The Death of Captain America
Encyclopedia
"The Death of Captain America" is an eighteen-issue Captain America
story arc
written by Ed Brubaker
with art by Steve Epting
and published by Marvel Comics
. The arc first appears in Captain America (vol. 5) #25-#42. The first issue of the story arc, Captain America #25, was the highest selling comic for the month of its release. The story arc had wide-sweeping effects throughout the Marvel Universe
and was accompanied by the miniseries Fallen Son: The Death of Captain America
.
In the aftermath of Civil War
, Captain America
is taken into S.H.I.E.L.D.
custody where he is assassinated per the order of the Red Skull
. Crossbones
snipes at him while Sharon Carter
, who has been brainwashed by Doctor Faustus
posing as a S.H.I.E.L.D. psychiatrist, delivers the killing blow. S.H.I.E.L.D. director Tony Stark
and Black Widow hunt Captain America's murderers. Falcon
, Captain America's old partner, follows his own leads to find the killers. Meanwhile, Bucky Barnes
decides to kill Tony Stark, blaming him for Captain America's death.
, whose mind he inhabits, begins using Kronas Corporation's vast holdings to economically cripple the United States, before having S.H.I.E.L.D. agents brainwashed by Doctor Faustus open fire on crowds of protesters in front of the White House
. The Red Skull continues his assault by engineering a riot by placing Kronas security troops and drugged water in a protest on the Lincoln Monument. The Skull also kidnaps Sharon Carter, who now knows that she is pregnant with Steve Rogers' child.
The Skull also plans to transfer his consciousness into Sharon's unborn child, apparently sired by Steve Rogers himself and potentially having inherited his Project Rebirth enhancements.
Both schemes fail because of the impatience and incompetence of the Skull's daughter — her near-fatal attack on Sharon Carter causes her to lose the baby, and she intentionally botches her pseudo-assassination of Gordon Wright by attempting to kill him for real. Faustus has surreptitiously tampered with Sharon's programming, allowing her to rebel, and before escaping shoots Lukin to death. Black Widow and the Falcon lead a S.H.I.E.L.D. raid at the Red Skull's compound. Most of the Skull's agents are captured. The Red Skull escapes however; his consciousness is transferred from Lukin to one of the robot bodies used by Arnim Zola
.
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Captain America
Captain America is a fictional character, a superhero that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in Captain America Comics #1 , from Marvel Comics' 1940s predecessor, Timely Comics, and was created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby...
story arc
Story arc
A story arc is an extended or continuing storyline in episodic storytelling media such as television, comic books, comic strips, boardgames, video games, and in some cases, films. On a television program, for example, the story would unfold over many episodes. In television, the use of the story...
written by Ed Brubaker
Ed Brubaker
Ed Brubaker is an Eisner Award-winning comic book writer and cartoonist. Brubaker first early comics work was primarily in the crime fiction genre with works such as Lowlife, The Fall, Sandman Presents: Dead Boy Detectives and Scene of the Crime...
with art by Steve Epting
Steve Epting
Stephen "Steve" Epting is an American comic book penciller.-Early life:Epting's influences include Alex Raymond, Stan Drake, Jim Holdaway, Joe Kubert, John Buscema, Al Williamson and José Luis García-López....
and published by Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
. The arc first appears in Captain America (vol. 5) #25-#42. The first issue of the story arc, Captain America #25, was the highest selling comic for the month of its release. The story arc had wide-sweeping effects throughout the Marvel Universe
Marvel Universe
The Marvel Universe is the shared fictional universe where most comic book titles and other media published by Marvel Entertainment take place, including those featuring Marvel's most familiar characters, such as Spider-Man, the Hulk, the X-Men, and the Avengers.The Marvel Universe is further...
and was accompanied by the miniseries Fallen Son: The Death of Captain America
Fallen Son: The Death of Captain America
Fallen Son: The Death of Captain America is a comic book limited series dealing with various superheroes' reactions to death of Captain America in the Marvel comics universe after the Civil War....
.
The Death of the Dream
Civil War (comics)
Civil War is a 2006-2007 Marvel Comics crossover storyline built around a self-titled seven-issue limited series written by Mark Millar and penciled by Steve McNiven, which ran through various other titles published by Marvel at the time...
, Captain America
Captain America
Captain America is a fictional character, a superhero that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in Captain America Comics #1 , from Marvel Comics' 1940s predecessor, Timely Comics, and was created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby...
is taken into S.H.I.E.L.D.
S.H.I.E.L.D.
S.H.I.E.L.D. is a fictional espionage and a secret military law-enforcement agency in the Marvel Comics Universe. Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in Strange Tales #135 , it often deals with superhuman threats....
custody where he is assassinated per the order of the Red Skull
Red Skull
The Red Skull is a name shared by several fictional characters, all supervillains from the Marvel Comics universe. All incarnations of the character are enemies of Captain America, other superheroes, and the United States in general....
. Crossbones
Crossbones (comics)
Crossbones is a fictional character, a supervillain in the Marvel Comics universe. He was created by writer Mark Gruenwald and artist Kieron Dwyer in Captain America #359-360 . Crossbones usually appears as a henchman of the Red Skull...
snipes at him while Sharon Carter
Sharon Carter
Sharon Carter, alias Agent 13, is a fictional character, a secret agent in the Marvel Comics universe. She is an ex-field agent of S.H.I.E.L.D...
