"The Death of Captain America", also known as "The Death of the Dream", is an eighteen-issue

Captain America Captain America is a superhero created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby who appears in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in '' Captain America Comics'' #1, published on December 20, 1940, by Timely C ...

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

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 Stephen "Steve" Epting is an Americans, American comics artist. He is best known for his work on ''The Avengers (comic book), The Avengers'' and ''Captain America (comic book), Captain America'' for Marvel Comics. Early life Epting's influences ...

and published by

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is a New York City–based comic book publishing, publisher, a property of the Walt Disney Company since December 31, 2009, and a subsidiary of Disney Publishing Worldwide since March 2023. Marvel was founded in 1939 by Martin G ...

. The arc first appears in ''Captain America'' ( vol. 5) #25–30. The first issue of the story arc, ''

'' #25, was the highest selling comic for the month of its release. The story arc had wide-sweeping effects throughout the

Marvel Universe The Marvel Universe is a fictional shared universe where the stories in most American comic book titles and other media published by Marvel Comics take place. Superhero teams such as the Avengers, the X-Men, the Fantastic Four, the Guardia ...

and was accompanied by the miniseries '' Fallen Son: The Death of Captain America''.

Plot

In the aftermath of ''

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, 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.J ...

'',

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 government agency appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, this agency first appeared in ''Strange Tal ...

custody, where he is assassinated by Crossbones and a brainwashed

Sharon Carter Sharon Carter (also known as Agent 13) is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, and Dick Ayers, the character first appeared in '' Tales of Suspense'' #75 (March 1966). Sharon ...

per the order of the

Red Skull The Red Skull is the alias of several supervillains appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by France Herron, Jack Kirby, and Joe Simon, the character first appeared in ''Captain America Comics'' #1 (March 1941), in ...

. 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. Co-created by writer and editor Stan Lee, developed by scripter Larry Lieber, and designed by artists Don Heck and Jack Kirby, the character first appearan ...

and Black Widow hunt Captain America's murderers.

Falcon Falcons () are birds of prey in the genus ''Falco'', which includes about 40 species. Some small species of falcons with long, narrow wings are called hobbies, and some that hover while hunting are called kestrels. Falcons are widely distrib ...

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

Bucky Barnes James Buchanan "Bucky" Barnes is a 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 and first appeared in '' ...

decides to kill 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 does not answer to Stark, S.H.I.E.L.D., or the

Initiative Popular initiative A popular initiative (also citizens' initiative) is a form of direct democracy by which a petition meeting certain hurdles can force a legal procedure on a proposition. In direct initiative, the proposition is put direct ...

. The Red Skull fakes the death of

Aleksander Lukin Aleksander Lukin () is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Publication history The character first appeared in ''Captain America'' vol. 5 #1 (January 2005), and was created by Ed Brubaker and St ...

, whose mind he inhabits, and 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 protesters in front of the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...

. 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 Lincoln Memorial is a List of national memorials of the United States, U.S. national memorial honoring Abraham Lincoln, the List of presidents of the United States, 16th president of the United States, located on the western end of the Nati ...

. 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 into a

police state A police state describes a state whose government institutions exercise an extreme level of control over civil society and liberties. There is typically little or no distinction between the law and the exercise of political power by the exec ...

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, also known as wrappers, and often held together with glue rather than stitches or staples. In contrast, hardback (hardcover) books are bound with cardboar ...

and one

Marvel Omnibus ''Marvel Omnibus'' is a line of large format, high quality, full color, hardcover graphic novel omnibuses published by Marvel Comics. They often contain complete runs, either by collecting multiple consecutive issues, or by focusing on the works ...

: *''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, 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 s ...

'' #1 in the same period. The death of Captain America was reported in

ABC News ABC News most commonly refers to: * ABC News (Australia), a national news service of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation * ABC News (United States), a news-gathering and broadcasting division of the American Broadcasting Company ABC News may a ...

, 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 People of the United States, 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 ...

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'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...