But Is He Really Gone? *SPOILERS*

WARNING! Beyond the more link are spoilers for Captain America #25. You probably already know, but just in case….

Already read Cap #25 or this article? Well when all is said and done, go check out last nights The Word from The Colbert Report. Hilarious!!

Captain America is dead.

Maybe. Possibly. Most likely. At least until his movie is out in 2009. Right?

Death has become increasingly more and more common and less and less permanent in comics. Even Golden Rule #1 (Bucky stays dead!) was broken recently when Captain America’s compatriot from World War II days was found alive, brainwashed, and serving as the legendary assassin The Winter Soldier.

But now, in the fall out of Civil War, Steve Rogers is dead.

Note I said Steve Rogers is dead.

Is Marvel really going to suck it up and do what DC has been successfully doing for years? Is it time for Captain America III (Captain America II is a role belonging to John Walker, who took over temporarily when Steve Rogers opted to retire rather than become a government lackey) to step up? And if so, who? The Winter Soldier? John Walker? Hawkeye (He’s coming back soon anyways…)?

Regardless, Steve Rogers appears to be dead for the time being. Jeph Loeb and a bevy or artists are about to put out “Fallen Son: The Death of Captain America”, which deals with how his death has affected the Marvel Universe, and will feature Tony Stark taking steps towards finding the next Captain America…after all, Tony does have the shield now. And in the real world, beyond the fourth wall, the story is having an impact that hasn’t been seen since 1994’s The Death of Superman, with local news stations and CNN alike reporting on the death of an American icon.

Will Captain America be back? Probably. Steve Rogers has survived somehow or another since World War II, through a Direct-To-Video movie, and more horrors than one can look at, and now has a big budget film slated for a 2009 release. But until then, the important thing to remember is that its Steve Rogers who died.

Captain America lives on.