1. Lyndsy Fonseca plays Angie Martinelli (left) a sunny character that plays well off the darker Agent Carter (Hayley Atwell). ABC/Bob D'Amico
2. James D’Arcy plays the always impeccable Edwin Jarvis, a sort of sidekick on “Agent Carter.” ABC/Kelsey McNeal
3. Agent Carter’s colleagues in the Strategic Science Reserce include (from left) Enver Gjokaj as Agent Daniel Sousa, Shea Whigham as Chief Roger Dooley and Chad Michael Murray as Agent Jack Thompson. Although hit must be said, none of them seem very scientific or strategic. ABC/Bob D'Amico
By Andrew A. Smith
Tribune Content Agency
Jan. 22, 2015 -- We’re all learning about Agent Carter together.
Margaret “Peggy” Carter, who is currently starring in an eight-episode miniseries on ABC and co-starred in Captain America: The First Avenger, did originate in Marvel Comics. But she’s different in the comics than on TV, hasn’t really appeared all that much, and isn’t likely to do so in the future – because she’s dead.
Peggy Carter first appeared in 1966 in the Captain America strip in Tales of Suspense. Before but before that, though, they were introduced to S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent 13, which is important. Bear with me here.
In 1966, Steve Rogers is passed by a pretty blonde on a New York street and thinks, “That girl! When she walked by, I thought I was in the past again – looking at – her!”
Cap pursues the young lady, who turns out to be an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. transporting a dangerous compound called Inferno 42, and pursued by Batroc ze Leapair! Uh, I mean, Batroc the Leaper, master of the French fighting art known as la savate, with a speech pattern very much like Pepe le Pew. Naturally, Cap defeats Batroc and makes sure Inferno 42 (which is never explained) gets to the right hands. “Mon dieu!” thinks Batroc. “Zee time has come to take my leave – so I may live to fight anothair day!”
All the while, though, Cap keeps thinking that this girl – whom we later learn is Sharon Carter, Agent 13 of S.H.I.E.L.D. – looks like … “her!”
And who is “her”? Faster than you can say “Keep ‘em flying!” we get a flashback to the liberation of Paris in World War II, where we see Cap and his girlfriend, an American fighting with the French Resistance named … yep, Peggy Carter. The two are separated in battle, and Peggy is nearly hit by a shell, leaving her with … amnesia!
Yes, it’s preposterous. But it’s comics! Anyway, Captain America goes on to a famous date with an iceberg later in the war. And after thawing out, he begins dating Sharon, who it turns out is Peggy’s sister! But he never knows if Peggy was alive or dead after Paris …
… until 1973, that is, when he finds out that Peggy has been living with her parents in Virginia since the war, still suffering from amnesia. This being comics, where Cap and Sharon couldn’t age, but Peggy couldn’t escape being a WWII vet (who hadn’t been frozen in an iceberg like some people we could name), it was quickly established that the aging Peggy wasn’t Sharon’s sister, but was instead her aunt.
After recovering her marbles, Peggy quickly became an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. and a supporting member of Captain America’s book. However, even that didn’t last, as eventually her age caught up with her, and she died in a nursing home in 2011. Cap, Sharon, Nick Fury and Howling Commando Dum Dum Dugan even attended her funeral, so she’s not merely dead, but most sincerely dead.
So, obviously, there are quite a few differences between the comics Peggy and the TV Peggy. Not the least of which is that the one played by Hayley Atwell is far more interesting.
In “Agent Carter,” Atwell plays a no-nonsense, hyper-competent agent of the “Strategic Science Reserves” – the Marvel Universe version of the Office of Strategic Services. And like the OSS later became the CIA, the SSR will morph into S.H.I.E.L.D. (although we don’t know how or why yet).
But Peggy has a problem: It’s 1946, and women are generally treated by men as infants and/or second-class citizens. She isn’t taken seriously by her colleagues, who assume she got her job by being “Captain America’s girlfriend” during the war.
So when her wartime colleague Howard Stark – who will someday be the father of Tony “Iron Man” Stark – asks her to clear his name of a treason charge, she must do so on the Q.T., as they used to say. If she’s caught, it will not only be the end of her career, but likely a stretch in a federal pen. A man might get the benefit of the doubt in 1946, but a woman certainly would not.
