Warning: Spoilers for Captain America (2023) #14 ahead!
Captain America has seen more than its fair share of tragedies, taking the Marvel universe from one world-shaking battle to another – but when a city-destroying calamity happens monthly, the events of which are memorized and which are just part of the day – today? Readers get a rare glimpse into this process when a specific disaster is revealed to have legendary status in Captain America’s mind.
Captain America (2023) #14, by J. Michael Straczynski, Charlemagne and Espen Grundetjern, sees Captain America, Thor, and Spider-Man join forces to solve a mystery that has persisted since the destruction of the town of Broxton, Oklahoma. Captain America reveals that he suffered greatly from Broxton’s destruction, equating the event with the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941.
“I remember all of this. The cowardice of killing civilians… how random it seemed and how wrong,“Captain America reflects.”When Broxton was destroyed, those same feelings came back again.“
Marvel reveals which event is its “Pearl Harbor”
An attack on a small town is given great historical scope
This is an incredibly powerful comparison to make, as the attack on Pearl Harbor was an important event in American history. Japanese forces attacked the Pearl Harbor naval base on December 7, 1941, in an unprovoked attack, causing the still undecided United States to enter World War II and leading to the defeat of the Axis powers. In this way, the attack on Pearl Harbor is also indirectly responsible for the modern comic book industry, with superheroes’ primary role as American wartime propaganda shaping its tropes for generations to come and leaving an indelible mark on the medium.
How does the apparent Marvel equivalent behave? The small town of Broxton, Oklahoma has been a significant cornerstone of Earth-Asgard relations since its debut in Thor. (2007) #1, where it hosted New Asgard and its inhabitants for a time after the destruction of the Nine Realms. Broxton was destroyed in Thor (2020) #20, its buildings razed and population annihilated by the God of Hammers as a way of torturing Thor; Captain America #14 reveals that it has not been rebuilt since, with the nearby town essentially functioning as a “Broxton memorial”.
What stands out in a world of cataclysms?
Broxton is one of hundreds of tragedies to be elevated
Of all the events in Marvel history that rival Pearl Harbor, the destruction of Broxton is an odd choice. Although it was an unprovoked attack that resulted in mass civilian casualties, Marvel is no stranger to these events; for example, the detonation of the supervillain Nitro in Stamford, Connecticut, also resulted in mass civilian casualties and has had a much more lasting legacy in the Marvel Universe as being the event that started the superhero Civil War. Compared to Stamford, Broxton has not even been rebuilt, emphasizing its position as a tragic but less impactful event within Marvel’s Earth.
On the other hand, it’s good to see that in a world where large-scale destruction is so easily dismissed, the destruction of a small town is not forgotten. The Marvel Universe may have its fair share of cosmic threats and world-devouring enemies, but in Captain America’s eyes, the loss of a single small town amounts to one of the greatest catastrophes in American history. It’s a moving tribute to a quickly forgotten event and a glimpse into which of the many disasters make superhero history. Captain America perspective.
Captain America (2023) #14 is now available from Marvel.