The Death of Captain America and the Not-So Secret Wars
Published March 15, 2007
When I was growing up, I had a thing for comic books and comic art and I still do. Every time a new comic book movie is released, that jones always creeps up on me and I just can’t help but get excited. My favorite comics were Batman, the Uncanny X-Men, Daredevil and Fantastic Four. One of the titles came out every week, so you were set for adventuresome reading material all month long. When these heroes had a “crossover” (a teaming against a super villain foe, for all of you non-comic readers), it was like winning the lottery as a kid.
Yes, Seriously. Marvel Comics’ Secret Wars changed everything. When it first came out, there was a race among all of the kids in the neighborhood to hit the corner store for a copy. You didn’t want to miss out on an issue in the 12-part series and you didn’t dare take your money and buy a Slush Puppie that week! Comics were in short supply back then. You couldn’t live with an incomplete set! How would you know what happened?
Back in the early 1980s, comic shops weren’t as commonplace as they are today, so the only way to get your comic fix was by visiting the local Convenient Food Mart, 7-11, or Gray Drug store. If you missed an episode, you were out of luck unless you contacted the comic distributor. What pre-teen was gonna bother with that?
Secret Wars was the ultimate crossover: tons of the characters in the Marvel Universe were involved in an epic battle. Marvel’s most popular superheroes and villains were transported to an alien planet, pitted against each other, and an all-out battle royal ensued. At the time, none of the kids reading it understood the Reagan-era metaphors that were dredged up within the storyline; all they knew was that it was “the best comic ever” (at that moment) and that it had a lot of buzz going for it.
A few big-impact comic moments from Secret Wars included an exclusive toy line, the new alien black Spiderman costume (Venom re-emerges in the new Spiderman 3 movie this summer), the X-Men branching off from all the other heroes, and, of course the unimaginable happens: Captain America’s indestructible shield is broken.
- The Death of Captain America and the Not-So Secret Wars
- Published: March 15, 2007
- Type: Opinion
- Section: Culture
- Filed Under: Books: Comics and Graphic Novels, Culture: Society, Politics: U.S., Politics: War and Terrorism
- Writer: Peter Chakerian
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- Peter Chakerian's personal site
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a bit of me appears to have passed away that dark day
1966, a dyslexic young lad uses a bit of change from a trip to the store and buys a comic book...this Incident, and the subsequent library card, opened up the worlds of Literature, Myth, Learning and Inspiration
Steve Rogers aka Captain America was a scrawny art student at the outbreak of WW2 , tapped for the experimental Super Soldier project, he became the only successful product. The creator of the process, killed by a spy just after the Metamorphosis...the Secret going with him, the spy the first to be brought down by the man who was to become....Captain America.
Fighting and winning the War (not all by himself mind you), Cap was on ice until Stan Lee had the Avengers find his frozen self after Namor tossed the chunk of ice into the ocean...the two having known each other in the War (yep, the Sub-Mariner is that old)
Through the sixties, seventies and eighties...Cap presented a dual Mirror of American society, the Ideal embodied by the Symbol...made Real by the commitment of the Man bearing that indestructible Shield... the Day to Day mundania of what was "happening" in the times viewed through the eyes of that Art student displaced in Time.
I stopped collecting comics in '92...a ton of boxes(30 something long boxes) in my attic the tiny fractional remainder of that endeavor, but every bit of our uniquely American living Mythology remains ingrained indelibly in the hinterlands of my Psyche where a young boy learns gung fu and reads...and really wants that Shield...
I can't think of any better Homage to honor this Icon than a line from the Living Myth of comics...."I am Thor, Son of Odin and God of Thunder. I bend my knee to no one, but this Man would I follow into the very depths of Hell. Any who wouldst question shall answer to me."
i don't have the Issue that hit the stands today, i found out about it online...i have no idea of the plot or whatever
but i Know, that in the Fabric of the Myth...the Symbol of the Greatest Generation died that day
nuff said...
It's hard for me to beleive they would kill off such an iconic character like Captain America. Some serious symbolism there. It looks like the Punisher may take up the mantle though.
I recently did a story about Cap's Death over at Highbrid Nation. I wanted to talk about it from the perpective of the Hip Hop community. Check it out if you get a chance.
Never fear, just as Union Jack, Captain America's partner in crime fighting on the other side of the Atlantic has been reborn, so will the mighty Captain America. What would the world be without him ... and should he not come back, the portents are unimaginable. He MUST return. Duh-dah-dah ...
I still mourn the deaths of "Punchy and Cubby" on the steps of Taylor Hall...
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Check it out! Stephen Colbert Suspected in Murder of Captain America!