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After the heartbreaking events of Amazing Fantasy #4, an embittered Captain America laments on the death of his beloved country.
WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for Amazing Fantasy #4, available now from Marvel Comics.
One of the most divisive things regarding Captain America in previous decades has been his stance regarding his beloved country. While he is well known for his position against anti-American forces such as the Nazis, he has never shied away from addressing the real problems of his nation. It led to him dropping the shield and becoming Nomad, and rebelling against the government in the first Civil War. Now, in Amazing Fantasy #4 (by Kaare Andrews, Brian Reber and Joe Sabino), the exhausted Avenger is left declaring once again that America is dead, but there’s a unique twist about his observation this time that is as much physical, as it is spiritual.
This alternate reality comic has plunged Steve Rogers into a mystical world after his death, with Black Widow and Spider-Man joining him. They’ve each rallied to the call of three armies, with Steve backing a cat tribe, Widow working for the Red King, Ren, who wants to control the realm, and Spidey with Uncle Ben’s dragon riders.
In Steve’s case, there’s a sense of family involved as he takes a young boy under his wing, nicknaming him “America.” This leads to Steve fighting to save the boy and the other children of the tribe from being used as sacrificial tributes to a brutal band of orcs. All-out war ensues and the heroes are defeated, thanks to the betrayal of an unexpected figure. Captain America and Black Widow are thrown into a cell alongside deceased casualties of war…including the young boy who the Captain named after his country.
This turn of events understandably causes Steve to break down. He laments that America is dead, referring to not only the child but an even deeper sentiment. The Sentinel of Liberty had every intention of freeing the realm so that kids like America could experience a better life filled with hope, optimism and love. In his eyes, this child, as well as the others, had his life snuffed out before he could ever experience true freedom. This is akin to the fight Steve has fought his whole life, in pursuit of liberty and justice for all; unfortunately, this realm suffers from the same plight as his home, insisting on finding reasons to fight one another instead of searching for ways to live peacefully with one another.
Captain America weeps, feeling the weight of his failure not only to this child, but to the realm as a whole. It is terribly reminiscent of the frustration he has displayed several times before in both the Marvel Universe and MCU versions of Civil War. His broken shield in depictions such as the comic version of Age of Ultron are a reflection of his inner brokenness, echoed through his most personal and prized possession.
Steve’s pain is reflected to an even higher degree in Avengers: Infinity War where his washing out of the American flag’s colors is indicative of his feelings about what he sees as an oppressive higher power. Now, he’s once more wracked with guilt and appears to be truly defeated in one of the most disheartening yet powerful moments of his life.
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