Karen: Since we've been reviewing the Secret Empire story from Captain America it got me thinking about the Falcon and what a great character he was -except when writer Steve Englehart suddenly decided to reveal in issue #186 (June 1975) that Sam Wilson had actually been Snap Wilson, a low-life mobster who had been given a new, upstanding identity by the Red Skull as part of a scheme to make him a 'sleeper agent' to turn against Captain America at the right moment! This change in the Falcon's character seemed so ridiculous that I had a hard time reading the title for some time after that. It just felt contrived and unnecessarily damaging to such an established hero.
Karen: Another example (for me) was the way Iron Man/Tony Stark was portrayed during the Civil War event. Sure, Stark is a pragmatist -but he seemed hell-bent on turning on his friends, all to serve the purpose of the story. It just didn't work for me.
Karen: I'm sure you have examples of your own, so let's hear them.
