The Death of Captain America, tragedy or about time?

Recently I came across an article in a news paper entitled "America is Finished."

The article was about the comic book character Captain America and do not worry it is not about the country, so for all those who are about to go into global meltdown, just relax and follow the advice of songwriter Mikka, "relax and take it easy."

After 66 years of defending America from the likes of Adolf Hitler and his most notorious advisory Red Skull, the character finally has met his end after being gunned down by a sniper.

Captain America, always rememebered for his star and stripes costume, was created in 1941 to instill patriotism within the minds of Americans during the Second World War. Furthermore the comic has sold more than 210million copies in 75 countries with his adventures being featured in film as well as television.

Whats so important about the death of Captain America?

The reason why I pay particular attention to this article is in what the co-creator Joe Simon said in the article.

"We really need him now", he said.

But is Joe Simon right in what he said? Does America need its hero now more than ever?

I think it does especially with issues such as the Iraq War, poverty and governmental negligence on the minds of the people. Captain America was set up to harness patriotism and was the embodiment of American Realism, something which people are now loosing by the dollar.

Now do not get me wrong, I realise there are people in the states who are very patriotic and believe the messages outlined by George Bush's administration and probably echoing in the back of their minds is the song written for Mad Max 3: Beyond Thunderdome, "We do not need another Hero."

But for those, and yes as sad as me who know the song, the rest on the lyric goes "I just want to find the way home". Now I do not want to get into the rights and wrongs of the system, this is something for the public and its politicians to decifer for themselves but I think people need to find their way home, not just in the political arena but in life in general.

This topic is one we as human beings must battle within ourselves but for those fans of Captain America, do not worry, rumour has it there could be a film on the way so all is not lost.