogers, but Sam, as I understand him, would realize the Captain America symbol is so much bigger than the man; it is the embodiment of an ideal, one that Sam, as I understand him, cannot wholly and unflinchingly embrace the way Steve did. As such, Sam, as I understand him, would have more integrity than to assume the identity at anything less than full investment in what Steve stood for–not 85% or wherever he might be in terms of how Sam, as I understand him, sees the world.

Assure me that (1) Sam is in character and that he has somehow gained the 15% necessary to even want to do this, and (2) that this change is permanent and irrevocable, and then maybe, possibly, I could get in the zone with this.

Sam is or was a social worker. They may have retconned that out, but that was his original profession. Do you have any idea what a crappy job that is? You go into housing projects and report people who have a new iron or too many TVs in the house. Your caseload is a mile high and your heart breaks every single day. Now, to be a social worker in New York City, you have to have an MSW. Every time I read Sam or Falcon “talking jive,” I want to throw up. Sam, as I understand him, has a MSW, which you cannot earn if you cannot articulate the language.

He’s a guy who had a heart for the disenfranchised, for the least among us, which makes him something of an evangelical. He’s seen both the good and the terrible things government can do. Steve Rogers is unique among all human beings not because of the Super Soldier serum but because of his unapologetic commitment to the promise of America, his belief in moral absolutes, something most of us would consider somewhat naive. It works for Steve because Steve is 110 years old. Sam—or, frankly, you or I—are simply not capable of seeing the world the way Steve Rogers does or living out that level of commitment. We’ve seen too much; even our best idealism has been tainted by gross disappointment. That stuff just rolls off of Steve Rogers in a way it never could roll off of Sam Wilson.

Sam, as I understand him, has, however, become infected not necessarily with Steve’s patriotism but with Steve’s integrity. If Sam could not commit 100% to the ideal of Captain America, he would not wear the uniform. Sam is not a patriot in the same sense of the word as Steve, but he’d honor both Steve and the Captain America uniform by not draping himself in that legacy if he couldn’t be what Steve was. At best, he’d modify the suit and call himself something else, which would be fine with me, but I personally don’t see Sam taking on the Captain America role unless Marvel has retcionned him somehow or the Red Skull is mucking with his personality again.

The first issue of Q2: The Return of Quantum and Woody shipped last week, which means I probably should blog something about it, but as usual, I’m up to my ears. I’ll try and get back in here over the weekend with a few words. Meanwhile, here’s a recycled clip from my “Watch This Space” post:

I will say I’m more than surprised by the gracious (and puzzling) applause over news that MD Bright and I are doing five issues of comics. For the first few weeks of back-and-forth with Valiant, I was fairly convinced that this was all a practical joke of some kind. I certainly appreciate everyone who actually asked for this project and who have supported this series in the past.

Sorry, there is no goat. We could have put “A” goat in there, but by this point in their lives, I’m pretty sure Vincent Van Goat has gone to Farm Heaven. Forcing a goat into the story pushes us past what we feel is an action-adventure super-hero buddy book (and, all right, super-hero deconstructionism) and into farce, which was never our vision for QW. I think QW is only funny when it evolves along plausible storylines rather than Doc and I sitting around going, “Ok, how do we make this funny?” Sorry to disappoint Vincent fans, but he appears regularly in the monthly.

The project is scheduled for a 2014 release. You can find me hiding under my desk, hoping I haven’t grossly disappointed people who’ve invested so much good faith in these characters and the work. Thanks so much to Doc for working out a way forward, to Dinesh Shamdasani, Warren Simons and Walter Black for their extraordinary patience and persistence in making this project possible.

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