Lynn Walker writes…
I haven't read the current Captain America story either, but I have read all of the ones written and/or drawn by Jack Kirby. One is, of course, on very shaky ground when attempting to assign opinions to somebody that isn't around anymore, and we've seen this happen with relatives of all kinds of famous people. However, I don't think it's entirely out of line to look at somebody's body of work, identify patterns, and then see how the patterns compare with the current situation. In the case of Jack's Captain America, if one looks at his 70s work (where he wasn't collaborating with anyone else who would have had story input), I find what he did in "Mad Bomb" and "Bicentennial Battles" to be patriotic and political, but also completely non-partisan. I can easily see a reader who leans to the right feeling that his opinions were vindicated by Jack in these stories, and one leaning to the left to feel the same way. I think it's part of what makes Jack's work so universal and timeless. I didn't know Jack personally, but I think he would be more impressed by Captain America stories (assuming he read them) that inspired every reader to stand by their convictions and strive to do what they believe is heroic than those which would divide the readership and distract them from the actual stories and messages in the comic.
Well, first of all, Jack had zero interest in reading others' stories of his characters. He almost never recognized someone else's interpretation as quite the same characters, often hated what he read, and felt that manners and professionalism required that he not say what he really thought.
But the larger issue you discuss is one that I've wrestled with a lot, since people often come to me and ask, "Do you think Jack would have approved of this?" Whatever it is. There are areas where I feel confident speaking for him…for example, he was militant in believing that an individual creator had the right to credit for his or her work and to not have the integrity of that work compromised. I see no reason to even consider that he might have backed off on those beliefs.
However, in things like politics, I try to make damn sure I don't use Jack the way a lot of folks use revered entities that cannot now (or do not) speak for themselves. I can't stand it when people whose views are questioned try to make it sound like they're speaking for our troops overseas…so to disagree with them is to disrespect our brave soldiers. Or worse, when they wrap their prejudice in some Bible quote and try to pretend that to disagree with them is to disagree with God Almighty. Jack's not quite in that category but in the comic book world, I have seen people try to use him to try to win debates that way.
It's intriguing that you say that folks on both sides of the aisle (as it were) could read his Captain America stories and think he was on their side. That's probably true but it's one of those "glass-is-half-full/empty" deals because everyone could also think he was disagreeing with them. We get that a lot with Groo, every time we do anything that even vaguely sounds like we're referencing current events. And what's intriguing about that is how incredibly wrong some people are, accusing us of advocating positions we don't hold. Where Groo is a little different is that Sergio and I are often not of the same mind on a topic we address, so a story often reflects conflicting views, whereas the stories Jack wrote and drew on his own speak with one determined but reasoned voice.
I do think Jack did not want to use Captain America as a mouthpiece for his own political views, even though if anyone had the moral right to do that, it was Jack…or, I guess, Joe Simon. I remember that when Oliver North testified before Congress, Kirby thought that by wearing his uniform as he justified all sorts of illegal and immoral deeds, North had disgraced that uniform. He should have shown enough respect for the uniform not to exploit it as he did. The analogy isn't exact but I always felt that Jack thought writers should respect Captain America enough not to exploit him for partisan purpose.