R.I.P Captain America

It's all over the news. America's first and foremost emblem of justice is on his way out, maybe gone for good.

No, I'm not talking about Attorney General Gonzales. Although you probably should be worrying about him... as early as yesterday he still had George Bush's "full support". You know what that means. It was nice knowing you, Al. Arrivederci...

Folks, I'm talking about Captain America. The ignoble rumours are true: Captain America aka Steve Rogers is no more. As a casual comic book fan (my wife will immediately dispute this self-characterisation), I was shocked when I first heard rumors that Marvel would kill off one of its signature characters. I was in denial. I had to wait to see it for myself.

Having now caught a glimpse of the fateful Captain America # 25 issue, I gotta say... HE DEAD.

How did this cold and calculated event transpire, you ask? Well, after the cataclysmic events of the Civil War story arc, a disillusioned Cap ummasked himself and surrendered to the authorities. While appearing for his arraignment at a Federal Courthouse, he was shot in the neck by a sniper. Not only that--but once down, he was shot three more times in the chest! Point blank!!! It doesn't get much more definitive than that. You really went and did it, Marvel.

We'll all miss you Cap. We really will... until you are miraculously resurrected 9 months from now.

What do you think Marvel? We all suckers?? You already "killed" Spider-Man once last year, and then brought him back to life the following month. You're just as bad as DC. I remember falling for Superman's *death* in 1993. And I gotta say they nearly induced a mental breakdown in me when they broke Batman's back during Knightfall. They got me good. Really. My mouth was open, and all that.

But let's call a cat a cat.... that's French, for "let's call a spade a spade", by the way. [I gotta say, the 'spade' thing does sound more manly. Lesson learned. Moving on...]

Let's tell it like it is. We all know this was a craven attempt to cash in on one of your hottest properties. Shame on you MVL (NYSE). What other sordid tricks will you pull out of your hat? It's as if you all of a sudden brought back Spider-Man's black costume in the comics for no explicable reason other than it just so happens he will be donning it in this summer's Spider-Man 3. Or even more pathetic, if you suddenly started highlighting Iron Man more and more across all of your books, giving him an unprecedented and absurd amount of prominence and responsibility in the Marvel-verse just because an Iron Man movie is in development.*

But I'm on to you. We all are. You'll bring Cap back to us just in time for his own movie. To quote el Presidente:




*Robert Downey Jr, as Tony Stark? RDJ? Really??? That's pretty dead on, man :)

I wonder if Stan Lee will teach marketing at my business school.