As a symbol of waning imperial power, it is unmistakeable. Captain America, the stars-and-stripes-wearing, blonde and blue-eyed ”pinnacle of human physical perfection”, is dead. The Marvel comics superhero, aka Steve Rogers, is gunned down by a sniper in the latest instalment of the comic.
The death of the man who was rejected by the army because he was too scrawny, but went on to take a ”super-soldier serum” to turn him into the ultimate warrior, came as a blow to his creator, 93-year-old Joe Simon. ”We really need him now,” Simon told the Associated Press on learning of the death of his creation.
The character’s death comes as he leaves a courthouse where, as a fugitive resistance leader, he has come to surrender under a Superhero Registration Act, which requires superheroes to register their services and outlaws vigilantism. The shield-carrying hero is shot three times by a sniper on the steps of the building.
The assassin is allegedly Sharon Carter — an intelligence agent romantically involved with Captain America — who is acting under the control of the super-villian Dr Faustus.
The Superhero Registration Act was brought in after supervillains and superheroes fought during a reality show, accidentally killing hundreds of civilians. The public likened the heroes to weapons of mass destruction that must be controlled.
While Marvel insists that the death is not a stunt — the next issue features the autopsy of Captain America — it would not be unheard of for a superhero to be reborn in new tights. Marvel is known to be working on a movie featuring the character.
Captain America was created in 1941 as a foe for Hitler. Since then 210-million copies of the Captain America comic books have been sold in 75 countries.
Although the character did not have any of the super powers that marked out other action characters, his shield was made of a unique ”Vibranium” metal. The super-soldier serum also gave him considerable powers: skilled in martial arts he boasted agility, strength, reaction times and endurance ”superior to any Olympic athlete who ever competed”.
This is not Captain America’s first brush with death. After helping to defeat the Nazis in World War II, he plunged into the ocean during a flight on an experimental plane, and was presumed killed. In reality, he was encased in ice and in a state of suspended animation. But the red threat soon dictated his revitalisation, and he came back in 1953 as Captain America, Commie Smasher! – Guardian Unlimited Â