Probably, though he's drifted off both in and out of costume. I get the feeling it has to do with his origin in the 1930's. Steve lost himself in fantasy stories whenever he could because, well, the great depression was depressing. He didn't want to be there. Not many people who lived in that time -did-.
Steve just got -better- at escaping into his own head. Adventure seriels, the ideals of his father, radio-plays in the dark... those became Steve's world, until the real world burst into flames from Germany outwards. That grounded him, and gave him an outlet for all the dreams, the weight of INTENTIONS Steve had been building up. He -believed- in the allied cause, in a way few regular people could have. He believed with the faith of a child, and the intelligence of a newly-minted man. Steve Rogers was ready to ROCK. And he did, blazing a trail right up from his fist to Adolph Hitler's face. Awakened in the 'modern' world of the sixties though, the culture-shock was a bit much. Added to the crushing defeat/grief of losing Bucky Barnes... Steve was never really as comfortable with his place in the world again. He got -better- with time and experience, and in many ways he grew up, but he can't seem to... come home, somehow. It's like he's just encamped in his own country, waiting for the hammer to fall next... and thanks to Nick Fury and a few others, Steve never really got enough of a break between crises to think though out and relax. To truly stand down. Unable to return from a war only he could see, Steve did two things. He turned inwards and closed off when things got -really- bad, and he actively searched for a partner when he felt safe in the slightest.
Sharon Carter couldn't give him truth. Rick Jones (as Bucky II) was driven off by the Red Skull impersonating Steve. Cap and The Falcon worked for a while, but as Falcon turned more and more back to his home neighbourhood, it became clear that he couldn't do his job there with Cap as a partner, so they broke up and each went solo again. For such a great guy, Cap has a HELL of a time keeping partners. He can work with almost anyone, but the number of people who can take the ego hit of working CAP on a daily basis are few and far between.
Steve is almost -always- painfully and undeservedly lonely. And it -eats- him, because he knows on some level that this is not the way he is supposed to be. Cap takes partners (of various kinds) the way Tony takes girlfriends, and with much the same negative results. Either they're not a mask and they get killed, or they ARE a mask, and they start to feel like a sidekick, or they just can't take the red-white-and-blue way he thinks, or they can't take the way they have to traverse half of New York by building-mounted flagpoles when Steve gets insomnia, or... yeah. They're gone. And Cap gets depressed, and drifts off into his own head again. Given that he's especially sensitive to the American zeitgeist anyway, sometimes he can get beaten up emotionally by social upheavals within America even when he -hasn't- been dumped recently.
Steve's optimistic though, and he never really stops hoping -someone- will work out. Because of this, he tends to get -really- attached to anyone who lasts longer than a few story arcs. Like, 'let's go start a new superhero team together' attached. (G)
All that said... I don't actually -understand- Steve at all, from an internal process standpoint. I see what he does, I see what he values, and I see how he treats people, and how they treat him. And all I can think is... something's not adding up, and I don't know the reason why.
no subject
I get the feeling it has to do with his origin in the 1930's. Steve lost himself in fantasy stories whenever he could because, well, the great depression was depressing. He didn't want to be there. Not many people who lived in that time -did-.
Steve just got -better- at escaping into his own head. Adventure seriels, the ideals of his father, radio-plays in the dark... those became Steve's world, until the real world burst into flames from Germany outwards.
That grounded him, and gave him an outlet for all the dreams, the weight of INTENTIONS Steve had been building up.
He -believed- in the allied cause, in a way few regular people could have. He believed with the faith of a child, and the intelligence of a newly-minted man.
Steve Rogers was ready to ROCK. And he did, blazing a trail right up from his fist to Adolph Hitler's face.
Awakened in the 'modern' world of the sixties though, the culture-shock was a bit much. Added to the crushing defeat/grief of losing Bucky Barnes... Steve was never really as comfortable with his place in the world again.
He got -better- with time and experience, and in many ways he grew up, but he can't seem to... come home, somehow.
It's like he's just encamped in his own country, waiting for the hammer to fall next... and thanks to Nick Fury and a few others, Steve never really got enough of a break between crises to think though out and relax.
To truly stand down.
Unable to return from a war only he could see, Steve did two things. He turned inwards and closed off when things got -really- bad, and he actively searched for a partner when he felt safe in the slightest.
Sharon Carter couldn't give him truth. Rick Jones (as Bucky II) was driven off by the Red Skull impersonating Steve. Cap and The Falcon worked for a while, but as Falcon turned more and more back to his home neighbourhood, it became clear that he couldn't do his job there with Cap as a partner, so they broke up and each went solo again.
For such a great guy, Cap has a HELL of a time keeping partners. He can work with almost anyone, but the number of people who can take the ego hit of working CAP on a daily basis are few and far between.
Steve is almost -always- painfully and undeservedly lonely.
And it -eats- him, because he knows on some level that this is not the way he is supposed to be. Cap takes partners (of various kinds) the way Tony takes girlfriends, and with much the same negative results.
Either they're not a mask and they get killed, or they ARE a mask, and they start to feel like a sidekick, or they just can't take the red-white-and-blue way he thinks, or they can't take the way they have to traverse half of New York by building-mounted flagpoles when Steve gets insomnia, or... yeah.
They're gone.
And Cap gets depressed, and drifts off into his own head again.
Given that he's especially sensitive to the American zeitgeist anyway, sometimes he can get beaten up emotionally by social upheavals within America even when he -hasn't- been dumped recently.
Steve's optimistic though, and he never really stops hoping -someone- will work out. Because of this, he tends to get -really- attached to anyone who lasts longer than a few story arcs.
Like, 'let's go start a new superhero team together' attached. (G)
All that said...
I don't actually -understand- Steve at all, from an internal process standpoint. I see what he does, I see what he values, and I see how he treats people, and how they treat him.
And all I can think is... something's not adding up, and I don't know the reason why.