Day: March 9, 2007

News Bullets

What a week, seeing so much truth and reality in the news.

  • Libby guilty in CIA leak case
  • No military solution to Iraq, warns new US commander
  • Fired US Prosecutors Felt Threatened by Hill Republicans
  • Soldiers Face Neglect, Frustration At Walter Reed
  • FBI admits abuse of Patriot Act
  • Gingrich cheated on wife while House was impeaching Clinton over affair with Monica Lewinsky

The “Death” Of Captain America

I simply cannot believe all of the coverage the “death” of Captain America is receiving. Because the whole thing is, of course, a non-event. It’s nothing more than a publicity stunt by Marvel Comics.

When I was a kid in the 60’s and early 70’s, being a comic book fan was both a reason why I was something of a social outcast, and my coping mechanism for dealing with being relatively unpopular. The idea that the Marvel Comics characters would become as widely accepted as they are today, and Stan Lee would be a cultural institution, was beyond the most fantastic adventures of any comic book hero.

Yet on Thursday I heard both the BBC and NPR cover the “story” of Captain America’s assassination — a manufactured event! I wish Cap co-creator Jack Kirby were alive to see it. Fortunately, Joe Simon is still with us. I met Kirby in ’72, and Simon in ’80. Here’s the NPR feature.

[audio:http://www.dograt.com/Audio/MAR07/CaptainAmerica.mp3]

Cap and Bucky 40'sCap and Bucky 60's

The Dog Rat gallery has two tellings of the origin of Captain America. The first is from the Golden Age of comic books, and the second is from Cap’s return in the Silver Age of comics. Click the pictures to go to each of the gallery albums.

If there’s one thing that’s for sure in the realm of comic books, death is a common event, and it’s never permanent. So at some point in the future, expect Marvel to hype the return of Captain America. Undoubtedly around the time the movie is about to be released.