"The Death of Captain America" is an eighteen-issue Captain America

story arc A story arc (also narrative arc) is the chronological construction of plot in a novel or story. It can also mean an extended or continuing storyline in episodic storytelling media such as television, comic books, comic strips, board games, vid ...

written by

Ed Brubaker Ed Brubaker (; born November 17, 1966) is an American comic book writer, cartoonist and screenwriter who works primarily in the crime fiction genre. He began his career with the semi-autobiographical series '' Lowlife'' and a number of serials i ...

with art by Steve Epting and published by

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...

. The arc first appears in ''Captain America'' (vol. 5) #25–30. 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''.

Plot

In the aftermath of ''

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

'', Captain America is taken into

S.H.I.E.L.D. S.H.I.E.L.D. is a fictional espionage, special law enforcement, and counter-terrorism agency appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in ''Strange Tales'' #135 (August 1965), it often dea ...

custody where he is assassinated per the order of the

Red Skull The Red Skull is an alias used by several supervillains appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics and its predecessor Timely Comics. The first version, George Maxon, appeared in ''Captain America Comics'' #1 and #4. The main ...

. Crossbones snipes at him while

Sharon Carter Sharon Carter (also known as Agent 13) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. She is usually depicted as a secret agent, an ex-field agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. under Nick Fury, and a love interest of St ...

(Agent 13; Cap's girlfriend), who has been brainwashed by Doctor Faustus, posing as a S.H.I.E.L.D. psychiatrist, delivers the killing shot. Overwhelmed with guilt, S.H.I.E.L.D. director

Tony Stark Iron Man is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was co-created by writer and editor Stan Lee, developed by scripter Larry Lieber, and designed by artists Don Heck and Jack Kirby. The charac ...

and Black Widow hunt Captain America's murderers.

Falcon Falcons () are birds of prey in the genus ''Falco'', which includes about 40 species. Falcons are widely distributed on all continents of the world except Antarctica, though closely related raptors did occur there in the Eocene. Adult falcons ...

, Captain America's old partner, follows his own leads to find the killers. Meanwhile,

Bucky Barnes James Buchanan "Bucky" Barnes is a Character (arts), fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Originally introduced as a sidekick to Captain America, the character was created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby a ...

decides to kill Tony Stark, blaming him for Captain America's death. 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 In political science, an initiative (also known as a popular initiative or citizens' initiative) is a means by which a petition signed by a certain number of registered voters can force a government to choose either to enact a law or hold a pu ...

. The Red Skull fakes the death of

Aleksander Lukin Aleksander Lukin (russian: Александр Лукин) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in ''Captain America'' vol. 5 #1 (January 2005), and was created by Ed Br ...

, 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 White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...

. The Red Skull continues his assault by engineering a riot via the placing of Kronas security troops and utilizing drugged water in a protest on the Lincoln Memorial. The Skull also kidnaps Sharon Carter, who now knows that she is pregnant with Steve Rogers' child. 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.

Collected editions

The story arc is collected in three

trade paperbacks A paperback (softcover, softback) book is one with a thick paper or paperboard cover, and often held together with adhesive, glue rather than stitch (textile arts), stitches or Staple (fastener), staples. In contrast, hardcover (hardback) book ...

and one

Marvel Omnibus ''Marvel Omnibus'' is a line of large format, high quality, full color, hardcover graphic novel omnibuses published by Marvel Comics. The ''Marvel Omnibus'' series reprints comics previously printed in single-issue format. Unlike Marvel's '' Esse ...

: *''Captain America: The Death of Captain America, Vol. 1 – The Death of the Dream'' () *''Captain America: The Death of Captain America, Vol. 2 – The Burden of Dreams'' () *''Captain America: The Death of Captain America, Vol. 3 – The Man Who Bought America'' () *''Captain America: The Death of Captain America Omnibus'' ()

Reception

''Captain America'' #25 which depicted Steve Rogers' death was the highest selling comic of March 2007 with preorder sales of 290,514 which was double the sales of the ''

Mighty Avengers ''The Mighty Avengers'' is a comic book series that was published by Marvel Comics. Originally written by Brian Michael Bendis, also the writer of '' New Avengers'', the title first featured an officially sanctioned Avengers team of registered ...

'' #1 in the same period. The Death of Captain America was reported in ABC News, by reporter Bryan Robinson.

Novel

The storyline was adapted into a novel by comics writer

Larry Hama Larry Hama (; born June 7, 1949) is an American comic-book writer, artist, actor, and musician who has worked in the fields of entertainment and publishing since the 1960s. During the 1970s, he was seen in minor roles on the TV shows ''M*A*S*H'' ...

in March 2014 to tie in the release of '' Captain America: The Winter Soldier'' and features Sharon Carter, Bucky Barnes, Black Widow, and Falcon as central characters.

References

External links

Captain America Is Dead; National Hero Since 1941
''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...