Date: December 8, 1941 Location: New York City.
The biting cold wind blew past people's cheeks, making the harsh winter day even more unbearable. The Great Depression of the 1930s plunged the United States into an unprecedented low.
Even in New York, there was a large group of unemployed laborers waiting for relief on the streets.
It was not until President Roosevelt came to power and implemented the famous Roosevelt New Deal with his powerful means that the United States got out of the doldrums step by step.
The world-famous building, the Empire State Building, was also built under this historical background.
The state would invest funds to develop infrastructure, thereby reducing the number of unemployed and allowing the workers working on the construction site to become consumers of their own products, thereby further expanding domestic demand.
Step by step, the United States became rich again.
However, the good times did not last long. In 1938, the Second World War broke out. The world did not become more peaceful because of the War to End All Wars (World War I).
The battlefield in Europe was in flames, and the battlefield in Asia was bloody.
Due to the rampant isolationism in the United States, even President Roosevelt found it difficult to implement the Arms Lend-Lease Act.
Except for a small number of European immigrants who volunteered to join the European battlefield, the American government had been watching the war that affected the course of human history.
But at least the US government was willing to lend money to England and other countries that were still resisting Germany on the European battlefield, even though the Dunkirk evacuation made everyone lose hope in the European front.
But President Roosevelt allowed Churchill's Chancellor of the Exchequer to issue bonds in the United States to finance the war.
However, it was hard to say how effective this would be because many Americans were not optimistic about the outcome of the European battlefield. There were many who believed that it was only a matter of time before Britain was defeated.
Could Britain win by buying war bonds? If he couldn't win, how was he going to repay the money in the future? This made many people hesitate, but some British immigration ceremonies were willing to pay to support their homeland.
Of course, there were also some Americans who were willing to donate money to the resistance war, or use other ways to help these countries that were experiencing the war.
Just like the two boys outside the GE plant.
One was tall and strong, and the other was thin and small.
The tall man with thick eyebrows and big eyes was called Barnes Bakis, and the skinny young man was called Steve Rogers.
Because of his father's connections, Barn-Bakis entered the internal work of General Electric (GE). Due to the outbreak of war, many departments within GE had been converted into military departments. Produce military supplies to support the European battlefront.
Bain was an employee of one of the military departments responsible for the production of stabilizers for aircraft.
Rogers, who was relatively skinny, was only about 1.6 meters tall, and his body was too weak, so the factory didn't hire him.
However, he still had his own strengths. He had a pair of deft hands and was good at drawing. Just like now, he serializes six-panel comics in the corner of The Daily Bugle.
In this era, comics and animations were not things that could be put on the table. Animations were usually used as a warm-up before the movie. Comics were used to fill in the gaps when newspaper columnists were unable to submit their articles on time, or when there was no good news to report.
Fill the page with a few cartoons.
During the lunch break, Bain habitually went to the river outside the factory to find his good friend, Steve Rogers.
"Hi, Bain. Your mom asked me to bring you a sandwich for lunch. "Rogers waved the lunchbox in his hand. In this era, people still brought food into the factory to eat. It was impossible to get food from the cafeteria or takeaway as it was too expensive. Ordinary workers can't afford it.
"Thank you, Rogers." The strong Bain took the lunchbox from Rogers. Opening the lunchbox, he saw two very large Shibang lunchmeat sandwiches inside.
"Would you like some, Rogers?" Bain took a sandwich out of the lunchbox and handed it to Rogers.
"No, no, Bain. I've eaten at home and had a bowl of pasta. When I went to your house, your mother cut me a big piece of lunchmeat. It's like your family is afraid that I won't have enough to eat. "Rogers thanked Bain for his kindness.
"Because you're too thin, look at your little arms and legs. In Brooklyn, you'll be bullied by bad kids like this. "Bain pinched Rogers's shoulder and made him hurt a little.
"All right, Bain. Don't disturb my drawing. "Rogers shook off Bain's hand.
Rogers is a contracted illustrator of The Daily Bugle. He hands in three sets of six-panel comic stories for The Daily Bugle every week, so that he gets about eighty dollars a month. Not as good as Bain, who works in a factory, earns one hundred and twenty-five dollars a month.
But eighty dollars is enough to live on. After all, he's too thin to find a job. Being an illustrator is a good job.
But Steve still has a small dream. He's saving money. If possible, he wants to go to New York University School of Art to study and become a real painter. It's his dream since he was a child, to paint all the beauty of the world with a brush.
But it's not easy. Universities in this era are really affordable for the aristocracy and the upper class. But Rogers didn't give up. He will try his best to fight for his dream.
He is now sitting on the embankment by the river, sketching with charcoal on a drawing board and paper he carries with him. He has recently been serializing a long comic. Unlike the six comics with short independent stories, Rogers has conceived a long story that is complex for this era.
