#usqna

[dcdreamblog]

I have a couple of questions for Uncle Sam,

Did you know General Gloryvand if you did how much of his comic book was accurate recounting of events?

Are you familiar with the super team The Force of July? They were created by a corrupt US politician and they're controversial enough I'm almost hesitant to call them superheroes. Some people think they were willing collaborators with their boss. Others think their ideology left them blind to actual reasons for his actions

US: Glory was the sad result of the US government trying to have a mystery man of their own they could keep under wraps. Me: We recently talked on my blog about something along similar lines with the Creature Commandos US: Something like that, yes. The rift between the US Government establishment and the Squadron was always larger than we let on to the public Me: Hoover specifically went to his grave frustrated on his total inability to dig up dirt on any of you. US: It was an understanding we had as comrades. We all trusted on another to the hilt, even if we never spoke as individuals. If you were Squadron, it made you blood, no questions asked. Me: No wonder they kept Glory under the radar US: Same reason they kept all their other "enhanced assets" under our radar. The moment we would have found out, we would have planted our feet and placed them under Squadron protection. As it was, Glory ended up getting batted around at the whims of the military command structure. Me: His missions were rather less...glorious than his comic books made them seem, from what I've read. US: It was a lot of skulking about on the western front, giving the hotfoot to nazi administration in France or the Low Countries. A lot of snapping necks in the dark. Me: Not exactly banner material US: And then after the war they all but brainwashed him and tossed him to the wolves. By the time he remembered who he was he was so jumbled in the head all he could do was make speeches. Me: He died of a heart attack not long after his reawakening US: Not many of us mystery men had the luck to be born immortal

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US: I...recognize that the young men and women who called themselves the Force of July BELIEVED they were doing good. Me: Wow, I have seen cannons less loaded than that sentence. US: They operated under a spook organization called the American Security Agency. Me: One of those black cape organizations US: You could say it again, yes. The ASA was one of many secret projects meant to create superhuman agents under government control. Their motives were, as with any such group, ultimately jackbooted. Me: They wanted to launch a satellite into space that could spy on people's homes through their TV screens. They straight up called it Project Orwell US: Which was made by government agents ultimately above the Force of July's heads. That being said their unwillingness to question the motives of their handlers is a red flag by itself. Me: When they were directed against an outfit like the original Outsiders... US: That clinched it for all time in my mind Me: Oh yea? US: It's like I was saying before, an understanding in the community. If you're one of us, you get the benefit of the doubt. There's some layers of separation between me and them but I vouch for them on principle unless I know something untoward is going on. Me: Only some layers? US: Founded by Batman, Batman trained under Wildcat, I served with Wildcat. Me: Wow...Batman trained under Wildcat? US: *shrugs* Neither here nor there. Either way, the Force of July was a lot of very easily misled young people being sent out to do damage for an American establishment masquerading as an American ideal Me: Should have joined the military in that case US: No comment.

[dcdreamblog]

So what were uncle sam’s feeling when Lex Luther became president? What was that moment like for him?

US: I remember my exact thought on the second the election was called for him. Me: And what was that? I apologize I was only born about 4 months after the man took office and wasn't conscious through his entire presidency US: If only we'd all been so lucky. I remember thinking "things are gonna be harder for a while before the fall." Me: Before the fall? US: That's what I said out loud, because I knew there would be one. Me: Very optimistic of you. Many of his detractors thought it would be the end of American democracy, swept on a wave of a populist bigotry. US: He wasn't the first populist bigot that got people to listen to his claptrap and heaven help me he won't be the last. I was here with my boots in the dirt when people thought Andrew Jackson would be the death knell. I was here to watch them march Jefferson Davis out of Richmond. I listened to Ronny Reagan and his little friends giggle themselves sick as people across the nation got sick and died so they could sit around feeling justified. Me: But each of those administrations did such awful things, to so many people. Things we're still dealing with now. US: You're right. And it never should have happened, any of it. Each one of them left scars on me that I'll be nursing until I fade away. And yet here we are, and they've all gone now, the arrow of history bent slowly toward justice by a million hands and the sound of scraping steel. Me: You really believed we'd get through it? You: I KNEW it, from the whiskers on my chin to the marrow in my bones I knew it. That eventually his ego would swell to bursting and he'd tumble down to the spike trap he had set up for others. He broke things, important things, and he hurt people along the way. I won't shrug and say "it wasn't so bad" Me: But? US: But I will say this. He was not the first, and every one before him has taught us 100 lessons to throw in front of him like a barricade. Everything he tried was neutered and blunted by the checks and balances of the system, or the hammer of the law, or the voices of the people. And eventually the wheels chewed him up and spat him out. Me: And what did you do in the meantime? US: Same thing I'd always done. Same thing I'll always do. I protected the people in my reach. And I stood up to make myself counted. I encouraged and protected those who found themselves targeted. I survived and helped others to do the same despite it all. Me: And it worked? US: I'm here aren't I?

