Having A Hate-Love Relationship With Captain America

(Art by Koinks) Since his inception in 1941, Captain America has been a flagship character for, Timely Comics, which would later become Marvel Comics. Even if you knew nothing about Captain America’s backstory, you knew there was a guy running around wrapped in the American flag delivering judo chops to whoever the country felt was a threat at the time. To commemorate the 75 years since Joe Simon and Jack Kirby gave Steve Rogers his shield, ABC will be airing a special focused on the hero on January 19 entitled “Marvel’s Captain America: 75 Heroic Years.” While I’m definitely excited about this – just as I am when practically any part of nerd culture is put in the spotlight – I have to acknowledge that this news wouldn’t have meant a damn thing to me more than four years ago. Off to a Rocky Start With Mr. Rogers During part of my college years, I shared an apartment with some nerdy friends of mine. This was an important period in my life because I was able to dive deeper into my nerdy passions than ever before with no reservations. We’d spend our afternoons playing FIFA, having ethical debates about Death Note and re-ranking our favorite comic book characters for the fifteenth time. With our vastly different opinions, there was one thing we could agree on across the board – Captain America was trash. For us, three black nerds that grew up watching Wesley Snipes cut vampires in half with a katana, there wasn’t really anything about Steve Rogers to draw us in. He was the king o…