The Death of Captain America

AUTHOR: Brubaker, Ed

ARTIST: Steve Epting (illustrator); Roberto De la Torre (illustrator); Butch Guice (illustrator); Mike Perkins (illustrator); Fabio Laguna (penciller); Rick Magyar (penciller); Luke Ross (penciller); Frank D’Armata (colorist); VC’s Joe Caramagna (letterer)

PUBLISHER: Marvel Comics

FIRST SERIAL PUBLICATION: 2007-2008

FIRST BOOK PUBLICATION: 2008

Publication History

The Death of Captain America was published initially in the comic book Captain America, issues 25-42. The Death of Captain America, Volume 1: The Death of the Dream comprises issues 25-30 and was published in hardback in November of 2007; the paperback followed in June, 2008. The Death of Captain America, Volume 2: The Burden of Dreams collects issues 31-36 and was published in hardback in May, 2008, and in paperback in October, 2008. The series concludes with The Death of Captain America, Volume 3: The Man Who Bought America. This volume compiles issues 37-42 and was published in hardback in November, 2008, and paperback in March, 2009. The entire series can be found in the hardcover The Death of Captain America Omnibus, published in December of 2009.

Plot

The Death of the Dream begins with the origin of Captain America. Steve Rogers is rejected from military service during World War II. He volunteers for a secret initiative called “Project: Rebirth.” A German scientist who escaped Adolf Hitler’s regime discovered a formula to create supersoldiers. The United States military plans to build a squadron of supersoldiers to win the war. Rogers is the first volunteer and is transformed into a muscular warrior with incredible speed and agility. At the moment of triumph, a German spy kills the scientist and destroys the formula. Thus, Rogers becomes a symbol of what might have been while also becoming Captain America.

In Marvel’s Civil War (2007), Captain America leads a band of heroes against the Superhuman Registration Act, a law requiring superheroes to surrender their secret identities and become agents of the U.S. government. Captain America is winning his battle but surrenders when he realizes that it is harming the public. In the aftermath, he stands accused of federal crimes. He appears in shackles outside a courthouse. A shot is fired. Sharon Carter, his girlfriend and S.H.I.E.L.D.. agent, attempts to get to him. (S.H.I.E.L.D.. is the top investigative and defense agency in the country.)

A second gun flashes in the crowd, and three more shots are fired. Rogers is wounded and collapses onto the steps of the building. High above the street, the Falcon confronts Bucky, Captain America’s sidekick, believing him to be the assassin. Bucky swears his allegiance to Captain America; Falcon and Bucky set out to find Crossbones, the man who fired the rifle. Captain America is rushed to the hospital but is soon pronounced dead. At the hospital, Sin, Red Skull’s daughter, disguises herself as a nurse and approaches Sharon. She tells Sharon that Dr. Faustus wants her “to remember.” Suddenly, Sharon realizes that she fired the second gun that killed Steve Rogers.

Chaos ensues in the aftermath of the death of Captain America. The Red Skull, whose spirit inhabits the body of Aleksander Lukin, has hired Arnim Zola and Dr. Faustus to wage a campaign against the economic stability and political leadership of the United States. Tony Stark (Iron Man) assumed command of S.H.I.E.L.D. after the Civil War. A posthumous letter from Steve Rogers is delivered to Stark asking him “to save Bucky.” Bucky steals Captain America’s shield, which is in the possession of the government. His next task is to find the person who killed Steve Rogers.

Bucky hunts down Lutkin and discovers that he has become the Red Skull. The Skull defeats Bucky and remands him to Dr. Faustus. Faustus tortures Bucky with memories of his time as a Soviet assassin and questions the young man’s loyalty to Captain America.

Sharon and the Falcon help Bucky escape but turn him over to Tony Stark. A battle ensues between Bucky and Iron Man (Stark) because Bucky blames Stark for the death of Steve Rogers. Stark reveals the letter from Steve, and Bucky agrees to become the new Captain America. The first challenge for the new hero is Skull’s plot to overthrow the government. A Skull-induced financial crisis brings protests in the streets of Washington, D.C. Mind-controlled guards shoot innocent citizens. The new Captain America stops the assault but fails to assure the citizenry in his first campaign as a hero. The Skull then resurrects an experimental Captain America to fight for the hearts and minds of the American people.

Senator Gordon Wright becomes a third-party candidate for the presidency, and Dr. Faustus resurrects a delusional figure from the 1950’s to play the role of the “real” Captain America. Bucky must overcome his personal doubts and the strength of a supersoldier to defeat the 1950’s Captain America. Bucky stops an assassination attempt during a televised debate, and as he crashes into the control room, he declares, “I’m Captain America.” Once again, Captain America earns his shield by defeating his oldest nemesis, the Red Skull.

