Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/281887
THIS WEEK maltatoday, SUNDAY, 23 MARCH 2014 35 THIS WEEK Captain America: the evolution of 'The First Avenger' THE US Embassy, Euro Media Forum and Eden Cinemas presents 'Cap- tain America: The evolution & legacy of Joe Simon and Jack Kirby's First Avenger' tomorrow (Monday, March 24) at 18:00 at Europe House – 254, St Paul Street, Valletta. This event coincides ahead of the Captain America: The Winter Soldier screening on March 28 at Eden Cin- emas, St Julian's. 'Wielding his mighty shield to all who oppose him, they in turn must yield'… Captain America was created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby in 1940. Known to comic book enthusiasts as The First Avenger, Captain America has been the alter ego of Steve Rog- ers, a frail young man who after be- ing deemed unfit for military service, volunteers for a top secret research project that turns him into Captain America, a superhero dedicated to defending the ideals of the free world. Donning a costume that bears the stars and stripes of the American flag, and armed with a nearly indestructible shield that can be used for defence and can also be thrown as a weapon. Comic book researcher David Pace and film researcher Justin Camilleri will give an insight into how Captain America was Marvel Comics' most popular character during the 1940s wartime period, how the first Avenger was one of the most powerful forms of communication and moral support for US Troops during World War II. Both speakers will delve into how he was reinvented by Marvel Comics for the 1960s hippie era, his influences on other superheroes like Captain Brit- ain, The Red Guardian and DC Com- ics' Red Star (both Russian characters) and his enduring popularity as a result of the films' success. The event will al- so feature a quiz, with the opportunity to win great prizes. The event is also being supported by The US Embassy, Eden Cinemas, Giotto restaurant, St Julians and The Department of English Students As- sociation (DESA). Entrance is free but booking is recom- mended at euromediaforum@gmail. com or via sms to 99454066, or log in http://www.facebook.com/Euro.Me- dia.Forum Exploring the literary Strait Street DIN L-Art Ħelwa presents a public lecture to be delivered by Prof. Peter Vassallo, Professor of English and Comparative Literature, University of Malta. The talk, entitled 'The Grandmas- ter presides over Strait Street to- night', will be delivered at Din l-Art Ħelwa, 133, Melita Street Valletta on Thursday, April 10 at 18:30. The description of Valletta, and especially Strait Street (the Gut), in the final chapter of Thomas Pyn- chon celebrated book V (1963), is depicted in such detail as to suggest that the elusive author must have visited our capital city in the mid- fifties and based his descriptions of Valletta on his own experience as a US marine. Strait Street bris- tles with its exuberant nightlife and subverts, in carnivalesque rhapsody, the dignified purpose of the city as projected by Grandmaster La Val- lette. In Strait Street a mysterious Grandmaster presides over the city. For more information, call DLĦ 21225952. Entrance is free but do- nations to Din l-Art Ħelwa are wel- come