| Submit your comments on this article |
| Home Front: Culture Wars |
| Captain America Assassinated |
| 2007-03-07 |
| Captain America is dead. The Marvel Entertainment superhero, created in 1941 as a patriotic adversary for the Nazis, is killed off in Captain America #25, which hits the stands Wednesday. As Captain America emerges from a courthouse building, he is struck by a sniper's bullet in the shoulder and then hit again in the stomach, blood seeping out of his star-spangled costume. His death is sure to ignite controversy in the comic book world - still reeling from Superman's death in 1993 and resurrection the following year - and even political pundits, who may see Captain America's demise as an allegory for the United States. "It's a hell of a time for him to go. We really need him now," said co-creator Joe Simon, 93, after being informed of his brainchild's death. Simon and artist Jack Kirby came up with the character in 1941 as an adversary for Adolf Hitler. Since then, the patriotic hero has appeared in an estimated 210 million copies sold in 75 countries. Not bad for an imaginary sickly kid from New York's Lower East Side named Steve Rogers, who volunteered to be injected with Super Soldier serum during World War II. Part of Captain America's allure was that he had no true superpowers; the serum made him an example of a human being at his utmost potential. He could bench-press 1,100 pounds, run a mile in about a minute and outsmart any spy. Series writer Ed Brubaker - who grew up reading Captain America comics while his father, a naval intelligence officer, was stationed on Guantanamo Bay, Cuba - said it wasn't easy to kill off the character. The 40-year-old, however, wanted to explore what the hero meant to the country in these polarized times. "What I found is that all the really hard-core left-wing fans want Cap to be standing out on and giving speeches on the street corner against the Bush administration, and all the really right-wing (fans) all want him to be over in the streets of Baghdad, punching out Saddam," Brubaker said. Comic book deaths, however, are rarely final. Marvel's archrival, DC Comics, provoked a media frenzy when they killed off Superman in 1993, only to reanimate their prize creation a year later. Joe Quesada, 43, Marvel Entertainment's editor in chief, said he wouldn't rule out the shield-throwing champion's eventual return. But for now, the Captain's fans are in mourning. "I was shocked. I was not expecting it," said Gerry Gladston, co-owner of Midtown Comics in Manhattan. "I'd rather they didn't kill him - but it's going to mean great sales." |
| Posted by:Anonymoose |
| #14 Well, after the Thing was retconned to be Jewish, they had to do something new. |
| Posted by: Eric Jablow 2007-03-07 22:05 |
| #13 Mike: I wonder if they will finally re-invent the super soldier formula that made Cap in the first place? The best bet would be that they were able to extract it from his blood, post-mortem. That way, it could still be an unknown formula. The hardest part will be how they handle finding a super patriot to inject it into. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2007-03-07 21:20 |
| #12 Article: Series writer Ed Brubaker - who grew up reading Captain America comics while his father, a naval intelligence officer, was stationed on Guantanamo Bay, Cuba - said it wasn't easy to kill off the character. The 40-year-old, however, wanted to explore what the hero meant to the country in these polarized times. I love how these guys have a million ways of saying "I'm looking to boost my sales by making remarks that sound vaguely topical, while appealing to the nostalgic feelings of the masses, who had forgotten my product exists." |
| Posted by: Zhang Fei 2007-03-07 19:28 |
| #11 "Steve turned around and Bobby Ewing opened the shower door. It was all a |
| Posted by: Frank G 2007-03-07 18:00 |
| #10 Ptah, Myself, I think that Cap will be back, it just won't be Steve Rogers. On the other hand, I'd be willing to bet the rent check that the new Cap will be a female, a minority, or both. Mike |
| Posted by: Mike Kozlowski 2007-03-07 17:48 |
| #9 His death is sure to ignite controversy in the comic book world - still reeling from Superman's death in 1993 and resurrection the following year - and even political pundits, who may see Captain America's demise as an allegory for the United States. yeah: Our Creator will be the only one capable of taking us out. Series writer Ed Brubaker - who grew up reading Captain America comics while his father, a naval intelligence officer, was stationed on Guantanamo Bay, Cuba - said it wasn't easy to kill off the character. The 40-year-old, however, wanted to explore what the hero meant to the country in these polarized times. ...and the world will be left to explore what it means to be without the United States. |
| Posted by: Ptah 2007-03-07 15:01 |
| #8 too bad about Captain America. The funniest line I heard about Jean Grey was from the 'revolution' series where Wolverine was chewing out The White Queen for her position: "Jean would be rolling in her grave, providin' you could keep her in it longer'n a week." |
| Posted by: Ptah 2007-03-07 14:59 |
| #7 Excellent flash animations, I'm having quite a laugh over there, hé hé. |
| Posted by: anonymous5089 2007-03-07 14:43 |
| #6 Marvel girl it is, back in the olden X-men. |
| Posted by: anonymous5089 2007-03-07 14:22 |
| #5 I think you mean Marvel Girl -- Wonder Girl is one of DC's New Teen Titans. |
| Posted by: Scooter McGruder 2007-03-07 14:03 |
| #4 The all time great superhero for getting killed and being brought back to life is Jean Grey, from the X-Men, aka "Wonder Girl" and "Phoenix". Here is a funny flash cartoon on the subject. (There are a bunch on the same subject by the same animator at the site.) http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/219810 |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2007-03-07 13:35 |
| #3 Actually I heard he faked his death and now works as a contractor for Halliburton's Earthquake divsion. |
| Posted by: rjschwarz 2007-03-07 11:37 |
| #2 He should have retired...then went consulting.... |
| Posted by: crazyhorse 2007-03-07 11:18 |
| #1 No... The only god thing here is that in comic books, Death isn't forever. Mike |
| Posted by: Mike Kozlowski 2007-03-07 11:15 |