decision, you only have a second, a moment, to make a move that will change your life. Was this action good or bad? That’s up to you to decide. If your life or your fellow service members’ lives are in danger, you have to act. You have to do whatever it takes, within reason, to save lives. It was the move Ulysses made. Did it change him? Of course. It’s impossible to take a life and move forward as if nothing happened. However, Ulysses is a true soldier. He progressed past his feelings temporarily.
Soon afterward, Gravedigger encounters a character that we all know and love: his old commanding officer, Lt. Gage! When Gage sees Ulysses, he tries to arrest him for impersonating an officer! The ups and downs of storytelling really are on display during this scene. Only in a fictional story could you go AWOL (absent without leave) and come back to your unit with a promotion. Ulysses left his unit as a sergeant to return as a captain. Now, he was Lt. Gage’s commanding officer! How do you like them apples, Gage?
Several stories down the road, Gravedigger is traversing the Sahara on a very important mission and suffers an injury that leaves him with a cross-shaped scar on the bridge of his nose. This physical feature and his bravery would be his defining features for the rest of the comic. In the final issue of Men of War, DC Comics decided to team up its two most famous war characters, Gravedigger and Sgt. Rock. (We’ll get to the core of Rock in a future chapter.) These two famous comic book soldiers join forces to destroy an enemy artillery position. The mission was a grand success, not just because these two characters were good soldiers, but because DC Comics’ readers would have rioted if these two had failed in their final issue. In the last panel, Gravedigger remembers his military roots and begins to bury the fallen members of Sgt. Rock’s Easy Company.
Until recently, that was one of the final adventures of Ulysses Hazard. His post-World War II whereabouts remained a mystery until a mini-series called DC Universe Legacies (2010). In issue four of the series, called Snapshot: Remembrance, the readers are shown a reunion of DC Comics’ war characters which takes place on July 4, 1976. One of the warriors in attendance is none other than Ulysses Hazard. The story reveals that he did survive the war and excelled in the Army to achieve the rank of general. He was now a valued leader in an army that originally didn’t want him.
I can never know the struggles Ulysses Hazard faced in his military career, but I do know this: his bravery and will to never give up are to be admired. While sometimes he became a little overzealous (don’t use grenades to illustrate your point, kids!), the fact of his successes and leadership of many men to safety says so much. Like many superheroes, there were many times Ulysses could have given up. But he didn’t, he persevered, and he prospered. I would be proud to serve under a man such as the Gravedigger. He’s a hero who stands on the same platform as Superman.
Flying from Values
Carol Danvers may be one of many superheroes who punched evil in its stupid face under the moniker of Captain Marvel, but she is also one of the few female heroes to serve her country. Since her soft reboot in 2012, many comic fans have branded themselves with the symbol on her chest. Marching to the beat of a brand-new drum, these Marvel fans began to call themselves “The Carol Corps.” Carol has been “all in” in every aspect of her life: from her military experience to her time with the Avengers to inspiring the aforementioned fans. Thinking about it, there’s not a single comic book convention I’ve been to in the last five years where I haven’t seen someone cosplaying the spectacular Captain Marvel. She dives into her life like an arrow flying at a target, so let’s jump into her chapter with that same gusto.
The daughter of Joe Danvers, a former US Navy officer, Carol has always had one foot in the military world. She dreamed of being an astronaut, one eye always on the stars. Disappointingly, her father couldn’t fathom why any daughter of his needed a college degree. Joe Danvers believed Carol’s perfect place was in the kitchen as a housewife. However, that was not Carol’s destiny. Was this belief spurred by his time in the Navy, or by his upbringing in the mid-twentieth century? My own parents have some fairly old-fashioned beliefs, but I don’t think either of them believes a woman’s place is in the kitchen. I think this may have been a time when the creators who developed Carol’s origin didn’t want to fully form Joe Danvers as a real character. Rather, they imagined him as an archetype or obstacle to Carol’s destiny. So, basically, Joe Danvers was a woman-hating curmudgeon and nothing more.
In order to prove her father wrong, Carol sneaks off and joins the Air Force. As an airwoman, Carol soon becomes a pilot and adopts the call sign “Cheeseburger.” This training will be a springboard to her ultimate goal—skyrocketing to other planets as a full-fledged member of NASA.
It’s here that I must admit a kinship with Carol. As a small boy, I, too, wanted to join the awesome ranks of NASA, half-spurred by my constant viewing of Star Trek: The Next Generation and half by the wanderlust that ultimately drove me from my boyhood farm in Kansas. I was ever-present in this dream until my third-grade teacher—Mrs. Hazen—told me I’d soon have to develop an aptitude for math if I ever wanted to count myself among NASA’s ranks. (Fun fact: to this day, I have the mathematical knowledge of a caveman.) This revelation scuttled my rocket-ship dreams faster than you could say “Pythagorean theorem.” Since then, any time a fictional character seized their dream and gained the very exclusive rank of “astronaut,” I’ve always stood up and applauded.
Carol threw herself at her dreams and her military career. Was this because she unconsciously emulated her military father? Studies have shown that a high percentage of military children form strong connections with the ideals of military bases, culture, and personnel. I would theorize that this happened to Carol. At the funeral of her father, when asked to say a few more words, Carol only says this about the man who raised her: “He was a worthy opponent.”
What a perfect window into the soul of Captain Marvel this statement is. Even after his death, Carol still viewed her relationship with her father as a battle. At each turn in her life, Joe Danvers was her opponent. A father and daughter as enemies and not allies is quite sad when you consider it. Nonetheless, it does illuminate how this superhero operates. Writer Kelly Sue DeConnick bestowed upon Carol Danvers a motto while she was penning the character. That motto is: “Higher, further, faster, more.”
Another way to interpret that motto is “Never surrender, never give up”—a positive motto when applied to an airman or a soldier. I can almost hear them chanting it as the trainees run across the base for their morning’s physical training.
Yet, the words “higher,” “further,” “faster,” and “more” can lead a person away from humility. Why do these values matter to the story of Carol Danvers? Well, humility is one of the United States Air Force’s core values. Each military branch has its own set of values that help service members get the mission done while inspiring them to the very best at all times. These values are integrity, courage, honesty, responsibility, accountability, justice, openness, self-respect, and humility. Airmen are taught to study them, follow them, and encourage others to do the same through their actions and words.
These would have been drilled into her head during her training, and the word “more” flies in the face of it all. (Yes, the pilot pun was intended.) This conflict between humility and fighting for “more” lies at the very core of Captain Marvel. It can illuminate the many times she has fallen and succeeded as a superhero and as an airwoman.
It wouldn’t take Carol long to go from airwoman to cosmically-powered superwoman. She retired from the Air Force to take a position at NASA as head of security. This allowed her to leave the service a full colonel.
