Captain America

I'm not going to mince words. I love Captain America and I've been adoring Mezco's One:12 Collective since it launched a little over a year ago. Though I haven't been able to pick up every single figure released so far, I've been carefully biding my time for releases that just cannot be missed. Judge Dredd was cool, but not a character I absolutely needed in this format. The same goes for the Star Trek figures and the Batman V Superman entries so far. They've all been equally well-made, it's just that investing in figures like these on a writer's budget means you have to be particular. When Captain America was announced, all logic and reasoning went out the window. I actually held off on ordering the standard version Mezco offered --- which was based on a more current Marvel Now! incarnation --- hoping to get one of the variants shown off at Toy Fair earlier this year. Classic, wing-ear Captain America spoke to the part of me that's been admiring Steve Rogers since I was a kid. Unfortunately for my wallet, this Classic Captain America was Mezco's 2016 Convention exclusive (it was available at San Diego Comic-Con and will likely be at New York Comic Con, too). Still, I knew it had to be mine. From the clever collector's tin, to the wonderful exclusive packaging, to the incredible figure, I don't regret this addition pushing my expenditures to the limit one bit.

Surprise, there are new Black Widow and Captain America figures hitting Disney Stores right now! Marvel's parent company just launched an all-new premium figure series called Marvel Ultimate, and the Soviet Spy is finally on the front lines instead of waiting around in the wings. Yeah, Captain America is there too, but it's not like he needs any help getting merchandise out to the masses. The Marvel Ultimate line is Disney's latest take on the action doll market. Each figure includes a fully-poseable body with 30+ points of articulation, as well as molded and fabric elements. You could view this as Disney's attempt to target that DC Super Hero Girls market, without having to rely on any third-party partners. Launching store-exclusive lines isn't a new tactic for Disney, but this is the first time we're seeing practices usually held for the Princesses adapted over to the Marvel brand. Not that we're complaining. The Marvel Ultimate figures actually look cool.

San Diego Comic Con is without a doubt the biggest event on the industry's calendar, and people will be flying from around the world to attend panels, watch trailers, meet creators, and make friends. This year's event is bigger than ever, with so much going on every single day that it can be difficult to sift through all that information and decide how to spend your time. With the event only days away, we've looked through the schedules and hand-selected some of the best events happening on Thursday and Friday for fans of comics, collectibles, TV and film, so you can be sure you don't miss that must-see panel or signing.

This year is the seventy-fifth anniversary of Joe Simon and Jack Kirby’s Captain America Comics #1 and to honor one of the nation’s greatest fictional heroes, a bronze statue is being erected in Captain America's honor. The statue will make its debut at San Diego Comic Con later this month, before finding a permanent residence in Steve Rogers’ native Brooklyn at Prospect Park.

Yesterday, Marvel Comics gave us a hint at the post-Civil War II future of its line, and it seems the rollout of announcements has officially begun with the unveiling of a new Avengers title, USAvengers. Written by Al Ewing, USAvengers is led by Roberto Da Costa, AKA Sunspot, and features some of the Marvel Universe's most patriotic characters including Red Hulk, a new Iron Patriot and a Captain America from a possible future.

Recently, Marvel has been releasing teaser images with the tagline "Divided We..." featuring two characters separated by shattered imagery, and all we knew was that it pointed to the publisher's fall slate of comics set to be unveiled later this month under the Marvel NOW banner. Today, Marvel released a complete teaser titled "Divided We Stand," featuring two distinct groups of heroes and villains separated by a literal divide.

Is it Watchmen's fault that Captain America is a Nazi? That's the strange question I found myself asking after the last month's developments in superhero comics. Thirty years after Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' Watchmen made its debut, the characters are being integrated into the DC Universe as part of the current DC Rebirth publishing initiative, seemingly as totems of the sort of superhero grimnness that Rebirth hopes to move away from. Meanwhile, at Marvel, the publisher's most principled hero has been retconned as a secret agent of a far-right hate group, at a time when a vocal segment of the audience wants to see a lot more love than hate in the character's life. Both developments are indicative of a tension at the heart of superhero comics. Thirty years after Watchmen, is it time to stop pointing out that heroes can have flaws, and time instead to acknowledge that heroes can have value?

Born on this day in 1959 in Ortonville, Minnesota, Dan Jurgens is one of the most influential comic creators of the past three decades. As both a writer and a penciller, Jurgens has contributed a tremendous amount to the comics industry and was a shining light of creativity and fun in a decade that is often regarded as dour and serious.

Steve Rogers is a trans man. I don’t say this as an argument, I say this as a truth. Steve Rogers is trans. Rebirth is fundamental to who Captain America is. Before his rebirth, he was scrawny Steve Rogers, who fought in the streets of Brooklyn. Then he became Captain America, the soldier that he always dreamed he would be.

There are so many Marvel heroes in Captain America: Civil War that it almost feels more like a bridge between Avengers: Age of Ultron and Infinity War than a Cap sequel. Directors Joe and Anthony Russo did a fine job of juggling multiple characters and action set pieces, giving each hero a chance to shine — that was particularly evident in the airport sequence, in which we saw pretty much everyone fighting each other in various combinations. The one combo we didn’t get was Black Widow and Cap, but a new animatic from an unused scene gives you an idea of what that might have been like.