It tests his ability to make up stories, and he has to hand in three manuscripts a week, which makes him seize all the time to draw so that he can finish the work.
Bain sat next to Rogers, eating a sandwich, watching Rogers skillfully draw out the lines and begin the most preliminary storyboarding. Of course, the discipline of storyboarding is not advanced enough in this era.
"Where's the latest story?" Bain asked, chewing luncheon meat. He didn't like the taste of luncheon meat very much. It was probably less than 20% meat, and the rest was bean flour and the like, but it was cheap. It would be great if there was salted beef to eat, Bain thought to himself.
Rogers pulled out an original manuscript from under his drawing board and handed it to Bain, which was to be published this Saturday. Unlike the black-and-white mimeographed content in the newspaper, Rogers's original manuscript was colored.
"I like this story, Rogers." Bain took the original manuscript and looked at it carefully. "I like the story of Mr. Starstreak and his partner, the Liberty Bonds (a dog), beating up the Nazis together."
"Hmm? But why is Mr. Starstreak caught by two Nazis here? "Bain asked, pointing to the content of the comic.
"Oh, I forgot to add a text here." Rogers immediately took the manuscript back and made some changes. "They have saltpeter with them. Mr. Starstreak is very strong. He can fly, has extraordinary strength, and can shoot heat rays from his eyes. However, he is afraid of saltpeter. This bald Nazi called Luke Leyser got hold of this information and took precautions against Mr. Starstreak. "
"You want to see the Liberty Bonds for the rest of the story?" Bain said with great interest. "I like the story you make up. It's much better than other comics. And your drawing is also good. "
"How much money do you have now?" Bain suddenly asked.
"What?" Rogers didn't understand.
"I know, I know. You want to go to New York University School of Art. But it's not a small amount of money. You have the talent to become a painter. You shouldn't waste it. "Bain finished the sandwich in his hand.
"I've been working for two years and saved about six hundred dollars. If you have four hundred dollars, you can save up to a thousand dollars. I think that's enough for the first tuition. You can apply for a scholarship when you go to college. You can do it, Rogers. That way, maybe five hundred dollars a year will be enough for you. "
Bain carefully calculated the account for Rogers. "So do you have four hundred dollars?"
"Yes, but I can't use your money," Rogers quickly refused.
"Don't talk nonsense. When you become a great painter in the future, you can earn more than a thousand dollars with one painting. You can pay me back then. Today is the last day of the new year's application. In a few days, everyone will celebrate Christmas. We'll go to New York University in the afternoon, "Bain said decisively.
"But you have to work in the afternoon!" Before Rogers could finish, he was dragged away by Bain.
"I've already asked for leave. Martin and I borrowed his Model T Ford. We'll drive to New York University in the afternoon." While speaking, Bain directly clamped Rogers under his arm. The strong Bain Bakus' strength made it impossible for Rogers to break free.
"Put me down." Rogers struggled as hard as he could, but it was useless.
So, Rogers could only be forced into the Model T Ford by Bain. They drove all the way to New York University.
It was quite peaceful along the way, but as they drove deeper into the city, more and more people gathered. Countless people were huddled together and talking about something, as if something had happened.
This made Rogers and Bain curious. They didn't know what these people were gathering for. Because everyone was crowded together, the car moved very slowly.
"Extra, extra!" The clear voice of the New York newsboy was so obvious at this time. "Extra, yesterday, December 7th, Pearl Harbor was attacked. The undeclared war in the East Ocean caused the US Navy to suffer heavy losses!"
Rogers and Bain exchanged a look of disbelief.
"Give me a newspaper, boy!" Bain took out dozens of cents from his pocket and bought a daily bugle from the newsboy.
[The undeclared war in the East Ocean caused the loss of the US Pacific Fleet. Eight battleships and more than a dozen cruisers were sunk. Nearly two hundred fighters were lost. The casualties of Pearl Harbor exceeded 3,500 people!]
Rogers and Bain quickly scanned the special newspaper supplement. Now they knew why everyone was gathered together.
In this era, TVs were still a rarity, but some shops bought TVs to attract business. There was a crowd in front of a coffee shop because there was a TV. The owner of the shop moved the TV to the door of the shop with a serious face and adjusted the power and antenna for all the onlookers to watch.
Bain, relying on his strong body, squeezed Rogers to the front row. At this time, the TV had just started.
This was a live broadcast across the United States (the first live television broadcast in history happened in 1936). President Roosevelt of the United States walked up to the podium with a serious face. "All Americans, the war has begun, and no one can stay out of it. Thousands of our compatriots have died thousands of kilometers away. It's time to fight back, for the innocent people of the world who died tragically in this war! It's time to end it all! "
Rogers looked at the not very clear picture on the TV and clenched his fist secretly. The charcoal pen in his hand was pinched into several pieces by him.
