Continuing my coverage of the upcoming Supergirl Season 4, I thought I'd do a quick review of Agent Liberty.
The announcement about Liberty's inclusion on the show was announced a week ago, naming Smallville alum Sam Witmer as playing the part. Here is a link and a blurb.
http://ew.com/tv/2018/07/17/smallville-sam-witwer-supergirl-season-4-agent-liberty/
In the show’s interpretation on the character, Agent Liberty is the ruthless and terrifying founder and figurehead of Children of Liberty, a hate group that supports a human-first world order. According to a description from the show’s producers, he’s “a brilliant orator in the guise of a family man” and the scariest thing about him is how easily he can convince people that he’s right. Given that Supergirl (Melissa Benoist) and the DEO tend to be pro-alien integration, it’s definitely fair to assume they won’t get along with Agent Liberty and his Children of Liberty.
As I said in earlier posts and reviews, political stories are often delivered in a ham-fisted way on the show. So it is a shame that Agent Liberty, a star-spangled hero, is the terrifying founder of a hate group. I'm not denying the existence of hate groups. I am not saying that some of these groups hide behind patriotic iconography. I'm just saying that I wish that shows wouldn't add to that twisting.
Supergirl and Superman fight for truth, justice, and the American Way. They defend the flag and its ideals. I don't want kids to be watching a show and learning to hate the flag and America. Hopefully, the writers and Supergirl will present a solid counterpoint. That the Children of Liberty aren't representatives of what America means. Give me one shot of Supergirl standing hands on hips with the American Flag flapping in the wind behind her ... pretty please?
Anyways, onto the DC character.
Agent Liberty first appears in Superman #60 from 1991.
Here is his image from the DC loose leaf Who's Who 1993 Update #1 by Dan Jurgens.
Despite the name, he isn't draped in the stars and stripes. If there wasn't the blue and red shoulder straps, I'd say he looked more like Hourman than a patriot. I suppose give his modus operandi, it makes sense. At least the shield gives him a little Captain America cred.
His back story is an interesting story of a good man perhaps made into something terrible.
Benjamin Lockwood was a CIA agent of impressive skills who joined the black ops group Sons of Liberty. He was outfitted with his super-suit and a back-up team. In that role he helped with a variety of adventures, protecting Metropolis from social unrest and Brainiac.
Unfortunately, Sons of Liberty wasn't squeaky clean. Lockwood followed orders, assassinating someone who was going to turn evidence. Changed by this experience, Liberty went rogue, killing the very leaders who forced him to do evil.
I like a redemption story. So this story of a hardened soldier trying to do good but tainted, now trying to right his wrongs was a solid hook. There was something here, waiting for the right creative team.
Unfortunately. Liberty is an early victim in the New Krypton storyline.
In Action Comics #873 Liberty is investigating dealings between Lex Luthor and General Sam Lane, Discovered, he is killed by Superwoman. Who is Superwoman? What are her powers?
Well, all that came out in the wash. But for readers at the time we knew one thing, she certainly wasn't a good guy.
That mystery of 'who killed Agent Liberty' was a plot which ran through Supergirl's main book. In Supergirl #39, just a handful of issues into the Gates/Igle run, we see Inspector Henderson trying to add it all up. Liberty's body had washed up in Metropolis.
Later, we see the last thing Agent Liberty's armor recorded, Superwoman sporting the red angry eyes of death.
It was a last straw for Kara who then confronted Superwoman as an enemy, not a potential friend.
Alas, the suit seems to be something of a target. In War of the Supermen #3, we see her battered and beaten body in the clutches of Ursa, standing before the demolished White House. I don't think she survived. And I don't think we have seen an Agent Liberty since.
So will the show's Liberty be a soldier with his heart in the right place? Or a horrible bigot wearing the flag like a priest's robe? I just hope the show won't use a sledge hammer approach to the stories they want to tell us. Because even a C-lister character like Agent Liberty deserves more than that.
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