Volumes

•The Death of Captain America, Volume 1: The Death of the Dream (2008). Collects issues 25-30 of Captain America. Charts the origin of Captain America as a military experiment that becomes a one-off when the scientist in charge is killed by a German spy.

•The Death of Captain America, Volume 2: The Burden of Dreams (2008). Collects issues 31-36 of Captain America. Steve Rogers is shot and killed, and Bucky assumes the mantle of Captain America, attempting to combat the Red Skull’s plot against the U.S. government.

•Captain America, Volume 3: The Man Who Bought America (2008). Collects issues 37-42 of Captain America. Bucky as Captain America must fight a 1950’s version of the superhero. He earns respect by stopping a political assassination during a televised debate.

•The Death of Captain America (2009). A Marvel Omnibus that collects issues 25-42 of Captain America, thus compiling in one volume the three previously published volumes.

Characters

•Steve Rogers, a.k.a. Captain America, the supersoldier, is the symbolic World War II hero who represents the best of the United States.

•James Barnes, a.k.a. Bucky, is the World War II sidekick of Captain America. He was believed dead for many years. It was later discovered that he had been rescued by the Soviets and brainwashed; he became the assassin named the Winter Soldier.

•Sam Wilson, a.k.a. the Falcon, is the former partner of Captain America.

•Sharon Carter is former Agent 13 of S.H.I.E.L.D.. and the girlfriend of Steve Rogers.

•Nick Fury is the former director of S.H.I.E.L.D.. He was head of the Howling Commandos in World War II and served with Captain America.

•Red Skull is Captain America’s nemesis and an aide to Hitler in World War II.

•Sin is the daughter of the Red Skull and girlfriend of Crossbones.

•Arnim Zola is a longtime enemy of Captain America and a mercenary scientist.

•Aleksander Lukin is a former general in the KGB and head of the Kronos corporation; his body became a vessel for the Red Skull after repeatedly using the cosmic cube.

•Crossbones is an aide to the Red Skull.

•Dr. Faustus is a master of psychological manipulation through the use of drugs. He infiltrates S.H.I.E.L.D.. and controls a number of agents, including Sharon Carter. He is also responsible for the return of the 1950’s Captain America.

•Tony Stark, a.k.a. Iron Man, is a billionaire industrialist and S.H.I.E.L.D.. director. He opposed Captain America in Marvel’s Civil War.

•Natalia “Natasha” Romanov, a.k.a. the Black Widow, is a former Soviet agent who became an Avenger.

•Senator Gordon Wright is a corrupt politician and Skull’s third party candidate for the presidency.

Artistic Style

In Understanding Comics (1993), theorist Scott McCloud formally defines the art of comics as “Juxtaposed pictorial and other images in deliberate sequence, intended to convey information and/or to produce an aesthetic response in the viewer.” McCloud illustrates in his text that artists may use various styles, frames, sequences, colors, and print fonts to depict their stories. The choice of the word “juxtaposed” is particularly relevant in the analysis of The Death of Captain America. Since his resurrection in 1964, Captain America has been “a man out of time.” Writers and artists have struggled to tell the story of a World War II hero battling villains in the era of the Vietnam War (U.S. involvement, 1965-1975), the Watergate scandal (1972), and the twenty-first-century fight against terrorism.

In Death of the Dream, the artists use black-and-white frames with yellow word boxes to convey the image of memories, as though the reader is viewing old newsreel footage. The dark depiction of the hero as a warrior fighting against a shaded background lends itself to explosive bursts of color to illustrate weapons, blasts, and narrative cries. Throughout the series, the modern depiction of television news footage is wrapped in red banners and bold print to highlight its presence. Bucky’s nightmare in The Burden of Dreams exhibits another form of juxtaposition when Bucky and Steve are seen battling in a World War II scene and discussing the Internet. Even more than Steve, Bucky is a man battling with his past because of his actions as the brainwashed Winter Soldier.

The most notable artistic feature of this series is the redesign of the Captain America costume. Steve Rogers as Captain America is adorned in a shirt with a bright blue chest bearing a white star over an abdomen of red-and-white stripes. Bright blue pants are tucked into red boots; it is a costume that draws visual attention. The only weapon remaining from the traditional Captain America is his round shield. It is primarily a defensive weapon used to protect the innocent and to disarm the criminal.

Bucky’s Captain America uniform is much darker than Rogers’s. A red-white-and-blue chest plate covers a black shirt. Bucky wears a holster with two sidearms and has a nightstick strapped to his leg. Black pants and black boots complete the outfit. Barnes carries the traditional shield, but his is a much darker image of a modern Captain America. He is a trained warrior who is not hesitant to use a weapon.

