Blacksmythe

Ok. I don’t think I’ve written about this here, but I’ve been reading comic books for well over thirty years now. The death of Phoenix? Check. The death of Superman? Check. The death of Captain Marvel? Well…I missed that one but you get the picture.

I never saw this coming.

Marvel’s been running a story for the last several months called Civil War. The basic gist is simple–after a group of children are inadvertently killed in a superhero battle, the government seeks to register all costumed individuals with superpowers. Those not willing to register become fugitives from the law. This automatically generates a split…some major superheroes (most notably Iron Man and Mr. Fantastic) side with the government. Others (most notably Captain America) fight the registration act. The story itself is a loose loose analogy for the various disputes over the legality Patriot Act, with some Americans willing to forgo a number of rights if security can be assured, while others not so willing.

Captain America’s forces end up on the losing end, because they realize that the public sides against them. In exchange for pardons for his forces Captain America turns himself in…and was assasinated en route.

I remember the media explosion that occurred when DC killed off Superman for a while. It’ll be interesting to see how the media plays this given the political symbolism implied in the death of the most patriotic hero in all of comics. For what it is worth I don’t think that Marvel “has politics” here. The death of Captain America shouldn’t be thought of as an attempt by Marvel to make a statement on the current context–even though the story can be read as an allegory based on current events. It’s not necessarily an attempt to just make money either–a critique that could easily be levied against DC when they knocked off Superman. Rather it is a natural conclusion to the story they were trying to tell.

And if there is anything that comics need more of, it is this type of story telling, where the natural consequences of actions are fully explored.

Don’t get me wrong…I don’t think that homeboy will stay dead. But they’ve taken someone who for a number of reasons was never a Captain America fan (check this piece out if you really need to know why), and made him interested.

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