Death of Captain America (Greatest Stories Ever Told)

Civil War

Leading up to the Death of Captain America storyline was the famed Marvel event, Civil War. The Civil War was made up of two, once friends, turned enemies due to political beliefs. After a reckless explosion by a lesser group of “superheroes”, an act was to be put in place that would force powered beings to register with the government. On one side of the act was Captain America, who was against registration, and on the other, Iron Man, who was for it.

The battles were fierce and the fighting without end. Blood was spilled and friendships lost. It changed the moment that Tony Stark constructed a perfect genetic clone of the not involved Thor and unleashed it on Captain America’s side. The aftermath of this move left Captain America’s side in shambles and his friend, Goliath dead.

Due to this, many members of Tony’s team left as they couldn’t bear to stand beside someone who would take drastic measures to prove his point. Among the defectors was the newly unmasked Spider-Man.

These happenings forced Tony’s hand.

Seeing that the landscape was changing, Tony hired a group of villains known as the Thunderbolts to track down and bring in the members of Steve’s team. As Steve’s “soldiers” were rounded up and held captive, he set out a plan to free them. His plan was simple…they would march on the holding facility and through brute force, free his comrades.

Unfortunately, Tony saw it coming.

The battle began in the Negative Zone and eventually spilled out onto the streets of New York. In the heart of the battle and as Captain America was about to deliver the final blow to Iron Man, the war ended. While the world believed that Captain America would win, he looked around and saw what this battle had done.

In one of the defining moments in Marvel Comics, he surrendered.

Death of Captain America

With the aftershock of Civil War still fresh, Steve took to the courthouse steps to stand trial for his actions. As he began to walk the steps, he was shot and pronounced dead. Initially, the audience was convinced that the shooter was the longtime Captain America enemy, Crossbones. But as the story unfolded, it was revealed that in actuality it was Sharon Carter.

This chain of events reshaped the landscape that Marvel had so diligently worked to mold.

As the story continued, the readers learn that the shooter was indeed Sharon Carter. However, Doctor Faustus (controlled by the Red Skull) was influencing her actions. Basically, Doctor Faustus was a S.H.I.E.L.D psychiatrist, who had brainwashed her into committing the murder.

This revelation led a number of Steve’s friends to find answers.  

Tony Stark and Natasha Romanov began to track down the perpetrators. The once sidekick to Steve, Sam Wilson, The Falcon, set out to find his own answers to the reprehensible act. And most notably, the Winter Soldier took it upon himself to confront Tony.

In short, Bucky blamed Tony for Steve’s death. However, before Bucky can commit too many accusations, Tony pulls out a letter written by Steve. The letter asked Tony to see to it that Bucky would take on the mantle of Captain America should he not be able to.

Bucky accepts under the condition that he can act as Captain America in the way that only he would.

The Aftermath

Once the Death of Captain America was released and the news went mainstream, the media had a feeding frenzy. This story made national news. Captain America, the icon that stood for everything virtuous about the U.S.A. was dead. This news rivaled the Death of Superman.

The Death of Captain America was a story written by Ed Brubaker with art done by Steve Epting. After the comic came out, the story was revised and turned into a novel by Larry Hama. More recently, and as you are probably aware, in 2016 Marvel Studios released the commercially successful “Captain America: Civil War”.

Cheers,

Jeff

Title Image © Marvel

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