Captain America killed off

[MacNimon]

I was surprised to read this story in several of today's newspapers; surprised on two counts...first, that Marvel have killed off the character, and second, that this event is considered important enough to be granted precious column inches in UK national daily newspapers! After all, apart from comic fans, or at least those who once read them when they were children, I wouldn't have thought of Cap as a household name in the UK. Still, it's nice to see the character getting some recognition in the press for once, the last time I remember a US comic making the UK news was when Superman was killed. And we all know how long that state of affairs lasted, don't we?!

It's probably been the best part of 25 years since I read any of his stories, but the character was a regular fixture in my childhood reading. Like most other comics and tv series, the quality of his stories would vary depending on the creative teams working on the title, but he remained one of my favourite superheroes (if you could really call him one...he didn't actually have any superpowers, but was rather just a genetically-modified super-soldier). So it came as a bit of a surprise to open todays newspapers to see this story...but I hope Marvel show the character some respect and actually keep him dead, now that they've taken this decision. All too often a character is returned to life, or else their identity is taken over by someone else.

Marvel news

[MacNimon]

Sorry for posting this twice, folks...I didn't mean to....honest!!!!

[MacNimon]

Sorry for posting this twice, folks...I didn't mean to....honest!!!!

Funny, it's disappeared now....maybe I should just do the same for now....

[Andrew Curnow]

I saw this on the news as well - but maddeningly it didn't really say why they were doing it? As a 'shock' tactic to try and drum up more sales of related titles, or what? Seems such a bizarre thing to do - after all, cartoon characters can live pretty much forever, they aren't limited by actor's lifespans or anything are they.

(One of those nice Mods (but not me) removed your duplicated post, Mac, so don't think you're going mad and imagined it!!)

[MacNimon]

It certainly seems to be a shock tactic, but from what I've read tonight it makes sense in context of the overall story that's being told. Apparently, the backstory is that during a battle between some heroes and villains (who, I don't know) thousands of innocent civilians were killed. So the US Goverment passes a law which forces all superhereroes to either become goverment agents, or not operate at all. Some heroes toe the goverment line, others rebel against it. Cap was originally with the goverment, but then changed sides...with this being the end result.

But whether it's just to drum up sales, I don't know.

And will he stay dead?

[SiHart]

Funny, it's disappeared now....maybe I should just do the same for now....

All in a days work.

Si xx

[Captain Tancredi]

From what I understand, Captain America has always been one of the more difficult Marvel heroes to "manage", in that he's tended to have his moments at times when the American national mood has needed its patriotic figures and rallying points, but the character has been more tricky in times of peace or disillusionment. To remain true to the concept of the character, he has to be an unqualified hero and usually whiter than white, which doesn't really leave all that much room for character development. It does sound like a brave gesture from Marvel, though- essentially it's saying that patriotism isn't necessarily what the government tell you it is, and there may well be dyed-in-the-wool Captain America fans who won't like that.

[Rob McCow]

It's all deeply symbolic isn't it!

I'd prefer to see Cap'n USA getting disillusioned with his home country and burning the flag though. That would be bold!

[Paul Monk]

This is part of the Civil War thing isn't? I love these big comic events they're always interesting and they always kill off a big character. I've always found Captain American rather annoying. He's a bit of a relic of a bygone age. His character's fine in the context of the 1940's but a bit lost now! Still for a major character its a bit of an anti-climax how he's killed I think he deserves a better send off.
I just hope that Marvel make a really bold move with this. And keep him dead!

(Although he still exists in Ultimate Avengers!)

[Alex]

Has any comic's character actually been killed off and then never revived? I'm sure there must be some, but I honestly can't think of any - and I mean nobody else has taken on their name in this too, btw.

I know DC's Crisis on Infinite Earths got rid of a whole load of characters in the eighties, but most of them popped up during Grant Morrison's run on Animal Man, and elsewhere too.

I used to like these big events, but I just can't afford to buy comics anymore, but whenever I pop in to Forbidden Planet for a bit of a catch up I notice someone's been killed off - the most recent being Blue Beetle and Buster Gold, which really annoyed me, because I used to love them during Giffen's run on JLA.

As for Captain America, well, he is a bit rubbish to be honest. If sales were high I'd imagine Marvel wouldn't do such a thing, so it probably is related to that. And no doubt someone will bring him back somehow one day (or at least bring in a new Captain America), he's such an iconic character I'd be amazed if they didn't.

Edit: I've just read the wikipedia entry for 52, and blimey, it seems DC have gone mental and are killing off people left right and centre at the mo. It all sounds a bit horrible to be honest, I'm glad I'm not reading DC stuff these days now.