Mea Culpa: Let’s Talk About That Captain America Article

On Tuesday, Paste posted an article titled Marvel Backtracks on Captain America Revelation After Just One Issue, addressing the second issue spoilers that explain Steve Rogers’ controversial pledge of allegiance to Hydra, Marvel’s de facto Nazi stand-ins. We’d previously covered the issue in some depth, and, we believe, fairly. Unfortunately, Tuesday’s article insinuates that the plot points within the issue, released yesterday, were crafted in response to reader backlash. The article went “viral,” thanks primarily to fans and creators sharing it in criticism.

And we agree with many of those criticisms. The suggestion that Marvel could absorb the explosive fan response to the first issue of Captain America: Steve Rogers, released May 25th, and commission Nick Spencer for a new script and Jesus Saiz for 20 new finished pages of art in time to print and ship to stores 30 days later, completely ignores the months of hard work and planning that goes into getting a book on shelves. To imply such a feat of rapid publishing is even possible, let alone that Marvel went into the “Hail Hydra” press cycle without a plan, is an insult to the industry and the fans. Regardless of your feelings on the Hydra twist—and it’s perfectly valid to be critical of it—Marvel is incapable of changing course without a delay in scheduling. 

Our mission is to promote and draw attention to books that deserve a brighter spotlight, whether published by the Big Two of Marvel and DC or self-published by a first-time creator. That doesn’t mean we shy from researched, well-considered criticism, but we don’t devote many column inches to tearing down titles we don’t like, and we aim for quality evergreen analysis over hastily written-up breaking news. 

To put it simply: we care about comics, and bringing you the best possible writing about comics. We apologize for the article’s inaccuracies and will continue to raise the bar for the content we publish in the Comics section.