Pat Tillman. Jessica Lynch. Steve Rogers. Americans who were killed or injured in the name of their country. In a time of push-button warfare, a single isolated casualty can become a news maelstrom within itself. The names punch out at Americans from the headlines of the front pages. Cable news runs memorials for hours and hours on end, until we find out new info on the father of Anna Nicole's baby.
Is this the proper way to remember a soldier? A few soundbytes and some pictures ripped off of flikr.com sandwiched between Acura and Cialis commericals? Youtube video memorials with threads posted underneath linking to pornography?
As Steve Rogers would say, "Things just aren't the same anymore."
No one knew this better than Captain America himself. He went from fighting Nazis on rockets at the firebombing in Dresden to salvaging rubble from Ground Zero with his own weathered hands. At first, we was punching Hitler on his covers. Now, he punches an oversided word on his covers: "TERROR", because the war on terror is best personified by the word that created it. Things were so much simpler back then. Punch a bad guy, save the world. Now it's punch a bad guy, bad guy sets off explosion in London Metro...makes you want to think hard about diplomacy.
Ed Brubaker and Steve Epting's DEFINITIVE run on Captain America (Vol 5. #1 - present) has cemented Captain America's "fish out of water" characterization (with a whole lot of help from Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch's The Ultimates Vol. 1 and 2). He truly does not belong in this world. Steve Rogers should be playing bingo on Saturday nights, singing "Roll out the Barrell" with his friends, and hearing stories from his grandchildren as they sit on his lap. Instead he found himself fighting Iron Man, the American people and government, and the odds.
Where's Batroc the Leaper when you need him?
And now, after an assassination worthy of any American Revolutionary, Cap finds himself six feet under like the rest of his platoon who died at D-Day. Steve Rogers is finally at peace, the second time around...right? Wrong. Actually, Captain America has been killed 12 times in his history, usually to be revived in the next issue. Eager fans have been waiting since March to get their hands on Captain American #26, the first issue after his death which will apparently feature the autopsy. Well...that seems pretty...what's the word...morbid? It also seems like this time around, they're for real.
So why kill him? The creator of Captain America, Joe Simon (the other half being Jack Kirby R.I.P.) has publicly expressed his disenthusiasm for Cap's death, stating that "We especially need Captain America in the world we live in today. Now more than ever." Mind you, this is coming from a man of the Golden Generation. A man who saw the depression, WWII, Vietnam, and the Cold War. Mr. Simon believes that the state of the world now is one that cannot afford to lose such a great leader.
Mr. Simon, I'm sorry but Joe Quesada and Ed Brubaker don't agree.
Neither do I.
First I'll get all my biased reasons out of the way.
1: Ed Brubaker is quite possibly the greatest American comic writer today and I am on board with anything he does to Cap, Daredevil, Iron Fist, Uncanny X-Men, or Criminal. 2: Civil War was philosophically the greatest comics event of ALL TIME and Cap's death is the perfect conclusion to such a politically charged and polarizing undertaking. 3: I'll read anything as long as the story is good and the pictures are pretty.
Now for the unbiased reasons.
If Captain America truly means something to you, then what does it mean now that he is dead? What does it mean for you, as a person and as an American? Are you simply content in being pissed off about his death? Well, then I'd argue he didn't mean much to you. You can't equate his death to same reaction you have to losing a game of Madden '07 or getting a speeding ticket and then be so high and mighty about it.
We have to see what the world is like without Captain America. Specifically the 616 Universe. Through Fallen Son and the Captain America ongoing, we are going to discover what this icon means in the greatest sense. The cliche' "Don't know what you got till it's gone" seems to fit the manta of the Marvel Editorial Staff. They are going to use this opportunity to explore what he really means. Because we don't know what he means to us. This isn't the Death of Superman. It's not that easy. It's not an "S" on his chest. It's a star. "Truth, Justice, and the American Way" wasn't even created by Superman comics, it was the television show. Cap has never had a television show and probably never will. Why? Because he represents something that is far too charged to encapsulate in a television program.
He represents us.
So let's keep reading. And remembering. And learing from this experience.
Because you don't know what you got till it's gone.
__________________
Dave Landsberger
Hero Headquarters
"He must have thought it was white boy day...Is it white boy day? Nah, it's not white boy day."
- True Romance
Interesting...Here I was, all set to argue some stupid, comic book point with you when you write an intelligent, well thought out analysis of the whole situation. Maybe you should get a degree in literature
I agree with almost everything you've said except for the idea of Cap being a fish completely out of water (and Civil War being the greatest thing since sliced bread). While Captain America may seem a bit dated, one of the things I've always liked most about him, and Superman as well, is that they exemplify the heroic ideal. I guess the question that the "Death" of Cap can help answer, is "What does that look like today?" I don't think the idea of a hero should be darker and grittier. At the same time, as you pointed out so well, the villians of today are not nearly so black and white as they were 65 years ago.
Its excellent food for thought though...what is a modern hero (superhero) ?
Larry, you are a modern superhero! You are faster than a speeding printer, more powerful than a P4 and able to leap tall stacks of code in a single bound!
I'd like to add more to this idea here, but I know as much about Captain America as I do about most other comics. So I can't really get into it much other than to say I have a feeling that since American ideals have come so under fire in recent times, the death of an iconic American hero can only hurt the stability of the nation in a time of crisis. But it also opens the door for someone to step up and take his place. The question remains, will a "watered-down" iconic American hero replace him? Someone who doesn't want to offend people because they might disagree with his strong "Americanism"? Or will we see someone who brings the same strength, integrity and honor to the ways of truth, justice and the American way?
