Captian America Shot Dead: Entertainment Company Kills Symbol

By Michael Clemente

           

Captain America was shot. He is dead. Normally this news would go unnoticed by the world at large, but his death has transcended the fiction and hit the worlds of politics and business. This has some fans shocked and upset.

“Who would have thought that anyone would want to kill Captain America!?!” said Joe Pryba, a graduate student and resident director at The College of Saint Rose.

“Cap” as he became known to his fans was a comic book character created in 1941, when America entered World War II. He was meant as a symbol for Patriotism and freedom. He fought Nazis and supervillians alike.  Since that time he has battled communism, terrorism, and yes, more supervillians.

He began as an average Joe, actually a weaker version of an average Joe. He was offered a chance to serve his country.  Taking an experimental serum, he became the perfect soldier.  FDR granted him a costume and indestructible shield and the legend began. His humanity is what made him a role model and his death was likened to that of Superman about a decade ago.

“I'm not really surprised that Marvel decided to kill off a major character because it's not an unheard of gimmick in comics--just look at D.C. killing off Superman for about a year in the 90's,” said junior Kurt Hassenpflug.  “I am surprised that they killed off Captain America though because he's kind of a universal character to look up to.  He doesn't have super powers--he's just at the absolute peak of human ability.  There's something about that that has more of an ability to inspire people than I think some other characters might.”

Recently the legend has been tarnished by reality. Born in war, it was another war that brought the life of Cap to an end. Marvel Entertainment, the company that makes the comic books, cartoons, and movies, is taking a stand. They do not support the War in Iraq and they are using their media to show that.

A recent event was to mirror the current political field, dating back to September 11, 2001. The president of Marvel, in an article on CNN stated that the similarities were not coincidence. They were a stance and a story.

"Every child knew about 9/11," said Dan Buckley, president of Marvel Comics. "If [he] could see a TV he knew what 9/11 was. The other similarities [to] things going on are just part of storytelling."

In the Marvel “universe” an explosion at a school sparked a war among superheroes over whether or not they were doing harm.

And what about the Patriot Act?

The metaphor continued. Marvel characters, those in favor of accountable heroes, created a Superhuman Registration Act, making all heroes unmask. There was no privacy anymore. Some heroes, led by Cap, refused.

A large fight ensued.  The destruction led Cap to surrender to save innocents.  He went to court and on the steps in front of the courthouse, was where he was murdered.

That’s the stuff that the fans care about. The political side happens. But what about the business side of things?

Mainstream media picked up this story, the day the issue, Captain America #25, was released. This shot sales up.

Local comic book store, Earthworld Comics, had a “one per customer” policy.

Some fans see that as the only reason this hero had to die, to spike sales.

“I think it's [death] an oft. used gimmick,” said Hassenpflug. “Honestly, it's kind of a cheap trick to sell more comics because everyone knows he'll be back eventually in one way or another.”

Marvel Editor in Chief, Joe Quesada acknowledged that in the past that was the case, but this won’t be the same. Things are different.

"There was period in comics where characters would just die and then be resurrected. And the death had very little meaning and the resurrection had very little meaning," he said. "All I ask of my writers is if you're going to kill a character off, please let that death have some meaning in the overall scope of things."

Comedy Central’s hit show, The Colbert Report, also picked up the news. This led to a joint publicity stunt between the two corporations.

The day after the initial report, Marvel reported on its website that Cap’s famous shield had gone missing.

The following Colbert Report showed that the shield was given to him by Marvel. As Marvel execs put it, it was “in Cap’s will”.

In front of his studio audience, Stephen Colbert received the shield and uttered a thank you to the deceased.

“Cap, I hope I make you proud,” he said.

But don’t lose hope fans. This is comic books and nothing is ever set in stone. With a movie slated for 2008, it is probably we haven’t seen the last of the Star-spangled Avenger.

“It's comic books, so Captain America will probably come back at some time or another,” Pryba said.