Well, some things changed today: They killed off Captain America.
1941-2007. Not a bad run for a scrawny Steve Rogers who, after being injected with the 'Super-Soldier Serum' suddenly became the pinnacle of human potential. His first comic showed him decking Hitler on the cover (see left).
He was by far my favorite superhero with wings on his head. Well, actually he was one of my favorite superheros of any of them. Even though he didn't 'technically' have any super powers, I think living for 66 years at the peak of physical condition, getting trapped and frozen in the ocean after WWII, surviving in suspended animation until being revived decades later still feeling great what with his sweet-A shield and kung-fu grip constitutes something 'super' going on.
I never owned any of the Cap's comics, but I remember the show on TV. He had one heckuva cool motorcycle, and I've already mentioned the wings. Dunno why I liked him so much, to be honest, but I did.
This whole killing of the Captain thing reminds me of a Vonnegut quote:
This was the reason Americans shot each other so often: It was a convenient literary device for ending short stories and books.I might add that it's also a convenient literary device for drumming up sales of a lagging product. Of course, in comics, you can never be sure anybody will stay dead (what major character has?), so I'm not sure how long it will take to bring him back (wanna start a pool?), but I guess their marketing ploy worked because this is now front page news and I'm paying more attention to Cap than I have in years.
Read more here. or here. or here.
Next thing you know Spider-Man will reveal to the world that he's really Peter Parker...
Tim "still in denial" James
