“I think it’s a really exciting time to be writing Captain America right now,” said writer Ta-Nehisi Coates. “The country is in an interesting place, and I look forward to inhabiting Steve Rogers’ character – this guy who has been a sort of awkward fit for the world, out of time as people say. I hope fans are excited to see something different, and I think there are some really compelling villains old-school Captain America fans and Marvel fans will be familiar with.”
New Creative Teams. New Series. New Directions. New Beginnings. It all kicks off this July with CAPTAIN AMERICA #1!
“Finding the right voice to tell the tales of Marvel’s beloved characters is never an easy task, but when it came time to hire the new hand to guide Captain America, we just knew it had to be Ta-Nehisi Coates!” shared Editor-In-Chief C.B. Cebulski. “After re-inventing the Black Panther for the modern era, Ta-Nehisi now brings his sharp scripting sensibilities to Steve Rogers and his new place in the Marvel Universe. With Leinil Yu and Sunny Gho bringing all the incredible action to life in big, bold visuals, you will not be able to put this book down. And our launch is timed perfectly for release on the Fourth of July!”
Fans will be able to read the first Captain America story from Ta-Nehisi Coates and Leinil Yu in the Avengers/Captain America Free Comic Book Day issue, on sale May 5th – and can view the back cover art of the issue by Leinil Yu for the first time now!
Ta-Nehisi Coates is an author, journalist, comic book writer, and educator. Coates is a national correspondent for The Atlantic, where he writes about cultural, social and political issues, particularly regarding African Americans. Coates recently wrote this exclusive commentary, “Why I’m Writing Captian America (and Why it Scares the Hell out of Me)” (The Atlantic), regarding taking on CAPTAIN AMERICA:
Why I’m Writing Captain America
Rogers’s transformation into Captain America is underwritten by the military. But, perhaps haunted by his own roots in powerlessness, he is a dissident just as likely to be feuding with his superiors in civilian and military governance as he is to be fighting with the supervillain Red Skull. Conspirators against him rank all the way up to the White House, causing Rogers to, at one point, reject the very title of Captain America. At the end of World War II, Captain America is frozen in ice and awakens in our time—and this, too, distances him from his country and its ideals. He is “a man out of time,” a walking emblem of greatest-generation propaganda brought to life in this splintered postmodern time. Thus, Captain America is not so much tied to America as it is, but to an America of the imagined past. In one famous scene, flattered by a treacherous general for his “loyalty,” Rogers—grasping the American flag—retorts, “I’m loyal to nothing, general … except the dream.”
I confess to having a conflicted history with this kind of proclamation—which is precisely why I am so excited to take on Captain America. I have my share of strong opinions about the world. But one reason that I chose the practice of opinion journalism—which is to say a mix of reporting and opinion—is because understanding how those opinions fit in with the perspectives of others has always been more interesting to me than repeatedly restating my own. Writing, for me, is about questions—not answers. And Captain America, the embodiment of a kind of Lincolnesque optimism, poses a direct question for me: Why would anyone believe in The Dream? What is exciting here is not some didactic act of putting my words in Captain America’s head, but attempting to put Captain America’s words in my head. What is exciting is the possibility of exploration, of avoiding the repetition of a voice I’ve tired of.
And then there is the basic challenge of drawing with words—the fear that accompanies every effort. And the fear is part of the attraction because, if I am honest, the “opinion” part of opinion-journalism is no longer as scary it once was. Reporting—another word for discovery—will always be scary. Opinioning, less so. And nothing should really scare a writer more than the moment when they are no longer scared. I think it’s then that one might begin to lapse into self-caricature, endlessly repeating the same insights and the same opinions over and over. I’m not convinced I can tell a great Captain America story—which is precisely why I want so bad to try.
In this endeavor, I’ll be joined—hopefully for all my time doing it—by the incredible Leinil Yu on interior panels and Alex Ross on covers. Both Leinil and Alex are legends. Even if you don’t consider yourself a comics-head, you should check out their work to see what the best of the form has to offer. I’m lucky to have them—and have been luckier still to have a community of comic creators (Matt Fraction, Kieron Gillen, Jamie McKelvie, Ed Brubaker, Kelly Sue DeConnick, Chip Zdarsky, and Warren Ellis, among others) who’ve embraced me and helped me learn the form. And I’ve been lucky in my editors—Sana Amanat, who brought me on; Wil Moss, who edits Black Panther; Tom Brevoort, who’s editing Captain America; C.B. Cebulski, who just helped me refashion the script to the first issue; and Axel Alonso, who first broached the idea of me writing Cap.
Finally, but most importantly, I have to thank the black comic creators I admired as a youth, often without even knowing they were black—Christopher Priest, Denys Cowan, Dwayne McDuffie, specifically—without whom none of this would be possible. There has long been a complaint among black comic creators that they are restricted to black characters. I don’t know what it means to live in a world where people restrict what you write, and the reason I don’t know is largely because of the sacrifices of all those who were forced to know before me. I have not forgotten this.
Captain America #1 drops on the Fourth of July. Excelsior, family.
(The Atlantic)
CAPTAIN AMERICA #1
Written by TA-NEHISI COATES
Art by LEINIL YU
Cover by ALEX ROSS
On Sale 7/4/18
FREE COMIC BOOK DAY CAPTAIN AMERICA #1
Written by TA-NEHISI COATES
Art by LEINIL YU
Cover by LEINIL YU
On Sale 5/5/18
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