[dcdreamblog]

Let's cut to the chase, Uncle Sam.

How many American cryptids are real, and what are they?

US: All of them Me: Scuse me? US: All of them are real, mostly to a recognizable extent. Me: I find that hard to believe. US: Do you actually? Me: Hmm...no, I guess not. Learned too much in this life to not take it from the horse's mouth in this case. US: Exactly. You're talking to a born spirit of the American ideal, I palled around with a man the size of a doll and another who could make a skyscraper vanish by clapping too loud. One of the most famous men on the planet currently is an actual Martian. Me: I mean Bigfoot or Mothman I get, but I'm from Maine and lumberjacks told some WHOPPERS US: The Fearsome Critters Me: Those are the ones US: Also real, every last one of them Me: How in the HELL US: Because we live in a very wild world, my friend. Me: You are telling me there is an actual creature, in the backwoods of Maine. That is so god forsaken ugly that if you spot it, it dissolves into tears US: That is exactly what I am telling you, yes. Me: And a crocodile with no mouth that bashes you into vapor so it can inhale you for dinner US: Also that one, yes. Me: And an animal that walks on hillsides because its left legs are longer than its right ones US: Oh for sure, that one's got teeth on it. Me: And last but not least there's the US: The trout covered in thick white fur, yes. Me: I need to apologize to an uncle of mine about some youthful disbelief.

[dcdreamblog]

@comicgeekscomicgeek

US: Bastards. Me: Excuse me? US: Those bastards caught me, stuffed me in an alien tinker toy, sacrificed a dozen lives in my name. Wound me up like a tin soldier so that I could bring back "the good old days" Me: You're referring to the secretive political cabal known as the National Interest? US: Right Wing nutjobs, halfway between the John Birch Society and the 3rd Reich. Wanted to gather the pieces of a powerful artifact called the American Talisman to physically remake the American Dream to their liking. Me: Seems like a powerful thing to have floating around, even in pieces. US: It wasn't invented, at least not on purpose. When I was born, when the American ideal was created, it was imperfect. Broad, sweeping language that from its first moment wasn't being applied to all those it should have protected. That contradiction broke something in a metaphysical sense, raining down shards on the material plane. Me: So this "National Interest" they needed it to put America "right" in their view. US: They found this...alien suit. This...something. They called it The Sorcerer. Able to take the form of any human being. Used me as a power source to go fetch the Spear of Destiny where Superman and the Spectre had cast it into Earth's orbit. Then they got a dozen people together at Mount Rushmore and got them to "sacrifice" themselves. Make a new American Dream...I felt them get sucked into that thing. Sucked into ME.

(The only good photo ever taken of the being called "Patriot" the Flag background was inserted by the conspiracy website where this picture was posted, viewing the citing as a pseudo religious experience)

Me: And...considering we still sit here, I imagine it didn't turn out the way they expected. US: *Placing his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands* I am made up of 335 MILLION people. Shards of them. An atom of their wants, a molecule of their ideals. I felt those dozen people enter me like dripping salt water into the tide. Felt them atomize against the current. I felt the moment they defused out too far to be anything. And I was stuck in that...that thing. Trapped in that machine body, like being paralyzed. I couldn't think. I couldn't move. Like some homonculus made of my parts was speaking with my voice. It took me MONTHS to wrestle free, to get my mind back. Me: I can only imagine what it must have felt like for a being like you to be so...trapped. US: I don't know how people stand it. Being stuck in a body that won't bend, can't shift and adjust to reflect the community around them. It felt like needles in every inch of my bones, pinning me in place. And when I was free...I had to reckon with the fact that a dozen people had been fooled into making themselves martyrs. Blood sacrifices. *He covers his eyes with one hand* ...I can still feel them breaking away...

