They Killed Cap!

[jonathan swift]

Yeah, my only hope for Marvel now is World War Hulk.

 

[Cthulhudrew]

Having just read Civil War: The Initiative, it's revealed there that Cap isn't dead but is on life support fighting for his life. So much for lasting drama. Kill him and resurrect him in the same frakin' week. Marvel continues to disappoint me in every title except Moon Knight.

Marvel's official statement (from Newsarama):

Comments from Ms. Marvel in this week’s Civil War: The Initiative, which seemed to indicate that Captain America is still alive, and being held prisoner by the Pro-Registration forces may not have been exactly what they seemed on the surface, and events related to those comments will play out in upcoming issues of New Avengers.

So, yes, Captain America, Steve Rogers, is dead."

 

[Insight]

I wonder if Cap's death has anything to do with the fact that Marvel has had trouble getting the Captain America movie off the ground.

In any event, Cap won't stay dead for more than six months. Either someone else will appear in the uniform and Steve Rogers comes back as something else, or maybe Rogers isn't really dead... or... or... could be anything. It's the comics, after all.

 

[MoogleEmpMog]

Personally, I hope that Cap stays dead - but not out of comics.

Marvel is brining (the real) Thor back, IIRC, who when last seen had all his powers and all of Odin's (and possibly all of the other Asgardians'). Thor had immense admiration for Captain America, who is also a very suitable Einherjar. My hope is that Cap's death is what brings Thor (and Asgard) back to earth, that Cap does a turn as a warrior of Asgard, and that he insists on returning to Earth to deal with a threat to America (probably reconciling with Iron Man in the process) and that's what convinces Thor to return to the Marvel mainstream.

Not that I expect anything a tenth that cool to be what actually happens, but still...

 

[jonathan swift]

For mainstream Marvel to redeem itself, Thor and/or Hulk need to lay the high and mighty smackdown upon all the pro reg supes.

 

[WayneLigon]

CNN.com reports:Captain America is dead.

Marvel Comics may be dead to me. I am not sure how I feel about this one...

Marvel has been digging themselves into a hole as far as I'm concerned for some time; the sheer stunnning stupidity of the concept behind Civil War just tops it off for me. Right now, I'm only reading a handful of Marvel books: Runaways, New Avengers and - when it comes out - Young Avengers. I'll be giving Mighty Avengers and Avengers: Initiative a trial run.

I have no idea what has been done with Bucky since his return, but back in the day Bucky used to kill people when Cap got a hangnail or a scratch. Now, if I had any faith in writers actually, you know, knowing anything about the character they're writing I'd be wondering what sort of bloodbath he'd unleash at this, but he'll probably just do nothing.

Millar, Bendis and the like have produced some great work when they have their own toys in their own sandbox to play with. But you know not to give them someone else's toys or invite them over to your own sandbox, because all you get then is a lot of broken toys.

 

[Cthulhudrew]

Marvel has been digging themselves into a hole as far as I'm concerned for some time; the sheer stunnning stupidity of the concept behind Civil War just tops it off for me.

I think the execution was horribly, horribly flawed, but I've actually gotten past my disgust with that and come to the realization that it isn't a terrible idea in and of itself- the notion of superhero registration, that is. I don't really think I agree with it, either in comicdom or in real life (if there were such things), but I can see the reasoning behind it and how it could create good stories. I just think it should have been given to the hands of a better writer (I haven't liked anything by Millar that I've read), and that editorial had done a better job of things- that they'd done a better job of making sure it kept to schedule, and not had as many slip-ups between different tie-ins.

I'm against the sort of editorial directive that, IMO, led to the story as constructed (ie, pit Cap and Iron Man against one another, regardless of whether it would have been more in-character for them to be on the same side of the issue, among other things). However, given that it was essentially an editorial-driven event, I think there could have been a better effort to make sure there weren't conflicting stories.

(Then again, what do I know?)

I have no idea what has been done with Bucky since his return, but back in the day Bucky used to kill people when Cap got a hangnail or a scratch. Now, if I had any faith in writers actually, you know, knowing anything about the character they're writing I'd be wondering what sort of bloodbath he'd unleash at this, but he'll probably just do nothing.

If you want to know what Bucky (aka, the Winter Soldier) had to do with things:

[sblock]He actually is the one responsible for catching the sniper, having been on hand to try and break Cap free of the law. He very nearly kills the sniper, too, who is one opponent that Cap has always had a tough time taking down himself.[/sblock]

The same writer who brought Bucky back from the dead is the one writing the Cap death story that's going on, and he's gotten some flack in the past from some readers for his depiction of Bucky as having killed soldiers during the war. So he's not one to shy away from the type of story you suggest, I don't think.

 

[cignus_pfaccari]

I think the execution was horribly, horribly flawed, but I've actually gotten past my disgust with that and come to the realization that it isn't a terrible idea in and of itself- the notion of superhero registration, that is. I don't really think I agree with it, either in comicdom or in real life (if there were such things), but I can see the reasoning behind it and how it could create good stories. I just think it should have been given to the hands of a better writer (I haven't liked anything by Millar that I've read), and that editorial had done a better job of things- that they'd done a better job of making sure it kept to schedule, and not had as many slip-ups between different tie-ins.

I agree, it could be an interesting story.

Too bad they mangled it.

Brad (who thinks that if he has to have a license to drive a car, a super-powered vigilante should have a license, too)

 

[Vigilance]

The same writer who brought Bucky back from the dead is the one writing the Cap death story that's going on, and he's gotten some flack in the past from some readers for his depiction of Bucky as having killed soldiers during the war. So he's not one to shy away from the type of story you suggest, I don't think.

Yeah, Ed Brubaker is a monster. Cap and Bucky killed people during WWII? What awful people they were. Not real heroes at all.

I actually don't think Cap will turn out to have been killed. My feeling is, as a longtime Cap subscriber and someone who's read every issue of the Brubaker run, is that something else is going on here.

Having worked for a couple of years to make Cap interesting and relevant again, Marvel isn't going to kill him off now.

Just my opinion. Thanks to the mail, my issue hasn't arrived yet so I haven't read it. Thanks Marvel for the spoilers!

 

[horacethegrey]

My brother recently made a comment about all of this. Not just Cap's death, but the entire Civil War thing. Basically, this is all just a setup for Marvel's Massively Multiplayer Online RPG. Think about it, the 51st State Initiative is a good setup for an MMOG. You'll have players joining the pro-reg side (meaning that you're deputized by the government like the heroes in City of Heroes), or anti-reg forces (you'll be the outlaws just like in City of Villains). Mutants, however, will be neutral, and may start out at the X-Mansion.

So what do you all think of this theory? Personally, I think Marvel's pretty callous to muck up their entire universe all for the sake of a stinking online RPG.