Masthead header

R.I.P. Captain America

It’s rare that a major super hero is killed off. Captain America is dead. Here’s the context.

As the story notes, he’s not the first to die. Superman “died” in the early 90’s, but everyone knew that he would be back soon.  The “superhero registration act” storyline sounds intriguing … and Iron Man is such a sellout! Maybe I should start reading comics again. I was never into Captain America, but that’s the benefit of these overarching storylines that pull in every character. You get to know characters you otherwise don’t pay attention to.

March 9, 2007 - 11:23 am

EAP - I have to admit I was flummoxed when I read the Cap’s obituary in my morning paper. A part of me died. My sympathy goes out to poor old Bucky. He finally gets his old life back – he’s no longer a Soviet stooge and he’s reunited with his old partner in crime fighting – and now this. There’s no justice in the comic world!

March 9, 2007 - 1:47 pm

Gary - WTF?? How can a super-hero like Captain America die from a normal gun from some chick he’s banging? That’s more preposterous than all of the (assumed) storylines from the last 60 years in which many super-villians did much, much worse things. Case #1 is in the article in which he “dies” but is really just frozen and then thawed out years later. Seriously, if you’re writing comic books, you have to have a better way for him to die than that.

March 9, 2007 - 4:39 pm

EAP - Gotta agree with you on that one, Gary. It’s a petty lame-o death for a superhero. It fits nicely into our contemporary ethos, however.

Since at least the late 60’s, Western pop culture and culture in general, has been tending towards anti-heroism. The cynical, post-modernist world view that is the default mentality for anyone under the age of 40 scoffs at heroic deeds performed by larger than life heroes who believe in “Truth, Justice and the American Way”. Sadly, this self-loathing attitude has become so prevalent in what used to be known as the Free World that it has totally reshaped what we look for in our entertainment, our politics and our lives.

So, lame and sordid as Captain America’s death is, it is somehow a fitting end for someone who represents a vision of society that was abandoned at least a generation ago. His grubby death suits our grubby times. Rest in peace indeed, Cap.

March 9, 2007 - 7:02 pm

contributor mark - No way he’s dead for real, for ever. It was probably a robot. Or it was all a dream. Or Steve Rogers son who is also named Steve Rogers will become the new, identical-in-every-way, Captain America.

Your email is never published or shared. Required fields are marked *

*

*

*
To prove you're a person (not a spam script), type the security word shown in the picture. Click on the picture to hear an audio file of the word.
Anti-spam image