Today marks the 150th anniversary of the shelling of Fort Sumter, and the first shots of the American Civil War. Which quite frankly,was MUCH better written than the one by Marvel. I find myself quite agog at the impending four year commemoration, because in addition to being a Comic Book Fan, I am also something of a Civil War buff.
I had ancestors that fought on both sides of the war, which makes it rather interesting. I'm related to Robert E. Lee through my maternal Grandmother, although by the time of the war, our branch of the family had been long settled in Maryland, and gone to the bad to become rabid Abolitionists...at least according to their Virginia cousins. On my father's side, I had good stolid Indiana farm boys who marched with Sherman. So...I've always found it interesting.
It's fun to compare certain generals to certain of my comic book favorites, which some would probably consider close to blasphemy, but what the heck. Batman is the closest to Robert E. Lee, if only because he always had a plan. Guy Gardner makes a wonderful William Tecumpseh Sherman, who had red hair, and was ALSO considered crazy, at least in the early part of the war, and who turned out to be far more clever and competent than anyone expected. Hal would make a perfect George Armstrong Custer, who never had a plan and always charged, no matter what, and always seemed to be a whole lot luckier than he deserved.
At this point, my inspiration is runnign out, although I suppose that Farragut or Porter would make a nice Aquaman. Are there any other Civil War fans out there? To whom would you compare YOUR favorite generals and heroes?