[dcdreamblog]

Something I've never really thought about or heard mentioned before. Does you connection to the country give you knowledge of local legends, or things like what cryptids might be around? And does it give you any knowledge of the land? Something that might have been useful in frontier times, like where good water is, or the location of animals?

US: Not if the American people don't know it, or if I didn't see it with my own two eyes.

Me: This is one of those things that has to do with the definition of "Spirit of America" isn't it? US: Exactly. As I like to remind people. I am not the American border, the American landmass, or any of those things. The "shape" of America is lines on a map, has changed in the past probably will in the future. Me: Not the American Gulf? US: Hush your mouth son and don't remind me of idiots I have to share a planet with. Me: Sorry, couldn't resist. US: The best demonstration I can give is that the first time *I* saw the Pacific Ocean with my own senses was- US and Me: November 15th, 1805 US: How did you?- Me: Saw the question before we say down, googled it, specifically for this interaction. US: You are a gadfly. Anyhow, yes. The day that Lewis and Clark first laid eyes on the Pacific was also the first time *I* laid eyes on the Pacific. I wasn't physically present with them but my spirit was traveling with them in that moment Me: However that was only at that time, right? US: Right, my knowledge of America expanded with the American knowledge of the same. Nowadays I could be a regular commando since, generally speaking, SOMEONE knows what's out there no matter where I'm roughing it. Me: Or at the very least, knew enough of the big stuff recently enough that it works out. US: Right, generally freshwater lakes don't pick up and move just because the last time someone laid eyes on it was back in the 70s. Especially when its in an untouched valley in the Rockies. Me: You also have your own personal experiences. US: That too, odd mix that I am between a spirit and a person. I happen to know where to get the best damn coffee in Safi, Morocco...if we were back in 1942 that is. Me: As for Cryptids, I'm going to ask you to hold that. We have another question we'll probably get to during this session US: Fair enough.

[dcdreamblog]

So, Uncle Sam, you ever work with either G.I. Robot? A lot of people have been re-examining him right now due to that fictionalization of his time on the Creature Commandos.

US: I did rather enjoy that cartoon. Me: You want cartoons? US: You know of a better way for me to have spent the last 250 years of my time? Me: Touche. So, the robot? US: Met him...would have been very late in '44, that god forsaken winter in the Ardennes. Me: The Battle of the Bulge? US: That's the one. It was really the last hurrah of a lot of us in Europe. My group were the representatives from the squadron. There was of course GI Robot, the Blackhawks, all of us attached to trying to hold back the Axis' last superhuman bully boys. We got backed up by the toughest roughnecks the Allied armies had at that point. Me: Anybody with even passing military knowledge knows the name Sergent Franklin Rock of Easy Company. US: The stories don't do them justice. Not by a long shot. I've never seen a squad of men act so casually like they were either bulletproof, or couldn't care less that they weren't. I could kick a King Tiger like a soccer ball and I was still more scared of the things than those men seemed to be. Me: Especially given the pitch of the battle. US: They called it the Battle of Ragnarok Wood. Every last "ubermensch" the Germans had up their sleeves tossed out to try and break the bulge and push the Allied forces back. One finaly act of denial by a senile and psychotic Nazi leadership while the Reds closed in on Berlin from behind. Me: Must have been quite a sight. US: A turkey shoot more like. Every one of those rat bastards was on their last leg and couldn't do much more than hobble on it. Me: Not the kind of climax people would image then? US: Not rightly, no. The only things I can truly remember is Phantom Lady doing something VERY unladylike to the original Captain Murder and Sgt Rock calling Captain Nazi every four letter word in the book before parking a tank on top of him. Me: And the robot? US: Whatever that thing was programmed for, its best use was as a blender. And I will leave it at that.

[dcdreamblog]

@thrakaboom

US: Considering "Sam" is not my surname, and that the idea of me having a surname is pretty much moot, Uncle Sam is fine. Me: It is a bit strange that your only real name at this point contains a familial title. US: I would like to remind the good people that I did not come up with it. The name "Uncle Sam" as a title for the American idea was, of course, made up by you folks out there. Not you specifically but you know what I mean. Me: In many contemporary documents, many of your comrades just call you "Sam" US: Oh they've all called me worse than that, I'm sure of it. Sandra Knight was the one who got attached to calling me an old Billy Goat. Me: Privileges of comradery? US: Privileges of that woman being stubborn enough to stop a steam train with her forehead.

