Ted White (1) (1938–)

Ted White’s Captain America: The Great Gold Steal represents one of Marvel Comics’ first forays into licensing its characters for different mediums. The story blends a retelling of Captain America’s comic exploits with a new story in which Cap battles against gold thieves attempting to rip off the Federal Reserve. Unlike Captain America’s comic book exploits, which often involved battles against larger-than-life supervillains or commentary on the changing nature of American society and where the nation falls short in applying the dream, this story generally fits the mold of other action-adventure novels of the late 1960s, specifically the work of Ian Fleming. The gold thieves may have laser weapons à la the early James Bond novels and films, but that’s the most fantastic element of the story.

What’s most interesting is how this story differs from the comics of the time. White alters Captain America’s origin story, expanding it and focusing more on DNA manipulation and the insertion of steel reinforcements into Steve Rogers’s bones rather than the vita rays and special chemicals, though White also adds references to LSD (pgs. 20-25). While Marvel Comics would challenge the Comics Code Authority in 1971 to allow for the discussion of drugs in comics, at the time of this novel’s publication in 1968 any mention of drugs was still forbidden. White also refers to narcotics in describing a knock-out chemical (pg. 85) and in one character’s analogy describing her life of crime (pg. 101).

In establishing the pattern of comic book characters rejecting their comic book origins when translated to another medium, White has Captain America say, “I may wear a fancy uniform, but I cannot see through walls, stop bullets with my skin, or do any of those other comic-book things. My strength, my powers of recuperation, my reflexes – they’re all superior, but they’re not superhuman” (pg. 70). Part of this dialogue may also serve as a parting shot at Captain America’s fellow World War II superhero, Superman, and his publishers at DC. For most of the novel, Captain America battles smart criminals like those in Ocean’s 11, though White does include the Red Skull at the end. His description of the big reveal is relatively brief and the Skull primarily works to link this back with the Cold War spy stories of the era (pgs. 115-117). Interestingly, the novel keeps the comic books’ practice of including editor’s notes referencing stories in other issues (pgs. 31, 35 [in this one, Stan Lee incorrectly lists the issue in which the Avengers discover Cap as no. 3 rather than no. 4], 76). This gives the novel an odd tone, as if White is both trying to tell a story that no comic book could while also including elements unique to the medium. Modern readers may find it dated, but it’s just as interesting as classic comics from the Silver Age!… (más)