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Tuesday, September 7, 2010
A Comic-Con Without the Captain
The Windy City sings the red-white-and-blues over the death of an illustrated legend
 By Marc R. Keller and Bryan A. Bushemi
The Lost Generational author F. Scott Fitzgerald once quipped, “Show me a hero, and I’ll write you a tragedy.”
It’s true the Minneapolis bridge disaster and the White Sox’ regular-season collapse recently signaled much chaos. However, the Midwest melancholy also reverberated within the dark, gloomy walls of Chicagoland’s Donald E. Stephens Convention Center, home of Wizard World Chicago 2007, reminding all attending fanboys that this was truly a comic-con without the Captain—America, that is.
 As many fanboys know, Marvel’s original shield-slinging Sentinel of Liberty was fatally shot last March by his arch-foe, Crossbones, and his girlfriend, former S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Sharon Carter (true love conquers all, eh?), en route to his arraignment for his Civil War activities. The Captain, whose alter ego Steve Rogers was publicly known, was a symbolic figure in this war, staunchly opposing the government’s new superhuman police state and fighting former allies in the process, including his best friend Tony Stark, who supports President Bush’s police state as S.H.I.E.L.D.’s new Director.
Within those heavily congested confines, the red, white, and blue hung more somberly from the lofty rafters. Legions of comic fans were festooned in those proud colors, honoring their favorite patriotic superhero (or their love for the surging Cubbies)—sans Cap’s famous shield. Diamond Select Toys and Collectibles offered an exclusive Marvel Icons Silver-Age Captain America bust, limited to 600 pieces, to commemorate the longtime Avenger. And, of course, comic retailers sold variant editions of Captain America #25 (Cap’s death issue), including Chicago’s very own Graham Crackers Comics.
 One proud, Spandex-clad, sore-footed hero, Spider-Man—a former Avenger and Secret Avenger teammate of Cap’s— lamented at Wizard World what “Winghead” had meant to our world:
“What Captain America did when he took that bullet is what he always does: He protects the people. He thought someone was going to attack that [U.S. Marshall]. I am very, very depressed and very sad that Cap has left us. He was a great man, a wonderful hero—much more inspirable than I’ll ever be in my entire lifetime.
“How I took the funeral, I was, you know, torn between two parties. I can’t really go to one thing and avenge my teammates because, as you know, the Avengers and the Mighty Avengers—the new Avengers—are kind of at a crossroads. Like Captain America’s death, it’s just painful, and I’m glad he’s gonna rest in peace. He was the spirit of America and one Hell of a superhero; no one can replace him. No one!”
 Various heroes hailed from other parts of the continent to pay homage to the fallen Avenger, even all the way from Niggaropolis, whose proud, hell-raising son, Junior Jones, Jr., a.k.a. Black Bastard (a character created by Rorschach Press’ Matthew Mohammed), served up his own pimptastic prediction for Cap:
“Captain America’s dead? What’s up? I’ll tell you what: Come back to me in two years when he’s alive again, then we’ll talk.”
The possibilities of the Bastard not getting the opportunity to team up with the Captain in battle were also mentioned:
“Well, actually, I’ve been running away from him. He’s been trying to arrest me for crimes against humanity. But the truth is, I did his mother.”
The Bastard also reflected upon the status of Cap’s former sidekick, the Falcon:
“Homey the Falcon? Man, I don’t know what’s up with that guy. Damn, I wouldn’t be no white man’s sidekick. What’s up?”
 [Note: Attempts to obtain the super-villain viewpoint on this historically tragic event were met with little success. “No comments” from various foes of law and order abounded, and a certain Sith Lord, one Darth Maul, was conspicuously bodyguarded by a duo of unfriendly Stormtroopers who kept these correspondents at more than arms-length. Even attempts to photograph and record Mr. Maul were unsuccessful; apparently, the dark side of the Force has its uses in dealing with the technology employed by the Terran press corps.]
 Despite such journalistic setbacks, we were encouraged to see that Cap’s red, white, and blue legacy seems to be alive and well, whether ordinary mortals sporting the storied colors, such as Crown Point, Indiana’s John Mojica, or the Justice Society of America’s Power Girl (who, no disrespect to the Captain, wears them in a much more eye-catching manner than the late Mr. Rogers).
 However, it wouldn’t be much of an homage to the Star-Spangled Avenger without the voices of capitalism, the retailers, chiming in themselves.
“I think it was a bit of a publicity stunt that they did it maybe just to improve sales because, as you know, the character’s books never sell as good as when he dies,” commented Matt Streets of Graham Crackers Comics. “But, at the same time, anyone who’s been reading the series for a long time, it was a natural angle to the story-arc that’s been going on for the last two years. I thought it was handled very tastefully, and I thought it was a well-written story.”
 Comic fans will be looking heavenward regularly, but not for another similarly color-schemed All-American superhero. Instead of a cape, Cap will sport angels’ wings—for now, anyway. Though speculation over his possible resurrection still runs rampant throughout the message boards and comic conventions, let’s just remember him as the selfless crusader who strongly fought to uphold our individual freedoms, without political affiliation, advocated by the U.S. Constitution—freedoms that he actually died to preserve—in his never-ending battle.
For now, anyway.
From two advocates of the First Amendment: Cap, you’ll be missed.
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April 22, 2008:
February 4, 2008:
November 20, 2006:
A Comic-Con without the Captain