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US: Changing with the American ideal is ALL I do. The only reason I've stuck with this image for so long is because my superhero work stuck me in it in a lot of minds. Me: You said something about that earlier. About people perceiving you as the superhero named Uncle Sam when they're aware of you. US: Right. An object changed by observation I suppose. When I'm milling about on my lonesome, on the off days I end up with free time, I've found I'm changing a lot these days. Me: In what ways, if you don't mind doxxing yourself. US: I find myself coming out Black, female, latin, Asian, androgynous, piercings, hairstyles. Everything about the changing face of America getting tossed in a blender. It's interesting to see. Me: And these changes just...happen? US: It's natural when I'm not focusing on it. When I'm taking a mosey down in San Francisco, sitting by the shore in Boston, napping in the shade in Austin. When I'm not being observed I turn into all kinds of mosaics of the American image. Mentally? Who could say, we all feel the like the same mind as we go along, don't we? Me: Paradox of Continuity, something like that.

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US: Every time I think I've found one, it gets busted when I really need it. Me: Well your size changing, like all your powers, is tied directly to the "American spirit" isn't it? US: *He nods* On the money. The more of that spirit I'm feeling, the taller and stronger I can get. The basic, workaday heights I use are my regular 6'5", then around 8-10' for general scrapping, and 2-5 stories when I really wanna cause some damages. Me: You've done much greater than that on numerous occasions. US: When called on. More than once in the war I had fighters zipping around my ears. One time I even had to sprout up high enough grab two ICBMs out of the air before they landed. I wouldn't do that twice. Me: Do you think that kind of power is harder to come by these days? US: No, not as much as you'd think. Even people who are fighting the power, as they like to call it, are doing so in my boots in one way or another. If I needed some emergency rations right now, I could make it happen.

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US: Not a cruel question at all. It's a question that would be on a lot of people's minds just thinking about me. Me: You've never shied away from America's past US: Nor will I. America, like any other nation on this Earth, has committed terrible crimes in its own interest or simply in its own imperfect nature. But while I make no defense for that, it's not who or what *I* am. Me: The American Ideal US: The first sound I ever heard was a shot around the world. But that was hazy, just floating about like smoke. The moment I remember becoming. Well, becoming is the best word for it, the words I heard were "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." Me: Imperfectly applied. US: To say the least! But those words are what I am. I gained power from Manifest Destiny in a roundabout sense but for every inch of newfound pride that pumped me up, one of those crimes would chop me back down that same inch. I'm more powerful now than I've ever been for that reason. Me: What do you mean? US: Well because those words are better applied now than they've ever been! And in 10 years, 20, 100 it'll be the same again, god willing. I didn't put a gun to anybody's head and make them do something. Every monstrous act was done in their own name, or the name of their own ideals. But more people in my America are freer now than they've ever been. That next upward step is the only way TO reconcile the past. We make our peace, we uplift the victims NOW, in the present, and we close the door on it ever happening again.

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US: Yes but its not exactly a helpful skill Me: Not exactly on demand? US: If it was I would have donated a LOT more sports betting money to charity over the years. No I only get visions of national tragedy, and even then it tends to be in the measure of hours before it happens, sometimes less. Me: From description it sounds sound like a pleasant experience either. US: I would go back to drinking backwoods Kentucky moonshine from a still made out of a horse trough before I ever did it again.

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US: "Now we can get one thing straight, lad." *Sam says, leaning forward against the table, placing his elbows upon it and resting his chin in the steeple of his fingers* "The PEOPLE of this country have never fallen short of my dream. In groups, maybe even in a visible seeming majority but never in totality." "Even when slavery was the order of the day, not only were those slaves just as much part of my makeup as anyone else. There were also those who risked and paid everything to free them from bondage. Either along the underground railroad or marching toward Columbia dressed in muddy blue coats." *Sam hums a few bars of Battle Hymn of the Republic but what I think is actually meant to be John Brown's Body* "THAT is how I go on. Because my body...the body politic is not made up in whole or in largest part of those who direct their power through anger, bigotry and fear. MY body is formed most strongly from those who struggle under the boot of tyranny and who join themselves shoulder to shoulder to lift it." *He takes on a serious look* "Those who disappoint me, who fail the ideals of mine, of ours. They are neither as widespread or as powerful as they would like us all to think."

