Public Identities.

[johanirae.livejournal.com]

Hiya kindly experts at the comm...

I'm currently drawing up some stuff for the christmas challenge, and I was wondering something about public identity and our favorite men.

After new Avengers got formed, after Extremis, but way before Civil War, in regular Marvel canon:

1) Is it public knowledge that Tony Stark is Iron Man? Because in some comics it seems that it is... but I read in Extremis that it was still hidden...

2) Is it public knowledge that Steve Rogers is Captain America?

Just wondering... please help!

Comments

Re: The writers are lazy

[hohaiyee.livejournal.com]

Is the Fake!Cap in question the one who will later become "US Agent", because I've been reading the two volumes of Operation: Galactic Storm (with difficulty because I don't care about most of the comic crossover), and it seem to me that US Agent's superpower is being an asshole who is very good at pissing people off. That jerkass joked that he voted for Mockingbird to be on the team, because at least she's easy on the eye...and then he insulted She-Hulk's waistline.

Come to think of it, from one of the first issue of the Ultimates I came across, the one where Ult!Cap is a jerkass who told the Scarlet Witch she should cover up more in a "stop dressing like a slut" kinda way (as oppose to, "Wanda, aren't you cold right now?" *concerned* way), is Ult!Cap actually US Agent as opposed to Steve Rogers?

Re: The writers are lazy

[elspethdixon.livejournal.com]

Is the Fake!Cap in question the one who will later become "US Agent",

No, he's one of two Fake!Caps currently running around in Captain America (the other being Bucky). I'm not sure anyone actually knows his name -- he was pretending to be Steve when the precursor to the Weapon X program had him running around in costume in the 50s, and even jack Monroe didn't know who he really was.

John Walker is his own, unique kind of asshole.

it seem to me that US Agent's superpower is being an asshole who is very good at pissing people off.

It... pretty much is. The last I heard of him, he'd been inexplicably sent to Canada to be on their Initiative version of Alpha Flight (why the hell Canada has an Initiative team when the Initiative is a US Government program, I don't know). I assume he's probably been deported by this point.

There's a certain amusement value in watching other characters try to put up with him, though. Force Works mostly makes me want to gouge my own eyes out because the art is so godawful, but it also makes me feel really bad for Clint & Rhodey, who are stuck on a team with US Agent, mind-controlled!Tony, and crazy!Wanda. The really sad thing is that the basic premise should have been interesting, and the combination of personalities should have led to really entertaining character interactions, but the writing was so utterly horrible that all it does is make you cringe.

is Ult!Cap actually US Agent as opposed to Steve Rogers?


That's my secret theory regarding Ultimates, anyway -- that Millar got US Agent and Captain America mixed up. Supposedly, he's intended to be Steve, but in terms of characterizations he's pretty much a carbon copy of John Walker (except for the being a NASCAR fan from Alabama part, because US Agent is basically every red state stereotype come to life).