The war changed a lot of things. Since then, the earth has lost a person who could have been an outstanding painter.
… …
Time: Now. Location: Sotheby's in New York.
"This collection was put up for auction by an anonymous seller. It's three original comics drawn by Captain America in 1941 under the pseudonym: American Dream. Although Captain America's drawing skills were still very rough at the time, it's a very valuable collection with a starting price of 100,000 US dollars. "The auctioneer introduced the collection.
Each increase of 10,000 US dollars, and finally the three original comics were sold for a high price of 500,000 US dollars.
… …
Illuminati, Venus base.
Tony Stark said with some disgust, "Jason, this is what you bought for 500,000 US dollars? You know that this price is enough to buy the works of a lot of well-known artists. Renaissance masters, as long as it's not their masterpieces, can be bought. "
Li Jie didn't care too much about Tony's criticism. He just handed the paintings to Captain Rogers. "I really didn't know you had a talent for painting. Unfortunately, it didn't last. What made you put down your paintbrush? "
Captain Rogers shook his head. "Because a lot of things happened."
"Maybe you can come to my company as an illustrator and draw your own stories. What do you think?" Li Jie suggested.
"Oh, forget it. It's all in the past. "Captain Rogers glanced at the people of the Illuminati and said.
"Yes, some things should be eliminated. You can't keep old things for years and years," Tony said.
Thor, the professor, and Dr. Hank looked on without saying anything.
Li Jie glanced at Tony. "Like your obsolete Iron Man Armors?"
"Yes, I destroyed them all. Otherwise, would it be a waste of space?" Tony said matter-of-factly.
Li Jie didn't argue with him. He just handed the original manuscript of the comic to Captain Rogers. "Keep it. Don't forget your original intentions."
… …
Location: Los Angeles, West Coast. Tony Stark's villa.
Under this huge villa was a huge intelligent processing plant. Most of Tony's Iron Man Armors were produced here.
He didn't ask J.A.R.V.I.S. to turn on all the lights in the room. He only turned on some lights, which plunged the room into a state of half-light and half-darkness.
There was another special ornament on his workbench. It was the first Arc Reactor he made, which he made in a cave in Afghanistan. He originally asked Pepper to throw it away, but she wrapped it up and gave it to Tony as a gift. It was still on his workbench, not thrown away.
Standing in front of the workbench, Tony unlocked and raised the garage of the entire underground factory. All his Iron Man Armors were raised one by one.
Including the old models of Iron Man Armors that he had just said had been "disposed of." He looked at the Iron Man Armors with his arms crossed over his chest. Finally, he put his hand to his forehead and laughed.
… …
Long Island, Rogers's rented apartment.
Sitting in front of the window, Rogers looked at the three original comics that Li Jie gave him today. It brought back a lot of memories, good and bad.
The dreams he had when he was young, and the days and nights he fought for his dreams. Rogers opened his calloused hands, which used to have carbon stains that couldn't be washed clean.
Finally, he pasted the original manuscripts on his bedside.
"I remember there are pencils and drawing paper here." Captain Rogers was looking for something in front of his desk.
"Maybe I should buy a digital tablet?" Rogers thought.
… …
Manhattan, Southern Cross Welfare Home.
Pan Ni had recovered and could be discharged from the hospital. Thor was carrying little Pan Ni and a small fish tank in his arms. It contained the peach blossom jellyfish that Li Jie had prepared for Pan Ni.
"Pan Ni, Pan Ni is back!" Seeing Thor coming back with Pan Ni, a child in Area 2A on the tenth floor ran back excitedly.
When Thor pushed open the blue door, he was greeted by an ice bucket falling from the sky for the first time, but now he was greeted by thunderous cheers and applause.
There was a faint smile on Thor's face.
… …
Li Jie wore a pair of special gloves with ten magic rings inside. With a solemn expression on his face, he went to Kamateki to see Ancient One.
Li Jie said, "Mage, you once said that the world needs warriors and I am one of them?"
Ancient One said, "Yes, but you didn't agree with me at the time. Have you thought it through now? "
Li Jie said, "Yes, I have experienced a lot of things during this time. I know more responsibilities, I know how to bear more burdens. I hope for peace, but peace doesn't fall from the sky. My parents, my family, my friends. There are many things I don't want them to get involved in. "
Ancient One said, "So you are willing to bear it now?"
Li Jie said, "Not everything, but I want to do something."
Ancient One said, "What is it?"
Li Jie said, "Although it is a bit arrogant, I hope that one day the name of Nightcrawler will resound throughout the universe and be feared!"
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