Today is Veterans' Day and I can think of no better character to showcase than US Agent. Some of you may have never heard of US Agent, but he is the man that took Steve Rogers place as Captain America when Steve thought he was finished with being a hero. Long story short, Steve changes his mind and wants to be Cap again so John had no choice but to become his own persona. I am getting ahead of myself so let me begin again.
John Walker was a hero originally known as the Super Patriot. That's him to the right. The Super Patriot was another super soldier like Cap,who wanted to make America a better place. When Steve had enough, John was asked to fill Cap's shoes and he gladly accepted. Well,Steve didn't like the way John did things. So, Steve created the Captain persona to take on Captain America. In the long run, Steve won his title back and John adapted the look of the Captain but called himself, US Agent.
As US Agent, John became the successful leader of the West Coast Avengers. This team consisted of a lot of great heroes like Moon Knight, Hawkeye, Tigra, and Mockingbird. He was at the forefront to doing great things. Then, boom, MARVEL seemed to forget how much he was worth. He was on the team Force Works, which had him play second fiddle to Tony Stark as well as a new look.
The character of US Agent had identity issues in terms of costumes for years to come as well as jumping from team to team. Marvel decided to put him on the shelf and only use him from time to time. Hell, he resurfaced years later as a member of Omega Flight during the whole Civil War drama that was playing out in Marvel Comics.
John's look as the US Agent was always one of my favorite hero looks. Hell, I still have my US Agent figure that came out from Toy Biz years ago just because it looks so damn cool. Sure it was just a paint job on a Cap figure but I didn't care. When the first Cap movie came out and I saw an US Agent figure on the shelf, I made sure to get one because he is just that cool.
I hope that MARVEL wises up and starts to utilize John more in film and TV. He made a brief comeback last year in the Sam Wilson titles, so that gives me hope. I would love to see US Agent on the TV series agents or even for a brief period on the big screen. I just want his talents as well as his character recognized.
Happy Veterans' Day!
US Agent by Norm Breyfogle
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