, who has been brainwashed by Doctor Faustus
Doctor Faustus (comics)
Doctor Faustus is a fictional character, a Marvel Comics supervillain.An Austrian by birth, he is most commonly associated with Captain America, first appearing in issue #107 of his first series.-Creative origins:...
posing as a S.H.I.E.L.D. psychiatrist, delivers the killing blow. S.H.I.E.L.D. director Tony Stark
Iron Man
Iron Man is a fictional character, a superhero in the . The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee, developed by scripter Larry Lieber, and designed by artists Don Heck and Jack Kirby, first appearing in Tales of Suspense #39 .A billionaire playboy, industrialist and ingenious engineer,...
and Black Widow hunt Captain America's murderers. Falcon
Falcon (comics)
The Falcon is a fictional comic book superhero in comic books published by Marvel Comics.Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Gene Colan, and introduced in Captain America #117 , the character is mainstream comics' first African-American superhero...
, Captain America's old partner, follows his own leads to find the killers. Meanwhile, Bucky Barnes
Bucky
Bucky is the name of several fictional characters, masked superheroes in the Marvel Comics universe. The original, James Buchanan "Bucky" Barnes was created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby as a sidekick character in Captain America Comics #1 , published by Marvel's 1940s predecessor, Timely Comics...
decides to kill Tony Stark, blaming him for Captain America's death.
The Burden of Dreams
After receiving a letter written by Steve Rogers telling him that the Captain America legacy should continue, and look out for Bucky, Stark shows Bucky Barnes the letter and proposes to make him the new Captain America. Bucky agrees on the condition that he can be an independent agent who doesn't answer to Stark, S.H.I.E.L.D., or the Initiative. The Red Skull fakes the death of Aleksander LukinAleksander Lukin
Aleksander Lukin is a fictional character, owned by Marvel Comics who exists in the Marvel Universe. He first appeared in Captain America #1, and was created by Ed Brubaker and Steve Epting.-Fictional character biography:...
, whose mind he inhabits, begins using Kronas Corporation's vast holdings to economically cripple the United States, before having S.H.I.E.L.D. agents brainwashed by Doctor Faustus open fire on crowds of protesters in front of the White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
. The Red Skull continues his assault by engineering a riot by placing Kronas security troops and drugged water in a protest on the Lincoln Monument. The Skull also kidnaps Sharon Carter, who now knows that she is pregnant with Steve Rogers' child.
The Man Who Bought America
All of the Red Skull's actions benefit his puppet politician, Gordon Wright, who quickly becomes a popular third party Presidential candidate. Once elected, Wright will lead the country directly into a police state secretly controlled by the Red Skull.The Skull also plans to transfer his consciousness into Sharon's unborn child, apparently sired by Steve Rogers himself and potentially having inherited his Project Rebirth enhancements.
Both schemes fail because of the impatience and incompetence of the Skull's daughter — her near-fatal attack on Sharon Carter causes her to lose the baby, and she intentionally botches her pseudo-assassination of Gordon Wright by attempting to kill him for real. Faustus has surreptitiously tampered with Sharon's programming, allowing her to rebel, and before escaping shoots Lukin to death. Black Widow and the Falcon lead a S.H.I.E.L.D. raid at the Red Skull's compound. Most of the Skull's agents are captured. The Red Skull escapes however; his consciousness is transferred from Lukin to one of the robot bodies used by Arnim Zola
Arnim Zola
Arnim Zola is a fictional character a supervillain appearing in the Marvel Comics universe. He is a master of biochemistry, and frequent foe of Captain America and the Avengers.-Publication history:...
.
Collected editions
The story arc is collected in four trade paperbacksTrade paperback (comics)
In comics, a trade paperback is a collection of stories originally published in comic books, reprinted in book format, usually capturing one story arc from a single title or a series of stories with a connected story arc or common theme from one or more titles...
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- Captain America: The Death of Captain America, Vol. 1 - The Death of the Dream (ISBN 0785124233)
- Captain America: The Death of Captain America, Vol. 2 - The Burden of Dreams (ISBN 0785124241)
- Captain America: The Death of Captain America, Vol. 3 - The Man Who Bought America (ISBN 0785129707)
- Captain America: The Death Of Captain America Omnibus (ISBN 0785138064)
Reception
Captain America #25 which depicted Steve Roger's death was the highest selling comic of March 2007 with preorder sales of 290,514 which was double the sales of the Mighty Avengers #1 in the same period. The Death of Captain America was reported in ABC News, where Bryan Robinsons paralleled the events to the Post-September 11 World and Iraq.See also
- Fallen Son: The Death of Captain AmericaFallen Son: The Death of Captain AmericaFallen Son: The Death of Captain America is a comic book limited series dealing with various superheroes' reactions to death of Captain America in the Marvel comics universe after the Civil War....
- Civil WarCivil War (comics)Civil War is a 2006-2007 Marvel Comics crossover storyline built around a self-titled seven-issue limited series written by Mark Millar and penciled by Steve McNiven, which ran through various other titles published by Marvel at the time...
- Captain America: RebornCaptain America: RebornCaptain America: Reborn is a six-issue monthly comic book limited series published by Marvel Comics between July 2009 and January 2010...
External links
- Captain America Is Dead; National Hero Since 1941, New York Times