Which ratchets up the stakes, as well as being historically accurate. It would have been enormously disappointing had Marvel treated the gender disparities of the time with lip service. Instead, though, they wisely made it part of the series premise.
In fact, it’s a theme running throughout, lest we forget why women felt the need for a liberation movement in the 1960s and ‘70s. A waitress has to put up with pats on the butt. Working women live in dorm-like hotels, with a “den mother” who enforces curfews and a “no men” policy. And those working women, who built planes and tanks during the war, are being squeezed out of the workforce by returning G.I.s. (“I had to teach a guy from Canarsie how to rivet today,” complains one.)
Carter nevertheless sallies forth, aided by her “sidekick,” Howard’s butler Edwin Jarvis, and is always a few steps ahead of her male colleagues. In the Jan. 12 episode, Carter tracks down a cache of stolen Stark weapons – and her first impulse is to call S.S.R. and take credit.
It’s up to Jarvis to point out reality. When she says that this coup will finally make the men respect her, Jarvis snaps “they won’t. They will only use it to tear you down.”
And he’s right. That sad fact would be depressing, except that Carter never gives up. Despite being treated like a secretary, despite living in a gilded cage, she battles on – not only unraveling the Stark case one layer at a time, but winning the audience’s respect.
Marvel couldn’t have done better than Atwell for the role. Her statuesque beauty makes her perfect for those elaborate ‘40s fashions. Her strength and agility make the fight scenes plausible. Not to mention her acting chops – she completely sells the period milieu.
She’s abetted, as mentioned, by Jarvis (James D’Arcy), another character from the comics who’s undergone some revisions. A longtime supporting character, Jarvis was Tony’s butler in the comics, not Howard’s, at Stark’s midtown townhouse. When Tony turned that townhouse into Avengers Mansion, Jarvis went along with the package. To this day he is still the man who makes sure Thor has enough mead, Captain America has enough apple pie and Iron Man has enough WD-40.
“Agent Carter” places Jarvis in the 1940s, so he isn’t available for the movies set in the present day. He has survived after a fashion, though, as the voice of the artificial intelligence in the Iron Man armor.
Carter’s boss Agent Dooley is played Shea Whigham, has showed his skill for period drama as Nucky’s brother in Boardwalk Empire. And Carter’s pal Angie (Lindsy Fonseca) is a bubbly ‘40s waitress who provides a ray of sunshine to Carter’s perpetual grimness – a Robin to her Batman. Their scenes together are particularly strong.
And, while the ratings are still a bit soft on Agent Carter, those who have seen it like it. It’s got a 90 percent approval rating from viewers on Rotten Tomatoes, and a 97 percent thumbs up from reviewers.
But that shouldn’t be surprising. This Agent Carter doesn’t know how to lose.
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Replies
I love, love, love the Agent Carter TV show. She might be my favorite Marvel hero right now.
The Lovely and Talented -- who does not count affection for superheroes among her myriad virtues -- has actually watched the last couple of episodes with me, sans snide comments and/or eyerolling .
I wish I had the words to express how much I'm enjoying this show. I'm hoping the ratings improve, because it's just that good. Way better than Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. in my opinion. Great characters, very little time to catch your breath, and just well done all around.
Agreed!
I'm a little behind on episodes, but I find Agent Carter -- and Agent Carter -- quite appealing. Nice touch in that the female lead has a man as the sidekick. Even better? She can kick anybody's butt. Better still? Showing her navigating the whole "a woman's place is not in the workplace" aspect of life as it was in those days. (That admittance interview she had with the harridan at the women's hotel -- oy!)
Interesting in that we are told over and over again about his off-screen wife, aggressively nailing shut the door to romance between these two. They're all business, and the way these characters are drawn, they wouldn't indulge in an affair.
What else do we need to know about the SSR and Peggy's future there when they don't even have a ladies' room in their secret HQ?
Don't see how Thompson can be dismissive of Peggy ever again? And Sosa is realizing how dangerous she is!
Cute touch how blasé she was walking in on the guys changing yet embarrassed when the tables were turned albeit as part of a cruel joke!
Link to the existing Agent Carter thread:
https://captaincomics.ning.com/forum/topics/marvel-s-agent-carter