Captain America - Dead at 65?

[BigDaddy_GFS]

Not sure if this is the right section for this...

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From The Associated Press


Quote:
NEW YORK - Captain America has undertaken his last mission — at least for now. The venerable superhero is killed in the issue of his namesake comic that hit stands Wednesday, the Daily News reported.
On the new edition's pages, a sniper shoots down the shield-wielding hero as he leaves a courthouse, according to the newspaper.
It ends a long run for the stars-and-stripes-wearing character, created in 1941 to incarnate patriotic feeling during World War II. Over the years, an estimated 210 million copies of "Captain America" comic books, published by New York-based Marvel Entertainment Inc., have been sold in a total of 75 countries.
"We really need him now," said Simon, 93, who worked with artist Jack Kirby to devise Captain America as a foe for Adolf Hitler.
According to the comic, the superhero was spawned when a scrawny arts student named Steve Rogers, ineligible for the army because of his poor health but eager to serve his country, agreed to a "Super Soldier Serum" injection. The substance made him a paragon of physical perfection, armed only with his shield, his strength, his smarts and a command of martial arts.
In the comic-book universe, death is not always final. But even if Captain America turns out to have met his end in print, he may not disappear entirely: Marvel has said it is developing a Captain America movie.

[jdrock24]

Remember when DC "killed off" Superman? He was back within a year. I think the same thing will happen here.

[darklighter1]

I'll bet Sousou will love this. Nyuk nyuk nyuk... I agree with JD, he'll be back.

[TheNewNo.2]

No way in hell Marvel kills off one of its best-known and most identifiable characters. Cap's my favorite superhero (although I haven't bought an issue in years and years), but I'm not shedding any tears. They killed the Red Skull in Captain America #300 back in the 80s, and he was back within a couple of years making the Star Spangled Avenger's life hell again.

Actually, the death-by-sniper deal reminds me of how they killed somebody else--I think it was US Agent, the guy who replaced Steve Rogers for a while as Cap but turned out to be a total psychopath. His identity got out, so the government arranged to have him "assassinated" on live tv during a press conference, and he was able to carry on his crimefighting in secret. Perhaps they're pulling the same thing here.

[Darth Homer]

Remember when DC "killed off" Superman? He was back within a year. I think the same thing will happen here.

I hope we don't have to go through the "Five New Captain Americas" for a year till he comes back, like they did with Superman.
As far as the movie thing goes, has anyone else seen the 1990 version of the Captain America movie? What a stinker. Or T's favorite, Mr Hasselhoff as "Nick Fury: Agent of Shield", which is also slated for a remake. Other than the obvious Superman franchise, I think the only good Pre-Spiderman comic movie was Dolph as the Punisher.

[darklighter1]

Batman and Batman Returns weren't too bad either if only for the visuals. The stories were kinda lame though. Then the last 2 Bats movies before "Begins" were just horrible and pandering. The Capt America Movie was pretty awful though. Check out the mid-90's Fantastic Four movie on Youtube. YIKES!

[dwaynewade]

Remember when DC "killed off" Superman? He was back within a year. I think the same thing will happen here.

Superman didn't really die. At the end of that series, he was "recreated". However, I do agree. Captain America is already an icon. They just "killed" him probably just to sell more comics. He'll be back and maybe they'll tell a story about it too.

[Mr.T]

By COLLEEN LONG, Associated Press WriterSun Jul 1, 6:31 AM ET

It's a funeral fit for a superhero. In the drizzling rain at Arlington National Cemetery, thousands of grieving patriots solemnly watch as the pallbearers — Iron Man, the Black Panther, Ben Grimm and Ms. Marvel — carry a casket draped with an American flag.

Yes, folks, Captain America is dead and buried in the latest issue of Marvel Comics' "Fallen Son," due on newsstands the morning after Independence Day. After 66 years of battling villains from Adolf Hitler to the Red Skull, the red, white and blue leader of the Avengers was felled by an assassin's bullet on the steps of a New York federal courthouse.

He was headed to court after refusing to sign the government's Superhero Registration Act, a move that would have revealed his true identity. A sniper who fired from a rooftop was captured as police and Captain America's military escort were left to cope with chaos in the streets.

But the sniper didn't act alone, and didn't even fire the shot that killed the captain.

Writer Jeph Loeb has been busy working through the stages of grief in his most recent titles. A book centered on Wolverine dealt with denial; one with the Avengers covered anger; and Spider-Man battled depression.

With the story line so relevant to present-day politics, and the timing of the latest issue so precise, it's hard not to think the whole thing is one big slam on the government.

