Latest / Vigilante Vibes Podcast / Ep. 122. Who is Arnie Roth in Marvel Comics?!

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Ep. 122. Who is Arnie Roth in Marvel Comics?! · Vigilante Vibes Podcast

• 0:18
  Hi guys, it's Megan with vigilante vibes and today I'm
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  coming to you with another character breakdown that will be
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  on theme for Pride Month. Also, happy Pride Month to those
• 0:26
  who celebrate. So the character I want to talk
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  about today is a very unknown character.
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  If you if you're not a big comic reader, then you wouldn't really
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  know about him. But he plays such a big role.
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  Like just so unknown. I am talking about none other
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  than Arnie Roth. Arnie Roth is a gay best friend
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  of Steve Rogers, Captain America.
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  Something to note about Arnie. Arnie's back story with Steve
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  was merged into Bucky for the MCU.
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  Originally, Bucky was a random teenage sidekick and the kid
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  that was standing up to bullies for Steve and who served with
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  him in World War 2. That was Arnie.
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  So keep that in mind if you ever read the comics and think to
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  yourself how different Bucky is to the MCU.
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  So Arnie Roth was a neighborhood buddy of young Steve Rogers
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  before he became Captain America.
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  Back then, Arnie often stood up for the scrawny Steve when the
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  local bullies picked on him, which happened a lot after
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  Steve's mom, Sarah Rogers, passed away.
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  The two of them snuck into the cemetery with some daisies and
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  Arnie said the Kaddish prayer at her grave.
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  Arnie is also Jewish. For those who don't know.
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  During World War 2, Arnie joined the Navy and served in the
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  Pacific. While he was there, he met
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  Captain America, and even though Steve had gone through a huge
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  physical change thanks to the Super Soldier Serum, Arnie
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  somehow recognized him. But since Steve's secret
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  identity was still under wraps, Arnie kept it to himself.
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  While in the Navy, Arnie also fell in love with another sailor
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  named Michael Beck. After getting discharged without
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  veteran benefits because of his sexuality, Arnie and Michael
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  settled down in San Francisco's Castro District and built a life
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  together. Years later, when it was
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  discovered that Captain America was still alive, Arnie
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  reconnected with Steve and told him he'd always suspected he was
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  the real Cap Steve even helped Arnie rescue Michael when he got
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  kidnapped. Sadly, Michael was kidnapped
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  again with Arnie later on and was killed during attack by
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  Zemo. Arnie stuck around for a while
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  helping Captain America with his computer hotline.
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  Eventually Arnie passed away from cancer.
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  In his honor, the Arnie Roth Community Center was set up in
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  Manhattan to support queer folks in the community.
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  In his honor, the gay Captain America, Aaron Fisher, who I
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  most recently was in Marvel United the Pride special, which
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  is also it's really good. So you guys got check that out.
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  That's where was I. Oh, the gay Captain America.
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  Aaron Fisher even met his current fling Mysteriants, which
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  is like Mysterio's second cousin or something, while Mysteriant
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  was attending an HIV Plus support group.
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  It was even revealed in The Avengers Academy Infinity comic.
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  I thought this was also where D man Dennis Dunphy, another gay
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  friend of Caps, held his support group for transmutants.
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  But that was actually at the Matt Baker house.
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  That one debuted in Marvel's Voices Pride in from 20/22 and
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  is named after one of Marvel's writers.
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  Fun fact, Arnie was actually a part of Marvel Comics first gay
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  couple all the way back in 1982. That's the year Arnie and
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  Michael debuted in the pages of a Captain America comic.
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  So there you have it. Cap has been an ally from the
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  beginning. Arnie was the OG gay character,
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  and somehow people can really say with their whole chest that
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  comics haven't always been woke. Bless your hearts.
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  So now that we are done with the blessing of the hearts, and I'm
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  telling you all these things as usual, I have comics for you to
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  check out Arnie and read about his story because he's a good
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  character. Arnie first appeared in Captain
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  America #268, so you can check that out.
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  Captain America 270, Captain America #279, Captain America
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  #428, Captain America #443 Avengers Academy.
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  Marvel Voices Infinity comic #21 Avengers Academy Marvel voices
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  Infinity comic #24 Captain America #296 If you want to see
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  blatant racism in Marvel Comics not from Marvel I mean, but the
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  homophobia that Arnie experienced.
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  Steve Rogers childhood friend Arnie was brainwashed by Steve's
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  enemies, humiliating himself and all because well, he was forced
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  to humiliate himself all because he was gay.
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  It's it's a sad read. And you can also check out Steve
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  and Arnie story retold and Marvel United a pride special
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  number one that went out this past week.
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  So I hope you enjoyed this character breakdown.
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  I hope you learned something and I hope your pride month is going
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  amazing. So with that being said, have a
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  marvelous day.