Comics and Captain America

I'm a geek... there's no denying that. One look at the "computer room" (read: my room) versus the "craft room" (read: her room) and you can see all manor of toys, D&D paraphernalia, and comic book strewn about. And while this is an accurate picture of me, it is not the complete picture (and therefore maybe not totally accurate).

But it's the comic books I'm thinking about right now. There's all this buzz in the mass media about the recent death of the comic book character Captain America and what a shocking thing this was (like a real person died). Anyone who doesn't think he'll be back ain't never watched a soap opera, read a comic book before or watched a TV show (Bobby Ewing, anyone?). He's as fictitious as Wily E. Coyote and just as likely to return.

Maybe it's important in a metaphysical sense, as Captain America is supposed to symbolize all that is good in America, that he is a symbol of a forgotten age (he was frozen in the 40s battling Nazi's and awoke to find a world no longer as black and white as it was back then). But in this day and age do those ideals still apply to America? Notice how in the recent Superman movie they humorously avoid the ending to the old motto "Truth, justice, and the American way".

Is there a place for Captain America in today's world? Is he an archaic reminder of the past, or could he be a beacon that might help in some small way to lead us out of the darkness that the modern age has cast about us.

I miss you Cap... and I hope to be around when you return, 'cause I think we really need you, now more than ever.