"Part of it grew out of the fact that we are a country that's at war, we are being perceived differently in the world," Loeb said. "He wears the flag and he is assassinated — it's impossible not to have it at least be a metaphor for the complications of present day."

But Loeb says he was working with more personal material: the death of his 17-year-old son from cancer.

"So many people have lost their sons and daughters over the years, for the greater good or to cancer or other horrible things," said Loeb, an executive producer for NBC's "Heroes." "I wanted this to be something people would identify with."

In the final frames of the book, the Falcon delivers a eulogy asking superheros old and young to stand up and honor Captain America. Loeb did a similar thing at his son's funeral.

"It was this moment where I realized that we were all different, but this boy, my son, made us all connected," he said. "It was powerful."

Captain America, whose secret identity was Steve Rogers, was an early member of the pantheon of comic book heroes that began with Superman in the 1930s.

He landed on newsstands in March 1941, nine months before Pearl Harbor — delivering a punch to Hitler on the cover of his first issue, a sock-in-the-jaw reminder that there was a war on and the United States was not involved.

Since then, Marvel Entertainment Inc., has sold more than 200 million copies of Captain America magazine in 75 countries.

In the most recent story line, he became involved in a superhero "civil war," taking up sides against Iron Man in the registration controversy, climaxed by his arrest and assassination.

Marvel says you never know what will happen. He may make it back from the dead after all, although Loeb says that question isn't really important right now.

"The question is, how does the world continue without this hero?" he said. "If that story of his return gets told further down the line, great. But everyone's still been dealing with his loss.

"They aren't going to wake up and it's a dream, like it's some episode of 'Dallas.'"

[TheNewNo.2]

The only legendary, long-time hero I can recall being killed and staying dead is Hal Jordan, the original Green Lantern (unless he's come back from the dead, too), and DC ended up keeping the character alive with other people taking up the Green Lantern mantle. And these days, Marvel's primary concern seems to be making as many movies as possible about their characters, and since they've already made movies about all the characters who are better known than Cap (Spiderman, the Fantastic Four, the Hulk, the X-Men) I'm guessing they'll revive him if only to get a movie made.

I'm thinking that my original thought, a few months back or whatever, about a staged assassination, is a possibility. Captain America's "murder" could show everyone how much America needs its superheroes and could be used to build opposition to the hero registration act, or whatever Marvel's doing with this Civil War storyline. Then again, I haven't bought a comic in years (although I do play City of Heroes religiously), so what the hell do I know about the state of comics today?

[Omega_Man]

The only legendary, long-time hero I can recall being killed and staying dead is Hal Jordan, the original Green Lantern (unless he's come back from the dead, too)

Yep Hal's been back for a while first as the "new" Spectre and now he's wearing a ring again as a Lantern.

In the Marvel continuity there have been several Captain Americas, most taking up the name between the end of WWII and Steve Roger's return in the sixties with the Avengers. None of them lived very long or were able to keep going according to the stories, which of course were never published only told in flashbacks or mentioned by the current stories.

If they do revive Cap it will probably be a new guy under the mask at least for a while. Iron Man and Reed Richards have previously cloned Thor will they clone a new Steve? Who knows?

[TheNewNo.2]

If they do revive Cap it will probably be a new guy under the mask at least for a while. Iron Man and Reed Richards have previously cloned Thor will they clone a new Steve? Who knows?

Technically, the Red Skull is (or was, way back when I was reading CA) a clone of Steve Rogers, so maybe he would become the new Captain America (how's that for an M. Night Shymalan-esque twist? :D ).

Since I don't read comics anymore, I'm not really worked up about this story, but in a general sense, the whole concept of killing off someone else's character pisses me off. It's not like Frank Miller killing Elektra, who was his own creation. Captain America was created by Jack Kirby decades ago and what right does Joseph Loeb have to kill off a character who so many other writers have helped to create and shepherd along? On a History Channel documentary about comics, one of the writers for DC mentioned that the writers for the big characters, like Batman and Superman (and Captain America, too, I'd say) have a responsibility to the past because they're not just writers of a comic book but are actually caretakers of modern folklore. The characters really belong not only to the current writer, but to the writer who created them, all the writers and artists who worked on them, and all the fans who spent tons of money reading about them,, and I think killing off such a prominent character just to shake things up a bit craps on all of them.

[BigDaddy_GFS]

I think there were also other incarnations of Captain Marvel, too.
Hero's never die, they just wait for a new wave of popularity in the media.