Wednesday, March 7, 2007

Captain America - Dead???

Yep folks, that is what I just read in: Captain America Killed Off in Latest Comic @ http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,257398,00.html. I don't know about all of you, but when I was a kid, Captain America was my absolute favorite comic book hero. That was pretty long ago, but I think that it already showed how I was going to grow up feeling about the USA, patriotism, and so forth. No alien with powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men from the planet Krypton, no Metal Men made of iron or tin, no four so fantastic, no one fast as a flash, no one shining a green lantern - as to be better than, more powerful than, outshine, out crime fight, be more moral and honest, or better protect the United States of America than Captain America himself.

Now he is dead! Yes he was only a comic book hero, but he symbolized an America that may be dead or at least dying itself. He symbolized the will of the people, as a whole, of the USA to fight that which was unjust, and outright evil; yet he also symbolized the importance of the individual in that fight. He symbolized what virtually most every American boy wanted to grow up to be when an adult. And now he dies, reportedly shot by a sniper, while he was protecting someone else.

He died the way he lived, as a hero, but should he have been killed off. I will admit I have not read a Captain America comic in quite some years now. As I understand from the article to which I linked above, the comic had become so immersed in the politics of today as to have had a story line that the U.S. government required superheroes to register their secret identities. Then what happens, he gets shot! Does that sound familiar to the rest of you. To me it sounds just like gun control. Maybe, with or without knowing it, those responsible for having him killed off in the comics, have shown just how ludicrous is gun registration and gun control. Those who have to register weapons, get licenses for them, or maybe even have their rights regarding weapons restricted - are not the ones who then do the evil deeds in the world. Had captain America not had his powers restricted, would he have been able to have survived; my bet is sure he would have survived, and kicked some more bad guy butt along the way. The analogy is there whether intentional or not.

Of course, in the comics, anything can happen. Maybe Captain America will return, my bet is he will. (If I ever hit the mega-millions jackpot for enough, maybe I'll buy the rights and then you know he will return, but I am not banking on hitting the lotto.) It is a pity though that it worked out this way. America is in need of heroes who demonstrate heroic deeds, carried out based upon morals, ethics, and patriotism, now as much as any time in her past. Whether they are imaginary heroes or real heroes, we need the inspiration they generate to be instilled into our children so they grow up to help keep America strong. Captain America was, back in the day, the penultimate comic book hero/patriot. I mourn the loss of an American hero - even a comic book hero - whom millions of kids grew up loving, learning from, and emulating as far as patriotism goes. Captain America's death is a symbolic loss, even a real loss in a sort of a way, that we in the United States of America would be better off without.

All the best,
Glenn B

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