Unless you were living under a boulder these past couple of days, no doubt you have heard:
Captain America is dead.
It took me completly by surprise. It was just a regular Wednesday morning. I arrived at the store after picking up the week's comics. After I lugged in the 50 pounds of funny books, I opened the boxes and started to sort them by title. I came across Captain America #25, noticing it came with two different covers. One was an iconic image drawn by Ed McGuinness, known more for his Superman work. The other, an image of Cap's hand in handcuffs, with blood splattered around the newspaper-background. I thought nothing of it, and continued sorting, moving on to Detective Comics and Fantastic Four. As I was sorting my boss comes out of the back room and says, "So they killed Captain America?" I'm like, ".....what?" He then goes on to say that he read it on Yahoo. My curiosity piqued, I pick up a copy of Captain America and glance through it.
Damn.
Sure, I may be a comic book guy, but this took me COMPLETELY by surprise. They certainly did a good job of keeping it a secret. So naturally I didn't order nearly enough issues of Captain America #25. I checked Yahoo News to confirm it for myself, it was their top story. I check CNN.com, front page. I'm like, "Okay, this is getting national attention." I call Diamond Comic Distributors to order more copies, and sure enough, they were sold out. Soon after that, people stopped by looking for the issue. I quickly sold all our issues, and had to explain to young kids and old ladies that we were sold out. People started calling the store looking for it.
I even had one lady call me and ask, "Do you have the latest issue of Captain Marvel?"
I'm like, "Captain Marvel?"
She says, "The one that came out today where he dies."
I blew a gasket in my mind. The nerdy comic book guy inside me wanted to blurt out in my snarkiest voice, "ACTUALLY, Captain Marvel died in the early 80's of cancer. And that's Marvel's original Captain Marvel, not his son who later called himself Captain Marvel. Then there's DC Comic's Captain Marvel, who is still alive, but his book goes by the name of 'Shazam' to avoid legal problems. So I assume you mean Captain America."
But I just said, "No. We sold out."
Later in the day I checked eBay and found the issue going for anywhere from $9.99 to $99.99. And I sold it for $3.99. Bummer.
Not ordering enough copies of Captain America #25 is probably my biggest failure as a comic book guy so far. But really, it took us all by surprise, how was I to know Marvel had the guts to kill Cap? He makes guest appearances in just about every book, whether it's punching Wolverine in the jaw or helping Ghost Rider fight...whoever Ghost Rider fights. He's a Marvel staple.
Anyway, that's the story of the work day. But what does it mean? Specifically, what does it mean to me?
Killing off Captain America is huge. Most people will compare it to the death of Superman in 1993. But it's not like that at all. Sure, Superman is an icon, but he's not America personified. He has morals and was raised with American ideals, but he doesn't necessarily represent America. Cap did. He wore the red white and blue. He wore the stars and stripes. He had an "A" on his head and saluted the American flag every chance he got. His surname is "America!" To kill off the living embodiment of America is a BIG deal. It's like killing Uncle Sam.
Marvel just finished off a big event called "Civil War" about 3 weeks ago. In the mini-series, when a Superhuman Registration Act is passed into federal law after a 9-11 like disaster, requiring all superhumans to register their identities to the government, the heroes of the Marvel Universe take sides, supporting or opposing the law. Cap disagrees with it, Iron Man enforces it. Various heroes support either Cap or Iron Man, and they end up fighting each other. It was an allegory to Personal Freedoms vs. National Security, right to privacy, the Patriot Act, and other such hot button political issues. Throughout the series, Spider-Man publicly unmasked himself, a clone Thor killed a superhero in cold blood and the Punisher...uh...kills bad guys. But it ultimately ended up with Captain America giving himself up after he sees the destruction that the fight between the heroes causes. I thought that if Cap was going to die, it would be in the big event that has been getting all the mainstream attention anyway. So when he didn't die, and was arrested instead, I thought, "okay."
Who would've thought he'd die 3 weeks AFTER the big event? I guess it makes sense for him to die in his own book, but still. I didn't think they would do it. That's why I was so surprised. I mean, he's not Marvel's most popular hero, but he's Captain America!! He doesn't have a movie franchise, or a TV show. But he's still a household name, usually used to describe someone uptight and patriotic.
It's also interesting how he died. He didn't die in a massive brawl with a supervillian, like Superman did. He didn't die in his lover's arms, like Superman did. He got shot by a sniper. He died off panel, bleeding out. We see his dead body under a white sheet, with the blank stare of an exposed eye staring back at us. Steve Rogers, Captain America, was assassinated in front of the courthouse, being put on trial for his crimes.
What does that say about America? The current state of America? Do the morals of the greatest generation no longer apply in the modern world? Has the United States lost it's way? There are many questions as to what this may imply. Looking at the current state of the country, it's hard not to ask these questions. Whether we want to admit it or not, America is in a state of disarray. The country has its problems, and we are coming dangerously close to losing that which makes us Americans.
If anything good comes out of the death of Captain America, it's that it will make people step back and think about the implications of his death, and making people aware of the way things are right now, instead of who Anna Nicole Smith's baby's daddy is or why Britney Spears is doing her best Captain Picard impression.
Will Captain America come back? I have no doubt. But it won't be the same Captain America. It won't be Steve Rogers. Someone else will wear the costume and take up the mantle. But I don't see that happening anytime soon.
When reading an article about Cap on Yahoo News, I found a quote from Captain America's co-creator Joe Simon. He said, "We really need him now."
I couldn't agree more. Steve Rogers, you'll be missed.
