"An immigrants' kid punched Hitler in the mouth while cosplaying the American flag"

Gene Luen Yang on the corniness and coolness of Captain America -- the hero who is a flag on the move.



"The hero who dresses like the American flag. You can't get much cornier than that." As a young comic book reader, Gene Luen Yang didn't think much of Captain America. To be honest, he summarily dismissed Marvel Comics' star-spangled superhero as a dork -- and certainly nowhere near as cool as the X-Men.

But over time, Gene's relationship to Cap has evolved -- much like the flag, and America itself. In his foreword to the new Penguin Classics Marvel Collection edition of CAPTAIN AMERICA, the award-winning comic book creator shares about coming around to the appeal of Captain America's undeniable dorkiness, and his connection to Cap as a fellow child of immigrants. We're delighted to share Gene's foreword here:

Badass action figure reimagines Captain America as samurai

Samurai Captain America Meisho Manga Realization Action Figure by Bandai Tamashii Nations



What do you get when you mix Captain America with a samurai warrior? Wait, why would you do such a thing? It does not matter. It has been done. The Samurai Captain America Meisho Manga Realization Action Figure from Bandai Tamashii Nations re-imagines Marvel's star-spangled superhero as a samurai warrior.

Standing about 6 9/10-inches, Samurai Captain America features a distinctive winged helmet and scale armor inspired by Cap's traditional red, white and blue Nazi-kicking super-uniform, remixed by sculptor Takeyuki Takeya. His chest star emblem is removable and becomes a throwing star. The figure includes four optional hands, shield parts and sword parts.

The Marvel Samurai Captain America Meisho Manga Realization Action Figure will be available in February 2018. You can pre-order it now for $89.99 from Entertainment Earth.

Here are some more photos of the figure:

Howling Commando Jim Morita returns in 'Agents of SHIELD'

Kenneth Choi reprises his role from 'Captain America: The First Avenger'



Fans of the Marvel movie universe will get a kick out of this... TV Guide has posted a first-look image of at the season two premiere of Agents of SHIELD, and it looks like we'll be seeing Kenneth Choi reprising his role as World War II soldier Jim Morita from Captain America: The First Avenger.

First Look: Haley Atwell's Agent Carter on Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

The photo features Choi alongside his Captain America cast mates Hayley Atwell as Peggy Carter and Neal McDonough as Dum Dum Dugan, in what is likely a 1940s era flashback sequence to beginnings of SHIELD. Morita fought as part of an elite special unit of Allied soldiers called the Howling Commandos.

The Avengers re-imagined as Chinese opera heroes

Awesome art by Gene Luen Yang



Just have to share this awesome art that I got in the mail the other day... These are the Mighty Avengers -- Iron Man, Captain America, Hulk and Thor -- re-imagined as Chinese opera heroes. It's the work of graphic novelist Gene Luen Yang, whose latest book Boxers & Saints was recently long-listed for the National Book Award.

Pretty darn cool. I'm hanging it up on my wall! Want one? If you're in the Austin, Texas area, Austin Books & Comics has exclusive, limited-edition prints of Gene's Chinese Opera Avengers drawing for $20. You can also order it from the Guzu Gallery Official Online Store.

Here's a closer look at the characters:

in theaters: kenneth choi in captain america

For those headed to the movie theater this weekend, do note that actor Kenneth Choi is in the big screen movie adaptation of Marvel Comics' star-spangled shield slinger, Captain America: The First Avenger. He plays Nisei soldier Jim Morita, one of the members of the elite American fighting squad, the Howling Commandos.

We first noted that he had briefly made it into the trailer earlier this year. It doesn't look like a very big part, but I've heard he does get a couple of great lines. I'm just glad a big budget comic book movie like this saw fit to include a tip of the hat to World War II's Japanese American heroes, even with just one character.