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Freedom Fighters (2019)

Before we get into the main review, a quick prelude:

The Multiversity: Mastermen

Set during the events of Multiversity (but unconnected but for a cameo by one of the more sinister Doctors Sivana), it details the last days of the Nazi's version of the Justice League, and the growing disillusionment of Overman.

It's good. Most things by Grant Morrison are good, and this takes a surprisingly human view of what Superman would be like when raised in Nazi Germany. As a one-shot, it closes rather succinctly on the German empire. This does make its canonicity dubious, but there's some context for the follow-up comic that is necessary to understand the bigger picture.

Ready? Okay let's go.

In 1963, the Nazis have invaded and taken over America. A resistance has grown up in the remnants of America's demise, and is set to strike back. Then they're killed or captured by the Nazi's agents, the Plasstic Men, and most are executed for their crimes. Uncle Sam, the spirit of America, vanishes into the ether. Cut to 30 years later, a new team of Freedom Fighters is on the rise, and they aim to bring the spirit of America back from a more-entrenched Nazi occupation.

As a comic and an elseworld: it's fun. There's a lot of fundamental changes to America that have happened because of the Nazis, and you get to see heroes rise up and take their home back. The Freedom Fighters are very human, each joining the revolution for their own reasons, ranging from Phantom Lady (a woman whose father ensured she had the greatest privilege in the new regime) to Black Condor (who was born with nothing and sought to gain his freedom at the very least), though given the only 12 issues we don't get to see a lot of some of them. And Uncle Sam is the character through which we see the ideals of America, what it could and does mean to people.

Which is where we get into the negatives of this story. First, let me say: this is not a negative with the story itself. The story Robert Venditti wanted to tell was told just about as well as he could; maybe it could have been improved by some tighter focus on the main characters, but he wanted to make a story about heroes and oppression, and he did.

But also, I've seen revolutions portrayed well in schlock like this before. First let me say: "elevated" as a term applied to genre, especially horror, is often used to demean the entire genre and declare only a part worthy of being "real" literature. But the word itself is useful, and in my mind, there's been a few occasions where I've read "elevated" schlock, schlock that's about fightin' Nazis or fascists, and also sets out to say something about it. To my mind, there have been three series about revolutions that added to the genre:

Wolfenstein: The New Order. While this game retained its roots about shooting Nazis with many bullets, it also added a humanizing element to its main character, BJ Blazkowicz, who was confirmed as Jewish. A tall, muscular, blond-haired, blue-eyed man, technically he fits all the ideals of the Nazis regime, but because he's Jewish he will forever be viewed as trash. It's also something that drives him forward, something that he tries to have faith in as he deals with the regime and starting a family when things are so horrible.

But it also took the time to look at America's own structures of racism, and call them out as being complicit in Nazism. The KKK were shown working alongside the SS, and white Americans just kind of rolled over for the regime. Sure, they had to learn German, but that's a small price for them to pay for "law and order", right? And surely they'll only kill the bad ones, right? This tension between Americans and Germans is only growing pains... right? And so they sell more and more of their neighbors in the name of law and order.

The Omega Men (2015). This is not about killin' Nazis, but is about revolutions and the steps they have to take to attain power. More importantly, it's about the moral compromises you'll have to make to stay in the struggle and eventually win, but also about full-cycle revolutions and how people who win wars and people who run countries well are often two different kinds of people.

The Ultimates (2024). This series has been rather frank about the actions you would need to take to oppose a regime, both massive terrorizing actions (like blowing up pipelines) but also outreach and community-building as well as resource-sharing. One panel is literally just Tony Stark teaching new recruits how to make Molotov cocktails, and the safety steps you should take to prevent yourself from being burned.

All three of these are about fighting bad guys in power, but they're also about people and power in ways that make us understand the whole issue more. And in all three of these ways, Freedom Fighters (2019) fails to add anything to the conversation.

For societies capitulating: we don't get any idea of what Nazi-occupied America is like, or why people turned over their rights to the regime. We know baseball is outlawed, but baseballs can also be found by children. We get some idea of what it's like for Black people, as they are taken for slaves and forced to work in factory cities, but no others. I think Doll Woman is/was Jewish but I can't confirm. We don't even get a sense of Phantom Lady's father and what kind of laws he put on the books to ruin America so utterly.

Every goon who works for the Nazis just happens to be sadistic bad guys. There's no cleaning women you have to worry about, no brainwashed soldiery, no children in close proximity to bombing sights. It makes the use of violence clean and enjoyable, and while I won't shed tears over Nazi deaths, the framing of violence in this way whitewashes its usage.

There's no focus on civilian uprisings. We do get some of it with Black Condor's backstory and arc, but the idea of "the people" empowering Uncle Sam isn't really given any narrative attention.The people are just inspired to believe in America and it makes Uncle Sam stronger.

None of these things are truly necessary to make a good Nazi punchin' story. Indiana Jones has often had very enjoyable stories about preventing Nazis from getting ahold of ancient artifacts. But when you make a story about the spirit of America, it is disappointing when the idea of America isn't put on full display.

(Also a side note: every time I read a story with Nazis in it, I ask myself: would Neo-Nazis like this portrayal? American History X is a popular movie among Neo-Nazis for making them look cool and badass, despite the blatant anti-Nazi message. When the Nazis are portrayed as stoic men with iron wills, it usually just reinforces the ideology the Nazis purport to have. Springtime for Hitler (and just about everything by Mel Brooks), meanwhile, makes them look ridiculous and no Nazi will claim it. This book makes the mistake of showing Nazis as calculating, conniving men of one purpose, instead of the spineless, greedy, self-sabotaging, pathetic losers with power they actually were. Not completely; Hitler is first shown with bowel troubles in Multiversity: Mastermen, and he dies of a heart attack, dribbling slobber, in this series. But it's enough to make me uncomfortable. Take that as you will.)

What we got here was a whitewashing of "the true spirit of America is in the downtrodden and destitute, the poor and desperate". It's a handwave to get you to enjoy the story without actually seeing the true America. And while I did enjoy it, I couldn't help but have this nagging sensation at the back of my head that the story could have been great it it just had a little extra sauce on it.