The Marvel Comics universe is populated by sexy ideals
of men and women – the stuff of which romantic dreams and sexual fantasies are
born. So, when Captain America writer J. M. DeMatteis introduced Steve Rogers’ gay
childhood friend Arnold Roth, why did he have to be a balding, fat man with a
pathetic personality instead of a dreamboat hunk like the rest of the male Marvel
universe inhabitants? Maybe it was to avoid straight readers feeling intimidated
by his sexuality? Or maybe Arnold was simply DeMatteis’ personal idea of what
gay men were like – sad and pathetic creatures? Certainly, it was
discrimination.
Arnold Roth first appeared in Captain America #268 in
1982 where he recognized his childhood friend Steve Rogers who was walking the
New York city streets with his girlfriend, the Jewish Bernie Rosenthal. The
bi-sexual Steve who had previously been involved with Rick Jones, Sharon Carter
and Sam Wilson, was now repressing his desire for men and was seeing Bernie
exclusively even though a female agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. by the name of Gail
Runciter also had the hots for him.
In Captain America #270, Arnie worked up the nerve to
approach Steve and Bernie and then Steve went for a stroll with Arnold,
reminiscing about their shared past. They had been childhood friends prior to
Steve’s transformation into Captain America. Arnold had protected the frail
Steve from the playground bullies, and Steve had been a welcome guest at
Arnold’s home. As they became young adults, Steve didn’t share Arnold’s
interest in girls and they drifted apart. Arnold joined the navy and became a
homosexual, while guessing that Steve had become Captain America due to the
changes in Steve’s physique. Then, Steve disappeared, lost in hibernation
following World War II, and now, the two of them met again without Steve having
aged like Arnold.
One moment of glory
A teary-eyed Arnie told Steve that despite his “swinging”
youth, he never got married, because it never seemed like “the right thing” for
him. Instead, he had been living with a man – his “best friend” and “roommate”
Michael. This was, after all, 1982 and homosexuality could only be hinted at.
The word “gay” was forbidden by the Comics Code Authority.
Steve didn’t mind Arnold’s revelation at all, and when
he learned that Michael had been kidnapped by a crime syndicate in order to
force the gambling addicted Arnold into paying his debts, Captain America set
out to go to the rescue. But then Arnold admitted that while drunk, he had
bragged about knowing Captain America, and that Michael had really been taken
to force Arnold into delivering Captain America into a trap. Of course, Captain
America managed to liberate Arnold’s “roommate” – who was a lot more masculine-looking
than Arnold, and a teary-eyed Arnold was reunited with his Michael in a happy
hug.
How fat loser Arnold had landed a hunk such as Michael
was beyond the understanding of readers, and their relationship didn’t last
long, anyway. In Captain America #275 both were kidnapped by the villainous
Baron Zemo and used as hostages against Captain America. He managed to rescue
Arnold, but he failed to prevent Michael from getting killed in issue #277.
Arnold initially blamed Cap for the death of “my Michael”, but in the next
issue he came to his senses and even had a moment of glory: Knocking Zemo out.
Goodbye to Michael and hello to Jack
In Captain America #279, 1983, Steve Rogers was
comforting Arnold by Michael’s grave. “He was all I had – all I wanted. He was…
everything to me,” Arnold said before giving Steve a pep-talk about
appreciating the good things in life and stop “chasing a dream” of “a normal
life.”
While out with his girlfriend Bernie in Captain
America #281, Steve was once again recognized in the street – this time by Jack
Monroe who was Bucky in the 1950s and had also spent years in hibernation,
staying young. He worked up the nerve to look Steve up in the very same issue
and he quickly got taken in as Steve’s roommate and became Captain America’s
new sidekick Nomad the very next issue. And so, the gay vibe was back in
Steve’s life when he and Jack changed clothes together in issue #284, but Steve
seemed able to resist his young roommate’s good looks, focusing his attentions
on Bernie instead. Why, when the fat and old Arnie introduced himself to the
young Adonis Jack at a party, Steve seemed pleased and thought “Arnie and Jack
could BOTH use a friend right now! I hope they’ve each found one!”
But then, in Captain America #290 it was revealed that
it was naturally his sexy, but romantically unavailable roommate and superhero
mentor Captain America that had won Jack Monroe’s heart, while Arnold was still
recovering from the death of his “roommate” Michael.
Forced to admit the truth
In Captain America #292, Arnold attended Steve and
Bernie’s Christmas party before getting kidnapped by Baron Zemo again in issue
#295 and being used to lure Captain America and Nomad into a trap set by Cap’s
archenemy the Red Skull. Arnie was dressed up as Zemo by the bad guys, so when
Cap and Nomad entered the scene, Cap beat him senseless, not even realizing
that “Zemo” looked fatter than usual until Nomad told him to stop and pulled
the Zemo mask off Arnie. Then the three of them were taken prisoners.
Steve’s girlfriend Bernie and ex-lover Sam Wilson were
also taken prisoners of the Red Skull, making it evident that writer J. M.
DeMatteis had created a circle of friends for Steve Rogers that consisted of
everyone his Nazi arch-villain the Red Skull despised: Jews, gays and blacks.
Then, in Captain America #296 from 1984, Arnold was
dressed up as a “pansy” Master of Ceremonies and sent out on the stage of a
1930s Berlin styled club - like
something out of the movie Cabaret, and forced to admit to the captive audience
of one – Captain America himself, every truth readers were thinking about him
already - that he was “a fat little sloth” and “a pot-bellied, bald-headed
wretch.” Then he went on to question why Captain America treated him with
respect and compassion when most people hated men like him – was it because,
deep inside, Cap was gay himself?
Admitting the truth about himself made Arnold’s mind
snap while Cap insisted that Arnold was “as good and decent a man as I’ve ever
known,” and that the “lies” about Cap as spoken by Arnie couldn’t corrupt his
love for Bernie.
A sad and pathetic embarrassment
Following the Red Skull’s defeat in Captain America
#300, new writer Michael Carlin had the weak-minded Arnold admitted to a mental
clinic where he recovered from shock until issue #306 where he was written out
of the series. Naturally, the new writers had no interest in using DeMatteis’
ridiculous and stupid character, so Arnold went to stay with an uncle in
Florida for a rest cure recommended by his doctors. He left without an
opportunity to say goodbye to Steve.
In Captain America #298, the Red Skull had asked
Captain America: “You do perplex me! How can so SUPERIOR a man SURROUND himself
with such trash? Jews! Fops! Blacks! Children! What is the fascination these
creatures hold for you?”
The unspoken answer was of course that Captain America
was a very tolerant and open-minded person where the Red Skull was a Nazi
bigot. And to accept the “fop” Arnold – to not mind being seen with him in
public - Cap HAD to be very tolerant. Because as gay role models go, Arnold was
just an offensive embarrassment to gay men who longed to see positive gay role
models representing them in Marvel Comics. The character seemed born out of
ignorance and prejudice about what gay men were like in real life and only
served to damage the public perception of homosexuals. Thank God Arnold reportedly
died from cancer in Captain America #443 in 1995 so that shameful blot on gay
comic book history will never appear again.