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US: "Oh good lordie you haven't told them" *He says, rubbing over his face with one hand, exasperated* Me: "I would never DREAM of stealing your "opportunity" to explain those men to them, sir" *I say with a broad, knowing grin* US: "Well thank-you-kindly." *He rolls his eyes* "The poor Spy Smasher, by god. I swear he got the worst of 'em. Alan Armstrong. He was as tough as nails and quick as a whip but its like the rats were just tossing all the wash outs at his feet. It was hardly fair." Me: "I think I know which one is the worst. Do you?" US: "Had to be that disgusting man they called 'Dr. Blizzard'. He could make cold and wind, alright, but only because he was stuck with some permanent head cold. Blowing his own ice cold snot around it was ungodly! I mean the mess and the germs alone!"

(An image of Dr. Blizzard taken from a 1942 propaganda comic) Me: "No, no it has to be "The Vulture". Tried to lead a zeppelin bombing raid on New York. In 1943! Like a free fireworks show! And they sent him out in a green cape, grey boiler suit and a cast iron beak strapped to his ugly mug!"

(The Vulture, also from a 1943 propaganda comic) US: *Smacks his forehead with the butt of his hand* "I FORGOT about that one. My god its like no one explained to that man the fact that zeppelins went out of fashion with the last war. Because now we had the chance to SHOOT DOWN massive bags full of explosive gas!"

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US: "Me, me and...me, in that order." *He says, leaning back from my phone where I showed him the question* Me: "I know the Brother Jonathan identity was probably you, but Columbia and Lady Liberty are both women. Or at least female presenting" US: *Rolls his eyes a bit, clicking his fingers and shifting first into a man in a black silk tophat and blue pin stripe pants. Then a large bodied woman in a golden helm and draped in an American flag. Then finally a woman who is a spitting image for the statue of liberty, first brown and then green in color before he shifts back to himself* "I'm not a human being. This body. *He motions to himself* "Is a projection. Its how I choose to shape the energy I'm made of. Or rather, how YOU choose to shape me." Me: "So all of those previous identities were...just how people saw you back then?" US: "Not even in different times. Sometimes just in different places. Brother Jonathan was just the image of New England. And if I hang around in the Big Apple too long I can catch myself turning green when I stop paying attention. I'm an idea, whatever looking glass people put me under is what I am in that place and time." Me: "So why has this one stuck?" US: *Straightens his lapels* "Once I became a "mystery man" during the big one. News reels, front page of the paper, propaganda posters. I had friends, colleagues, partners for the first time. It made me more visible as a single man, an individual image rather than a free floating idea. Plus, I think I look plum handsome." Me: "...Does that mean you could turn into a countryba-" US: "Son, do not finish that sentence." ------------------------------------------------------------------------------

US: "Since the Freedom Fighters are stuck as mostly a legacy organization these days I'd try to limit myself to "recruiting" inside that category. So there's two that come to mind." Me: "I bet you 10 green back American bills I can guess." US: "Oh come on now, son, I'm not that predi-" Me: "Stargirl and Blue Beetle." US: *Stares agape at me for 15 uninterrupted seconds. Slowly reaching into his inner coat pocket and placing a 10 dollar bill in front of me* "How on EARTH did you know?" Me: "They're THE tip of the spear when it comes to the youngest generation of superheroes. Their personal popularity is always through the roof, they're tied for the most followers on basically any social media you could choose to name...plus, I think you'd shoot as much as you can for some diversity in the line up if you could get it." US: "Took the words out of my mouth. Those two are doing the good work out there and they're, mark my words, going to be the star quarterbacks of the next generation. If those Teen Titans, Beast Boy and Starfire were the first superheroes to fully start the social media wave, Stargirl and Blue Beetle have been riding it high. They...connect with people in a way I've never seen before. And yes, having a young lady like her and a respectable latino like him would make me right proud of any team. The good parts of the past guiding the best of the future."