My friend, the late Jakob Kurzenburg AKA Jack (King) Kirby ran an art studio with his still-living partner Joe Simon when Comic Books were a new medium.
One of their many creations was the star-spangled, fist-swinging Captain America -- a 4-F who volunteered for a serum which made him a super-soldier.
(Follow me to the Golden Age of Comic Books)
Simon & Kirby's partnership lasted for another 25 years and created more Superhero, Western, Sci-Fi, Supernatural, and Romance comics out of their New York offices.
Jack's greatest achievment was designing the Marvel Comics Group in the early 60's -- he and editor Stan (Lee) Lieber took on Superman's DC Comics posse and won -- even despite Batman's popularity on TV.
"I wanted to take their readership away," Kirby told me.
He revived characters from the 40's like the Human Torch and Captain America, but contemporary creations like the Hulk, X-Men, and Spider Man resonated with the public -- and still do today.
After DC stole Kirby from Marvel for the New Gods series, I had a long talk with him at his new house in Thousand Oaks, California.
"Marvel can run Captain America for a hundred years if they want!" Jack said proudly.
Captain America was a comic-book protest against pro-Nazi Bunds and America Firsters before the USA entered WWII. Overlaying a poster for a silly 40's chapter serial starring Dick Purcell and Lorna Gray, I've placed digitized samples of Captain America by Jack Kirby (pencils) and Syd Shores (inks) in 1941, along with Cap's long-lost sidekick Bucky, and his arch-enemy Red Skull -- fading into Jim Steranko's graphic-design version, and a sketch from Kirby & Shores' brief reunification in 1969.*
I very much doubt that Marvel will really bump off one of their franchise properties, but this fictional stunt in a fantasy magazine is circulating around the Mainstream Media as if a real celebrity had passed away.
*Captain America is a property of the Marvel Comics Group (Even though they shot him!) The collage above is meant for scholastic purposes ONLY in the context of this first-person essay, based upon personal conversations with the co-creator of this character.