Themes

World War II has been called the last “good war.” It was a time when Americans united in a common cause to defeat Hitler. Americans sacrificed to serve the war effort—soldiers stormed beaches, women worked regular factory shifts, and children collected scrap metal to be recycled into military equipment. It was a time when the vast majority of Americans read comic books and searched for heroes to solve the extraordinary problems of the day. It was the era that gave birth to Captain America.

The twenty-first-century “war on terror” bears little resemblance to that time. People are divided over issues of security and privacy; religious differences frighten and divide neighbors; politicians challenge the motives and character of colleagues. Marvel’s Civil War series reflected many of these issues. The Superhuman Registration Act required superheroes to surrender their secret identities and become agents of the government. The charge was that superpowered individuals are like weapons of mass destruction, and the public could not be sure how these powers would be used. One would expect a hero created by a secret military program to agree with this decision. Captain America, however, did not. Questions of identity, privacy, personal rights, security, and individual freedom drove Steve Rogers to challenge the law. He surrendered to authorities only when he believed that he had lost public support. The Death of Captain America is ultimately a story about identity and honor. Steve Rogers died for the latter as Captain America; Bucky Barnes picked up the shield to fight for it.

Impact

Steve Rogers resumed the role of Captain America in July of 2011, in Captain America, issue 1 (which coincides with the release of the film Captain America: The First Avenger). The death of a superhero is a device used to stimulate sales and inject drama into the story line. Most readers know that death is rarely an end in comic books. Characters such as Captain America have died, disappeared, or cast off the superhero uniform many times. The comic strip The Phantom, for example, created an aura of immortality for “The Ghost Who Walks” by passing the mask from generation to generation. Most heroes simply bend time by adapting to new villains and eras. Captain America, however, is different.

Most Golden Age heroes adapt to the times. Superman and Batman, for example, have changed with readership and market tastes. Captain America, on the other hand, is a product of World War II. The “Star Spangled Avenger,” as he has been called, was so associated with the war that readers left him in the 1950’s, and the series was canceled. The Death of Captain America allowed a new generation of readers to celebrate the history and life of Steve Rogers.

Readers questioned if Captain America, a patriotic symbol, was still relevant in the twenty-first century and if a country divided by politics, religion, race, and economics would unite behind one hero. The Death of Captain America affirmed the relevance not only of Steve Rogers but also of the recently revived Bucky Barnes.

It is interesting to note that at the same time Marvel killed Captain America, DC decided to kill Batman. Both were lost in time streams and later recovered, but in each case, the shield and cowl fell to their former sidekicks: Bucky Barnes and Dick Grayson, respectively. Barnes and Grayson honored their mentors by carrying on the tradition, but they also revealed differences in their character and the roles of Captain America and Batman.

These iconic figures have woven their stories into the modern mythology of the United States. A new retrospective book, entitled Captain America and Bucky, set for a 2012 release, will explore the relationship of Steve Rogers and his young sidekick. The Death of Captain America is a significant addition to the mystique of Steve Rogers/Captain America and comes at nearly the same time that a major motion picture introduced the story of Captain America to a new generation of viewers.

Films

Captain America: The First Avenger. Directed by Joe Johnston. Marvel Studios and Paramount Pictures, 2011. The film stars Chris Evans as Captain America and details the superhero’s origin during World War II as an experimental “supersoldier.” Hugo Weaving stars as the Red Skull, Captain America’s nemesis, while Sebastian Stan assumes the role of Bucky Barnes, Captain America’s sidekick. The film ends with the discovery of Captain America frozen in ice in the present day.

Further Reading

Brubaker, Ed, et al. Captain America: Winter Soldier—Ultimate Collection (2010).

Englehart, Steve, Mike Friedrich, and Sal Buscema. Captain America and the Falcon: Secret Empire (2005).

Millar, Mark, and Steve McMiven. Civil War (2007).

Bibliography

Dittmer, Jason. “Ret-Conning Captain America.” In The Amazing, Transforming Superhero: Essays on the Revision of Characters in Comic Books, Film, and Television, edited by Terence Wandtke. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland, 2007.

Duncan, Randy, and Matthew J. Smith. The Power of Comics: History, Form, and Culture. New York: Continuum, 2009.

Englehart, Steve. “Captain America and the Falcon, Issue 155.” In Essential Captain America Volume 3, by Stan Lee, et al. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2006.

Weiner, Robert G., ed. Captain America and the Struggle of the Superhero. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland, 2009.

Wright, Bradford W. Comic Book Nation: The Transformation of Youth Culture. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2001.