Captain America #25: The Death of a Dream

by Gary Sundt

As Printed in The Lumberjack

In 1941, America was about to be plunged into the second World War. At that point in American history, everyone was encouraged to “do their part.” And comic books were no different. Thus, in March of that year, nine months before the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Marvel Comics debuted Captain America, punching his way into comic book history, popular culture and Adolf Hitler’s face.

In March 2007, 66 years after his rousing first appearance, Captain America, also known as Steve Rogers, died on the steps of the Supreme Court Building after being gunned down by an unknown assassin in the book “Captain America #25: The Death of a Dream.”

The fictional character’s death was a backlash of “Marvel Civil War,” the miniseries that pit superhero against superhero in a war over the highly controversial Superhuman Registration Act. The document would require all masked crime fighters to reveal their identities to the government. Captain America stood against the act, and when he lost the war, he was taken into police custody, and would later be killed by a mysterious gunman on his way to be de-masked.

“Captain America #25: The Death of a Dream” is, quite simply, the perfect ending to the almost seven decade-long run of The Captain. Writer Ed Brubaker created an ending for the superhero that was as shocking as it was respectful. Captain America saw a decline in readership after the 60s, and it wasn’t until the shocking events of “Civil War” that the patriot was put back into the spotlight.

The fear in “Civil War” was that the writers would kill off characters for no apparent reason, and in Cap’s death they proved the readers half wrong. A character did die, but not without a purpose. His death humanizes not only himself but the rest of the heroes as well, and serves as an intense but indeed brilliant conclusion to not only Captain America, but the Civil War-era in the Marvel Universe as well.

The rhyme and reason for the assassination is unknown at the book’s conclusion, however, what is known is that a hero is dead, and that the impact of his death will be felt for a long time to come. Many readers used to feel that Captain America lost his stride after the Vietnam era, and his influence was no longer desired or necessary. However, when a staple of Americana is gunned down, it doesn’t go unnoticed.