A tragic day indeed. One of America’s greatest heroes, the man who valiantly fought the Red Skull, Captain America, will be killed in an upcoming issue. And what’s extra sad isn’t just that he’s killed, no. It’s the how.

On the new edition’s pages, a sniper shoots down the shield-wielding hero as he leaves a courthouse, according to the newspaper.

He gets sniped. It’s not like Superman, where he gets killed by the first bad guy capable of defeating him. Some dude with a sniper rifle picks off Captain Goddamn America on his way out of a courthouse. That’s so anticlimactic, and not exactly a hero’s way out.

It makes one wonder if there’s a political intention in this. Much as Superman is “America’s hero”, I think Captain America has always been (ignoring the obviousness of his name) the one who really fights America’s battles. Hence the Red Skull and others. Batman fighting the Taliban? Strange. Captain America kicking Jihad Joe’s ass? Awesome.

So having Captain America sniped? It just sounds like a message of some kind. Or maybe I’m reading too far into it.