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The death of America’s greatest hero has stunned the country. The fact that he was a comic book creation seems not to have lessoned the impact on stunned fans around the globe.

Captain America was created by Marvel Comics in March 1941, when he appeared on the cover of a brand new comic book, punching the lights out of Adolph Hitler. Ever since then, Captain America stood for liberty, justice and the American way of life… Dressed in the flag’s colours of red, white and blue and armed only with a shield, he fought off countless enemies and gave America a hero they could believe in at a time when they needed him the most. In a similar way, Ian Fleming created James Bond at a time when England was suffering in the gloom of post war deprivations. But does America no longer need a hero? It appears so…

Yesterday, fans were stunned when they bought the latest, and allegedly the last, Captain America comic book and discovered that he had been finally brought down, killed by a snipers bullet on the steps of a court house. It looks like the Marvel legend is no more…

…But is that true? It has been said of comic books that no one actually stays ‘dead’. After all, Superman was 'killed' in 1993 (The Death of Superman) but back he came, after spending time in a nifty little ‘regeneration matrix’ – handy, those. Batman’s second Robin was supposedly killed in 1989 but he returned as Batman’s enemy, The Red Hood. He was lucky, they could have called him The Red Breast, thus shedding some light on all those nasty rumours about what happens late at night in the bat cave. A higher profile death was Captain Marvel, who was torn apart and killed by Baron Zemo in 2006.

It has been suggested that the death of Captain America was staged to boost sales, however Marvel Comics editor in chief Joe Quesada has said the death of the character was “the logical outcome of a long-running story line involving a civil war among the superheroes in the Marvel universe.”

"We’ve been biting our lips, and here it is, the moment of truth. I don’t think there’s a dry eye in the house. You’re talking about a character who wears the American flag…”

Comic book forums have been buzzing with fans speculating on the demise. A poster going by the name of ‘Dr.Dom’ pointed out “Marvel wants to bask in the spotlight of the mainstream media...and they’re going to do whatever they have to in order for that to happen. One day there will be a Captain America movie- and hell, we know he’ll be back for that right?”

He is not wrong. Marvel are said to be developing a Captain America film with Paramount Studios, so perhaps this is not the last instalment in a 66 year old story. In the meantime, there is always eBay…

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