I'm waiting for someone to get smart and just snipe Banner in the head when he isn't angry. Suddenly, the Hulk isn't a problem any more!

Maybe it's more of a Valhalla type idea, though? Thor and most of his Asgardian brethren would find a peaceful Heaven to be Hell soon enough, and I suspect that Cap wouldn't be too far behind them on the curve. Why live if there's nothing to strive for? No one to save? Nothing to stand against?

To put it another way, Hell would certainly need him more than Heaven would.

Of course, this is treating them as places rather than rewards or punishments eternal, but there are reasons why I dropped the chilidish religious baggage decades ago.

I could see this happening in Marvel-verse. Like many works of fiction, it has its own idea of how the universe works.

It would be really wild to see Cap. in Thor's heaven, having been grabbed by the Valkeryie (I have no spelling abilities...) for the ultimate battle for Asgaard.

neither should die. Hulk, at his best, is written with the same emotional poignancy of Jekyll and Hyde. Bruce Banner is the real character driving the Hulk's story, and one of the biggest mistakes that Marvel continues to make is to keep his monstrous form around without the reversion to banner.

They did this in the 90s with the insipid stories of Smart Hulk, and it completely eliminates the human side of his character. Readers need that to identify with his character. Hyde can't stand alone, you MUST have that high contrast provided by his gentle alter-ego.

Cap....

I cried a bit when I finally realized what they're doing. They're killing off Steve Rogers, and filling the empty void in the Captain America suit with a character who is an Iraq War soldier.

I miss my grandfather. He was WWII vet, a kind man, and the head of my family. A real hero of a guy, and an exemplar of the "Greatest Generation"
but the fact is, that the WWII generation is coming to an end. They are all in their eighties now and most are dying off.

In that context, I think it's time for Captain America to join his generation with the biggest headstone in Arlington. He'll be greatly missed... and certainly be the greatest man to fill the suit. But he needs to die. He's not timeless like Batman or Superman, or Daredevil. He's inseparably tied to his generation, and as they pass on, so should he.

Replace him with the new american paradigm... the current generation of American vets. They deserve to fill the shoes of the American Icon.

Personally, I'd have kept them both alive, and killed off Iron Man/Stark.

Realistically, if I had my way though, all comic characters would age normally, Batman/Bruce would be 87 years old, Superman would still be 29 (of course), and Peter Parker would be 60. I think this would make for a much more intriguing fictional world.

It doesn't mean they couldn't go back and tell missing stories, etc., but I'd love to see them age in approximately real time. And die, and stay dead when it makes sense, with apologies to Jason Todd of course! Actually, there have been some really good resurrection stories over the past 20 years or so!

I want to know what comic you read where Captain America died?!?
The Captain America I saw die was handcuffed by his own government and friends, and was shot by his girlfriend who was mindcontrolled by his worse enemy, who at this time has finally WON the war!! (for now)

Steve Rogers better come back AND he better NOT make up with Iron Man too quickly if at all.......

Well, we're talming Heaven and Hell here, so from my view everything dealing with them would be works of fiction. Places of eternal suffering or bliss become rather silly and pointless aside from being vague, huge Stick and Carrot means of keeping the child-like in line. I do have reasons for those statements, but this is cutting into one of those verboten messageboard topic areas so I'll try to say no more on it here.

Heroes live unhappy lives. People who work hard and get stuff aren't heroes, their just people. What makes a Hero a Hero is to work hard and get very little to nothing in return, that's why Aragorn isn't the Hero in Lord of the Rings, Frodo is.

Aragorn works hard, and becomes a King and marries an Elf princess. How does that suck? He's just an incredible guy. Frodo on the other hand Undergoes torture and humiliation, then at the end is so unhappy he has to leave the place he worked so hard to save.

The Hulk is the fundamentally a tragedy. Banner and The Hulk work hard and try to be good, but it never pays off. Killing him does nothing.

Cap works hard and his hard work pays off. He stayed around for so long because he was a great role model, not because he was a hero. Killing a role model creates a void, which can be filled by a new type of role model.

Obviously Marvel felt it was time for their premier role model to be updated. I also feel how they did it was a little gauche.

first off, im not sure how acurate this is, its just an idea. in the panel where cap is being carried on the stretcher and sharon is holding his hand, take a good look at the glove (along the knuckles). the last panel of the book (coincedince?) is a close up on caps glove. notice the design along the knuckles. either someone screwed up or we are being given a hint that cap isnt really dead.

ditto, I think that the idea of updating the role model by filling the suit with someone from the current generation of vets was a good choice... but the way they're handling the disposal of the old icon ranges from awkward to downright ham-handed.

He isn't dead yet. That's been revealed in the Captain America: The Chosen miniseries. Cap is dying of his wounds and they're using some sci-fi supertechnology to let him perform Remote Viewing to contact the Iraq war soldier they've chosen to be the replacement.

as I said... ham handed.
Remote viewing is a weak explanation because the writers lack the backbone to visit this soldier with his spirit.
The whole plot with Red Skull mind controlling this girlfriend to shoot him in the first place is contrived comic book drivel that didn't do justice to the idea.

the idea of swapping out a generations old beloved american icon with the new soldier from the current war needs something a little more moving and important than yet another supervillain plot. It smacks of comic bookery and retconning, and that is a mistake.

I hope it all works out in the end. The Chosen, is one of the best comics i've read all year... and it has NOTHING to do with the plot of cap not being dead. It's excellence stems from the human characterization they've written for the new guy, and the intimate conversations he has with the spirit of captain america.

Didn't he get the ultimate Tolkien reward, and what he always wanted anyway: to go live with the Elves? Which should be as close to actual haven as a hobbit can get

You forgot some other monumental deaths that occured, dude.

3. Goldbug
4. Plunderer
5. Jester
6. Jack O' Lantern
7. Stilt-Man

All killed by the Punisher (or...Matt Fraction's Punisher SKRULL).

As such, you can cast my vote for Plunderer.

I said it before, and I'll say it again. WHO THE HECK KILLS STILT-MAN!?!?

sorry, i havent been up to date with that, but i guess i should be