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Captain America, 89; defender of freedom

Steve Rogers, a fine-arts student turned super-soldier who fought America’s enemies for more than six decades as Captain America, was assassinated while entering the U.S. Federal Court in New York City. He was 89.

Rogers, an iconic Marvel Comics figure whose adventures began during World War II, was under indictment at the time of his death on criminal charges related his leadership role in a civil war between superheroes that began last May.

The war, which began in the “Civil War” comic series and soon spread to other Marvel Comics titles, broke out when one group of heroes led by Rogers refused to comply with a new law mandating they register their identities with the federal government. Tony Stark, the billionaire arms manufacturer, led the pro-registration forces as the super hero Iron Man. Among those siding with Rogers were Daredevil, Luke Cage, Hercules and Falcon, while Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four’s Reed Richards sided with Stark.

Discuss: Captain America

Rogers was indicted after he ordered his side to stand down and surrendered himself to authorities. He made the decision after growing increasingly concerned that the superhero war was putting citizens in jeopardy.

Asked by Military Times what service members should think about Captain America’s death, Joe Quesada, editor in chief at Marvel Comics, said “I think what there is to see is a man of honor who served his country through and through.

“It’s important to remember that at the end of ‘Civil War,’ where he had to surrender for the greater good of the people, he said ‘you’re arresting Steve Rogers, you’re not arresting Captain America.’

“Captain America is not a person so much as he is an idea. He represents the American dream, not necessarily the American way. America is the great experiment, always growing, always learning.”

That’s precisely why his end came as a shock to Arnold T. Blumberg, who has written extensively on comic books and teaches a course in comic book literature at the University of Maryland Baltimore County.

Captain America is “a direct connection to our nation’s symbology. He’s very important. He’s the moral center of the Marvel Universe ... He provides the center for what is correct, the ideals, for what is best for America.”

He believes that Captain America’s surrender and subsequent assassination indicates which way Marvel leans right now — toward the government over civil liberties.

“I thought it shocking the way it ended. It vindicates Iron Man,” he said.

Quesada said Marvel never set out to say which side was right or wrong, only to get people to think about each side’s argument.

“You slap a flag on a character as iconic as Captain America and everyone’s going to feel something” about what he says or does, Quesada said.

News of Rogers’ death and its meaning has been carried in various publications, including The New York Times, as well as numerous Web sites and blogs.

“Captain America Is Dead; National Hero Since 1941,” the gray lady of journalism headlined March 8.

“Comic hero Captain America dies,” the BBC announced on its Web site.

John Breneman, a satirist for Seacoastonline.com — the Web site of several Maine newspapers owned by a subsidiary of The Wall Street Journal — suggested there would be controversy over where Rogers would be buried because of his anti-government stance.

“Iron Man testified that Captain America once told him he wanted to be laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery,” Breneman wrote. “However, that is considered unlikely because he refused to submit to a Bush administration policy requiring mandatory federal registration of all superheroes.”

Quesada said the burial of Captain America is part of an upcoming five-part series that deals with the aftermath of his assassination, “Fallen Hero, The Death of Captain America.”

According to the lore of Captain America that has unfolded over 66 years, Rogers was born to Irish immigrants on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. A physically weak young man, he was judged 4F by the Army, but then ended up in a secret “super soldier” project in 1941.

The Army tried an experimental serum on Rogers, who turned from a weakling into a super-powerful fighting machine the government unleashed against the Nazis.

Rogers was lost — presumed killed — somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean late in the war, but was found by the superhero group The Avengers in 1964; he eventually came to lead the team, which included Iron Man.

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