Birthed onto comic book pages and into the imaginations of 10 year-old boys worldwide when America was getting ready to push Adolf Hitler onto the dust heap of history, Captain America has finally been laid to rest.
Daily Variety reports that Captain America has undertaken his last mission. In the issue that hits newsstands today, the superhero is felled by a sniper’s bullet as he leaves a courthouse.
The stars-and-stripes-wearing character was created in 1941, in part, to fan patriotic feelings during World War II. Since then, an estimated 210 million copies of Captain America comic books have been sold in a total of 75 countries. The comic is published by New York-based Marvel Entertainment Inc.
Because resurrections are not unknown in the world of comics, Marvel editor-in-chief Joe Quesada told Variety that a Captain America comeback wasn’t impossible. Marvel is currently developing a movie starring the superhero.
No matter what eventually happens, co-creator Joe Simon, now 93, says he’s sad to see Captain America go: “We really need him now.” Simon worked with artist Jack Kirby to devise Captain America as a foe for Hitler.
According to the comic book back-story, Captain America was spawned when a weakling arts student named Steve Rogers, ineligible for the army because of his poor health (but keen to serve his country), agreed to a “Super Soldier Serum” injection. The substance transformed him into a perfect physical specimen: armed with his shield, his strength, his superior intelligence and a command of martial arts. Though he’s been kicking comic book butt for 65 years now and has become a cultural icon, his passing will probably not get any attention from the major syndicated TV entertainment shows. They’re still too busy with Anna Nicole.
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