I haven't read comics in a while, but I've been getting some compilations in paperback, and keeping generally abreast of the Marvel universe. I know there's the "Civil War" going on now, or at least until recently, and I imagined this was the culmination of that plotline. Of course, killing Captain America makes perfect sense, symbolically. You might think they'd kill off someone a little more... I don't know, INTERESTING, but hey, there's a war on. America it is.

Perhaps it is rude to speak ill of the dead, but I never really liked Cap all that much. Death being the temporary thing it is in Marvel, I'm not sure of the etiquette here. Cap has always seemed like a second stringer to me. His "powers" are that he's the best a human can be. Nice trick, it's probably great to be him, I bet he gets all the ladies. You'd love that kind of street cred. But when you're out there amongst guys throwing cars around, you're out of your league.

But the worst thing about it is the way they killed him off. I read the Death of Superman with horror, not because of the death of Superman, but because it was such a lame death. A superdestructive force is plodding its way to Metropolis and Superman decides that this thing can kick everyone's ass, so he has to do it alone. Dumbass. Why not call in everyone you know who can bench press a cruise ship, and team up against the guy? I don't think Shazam was doing anything that day, probably waiting by the phone, refusing to be the one to call first. You two should work it out.

Anyway. It's just the manner of death that irks me.

So, Captain America ... got shot. By a sniper. A fucking SNIPER killed him. The guy's got perfect reflexes and a bullet-proof shield. Dodging bullets is his fucking super-power. Captain America dodges motherfucking bullets! He does it all day and he loves it! Seriously, the guy's got one trick, let him use it when it comes up. I'm sure that if you dug into the back issues, you'd find plenty of examples of CA dodging a sniper he didn't notice until the shot was fired. If you're gonna kill Cap, at least make it because he went toe to toe with Galactus or something. Because when the real supershit hits the fan and all the heroes have to team up to fight evil, and you've got the (other) Avengers, the Fantastic Four, the X-Men and subsidiaries, and oooh, watch out, evil -- here comes Captain America! The guy's a fucking crossing guard compared to the rest. Cap, you hung out with Tony Stark, AKA Iron Man. Didn't you ever think to ask him to make you some armor? Or a gun? Come on, you're AMERICA personified and you don't own a gun? Tell you who does: the guy that shot you. Score one for the second amendment. Lessons learned, Cap. That's all I'm gonna say on the matter.

Marvel comics has really tried to drag too much reality in. Probably the fault of Alan Moore, really. Everybody wants to be Watchmen. For Marvel, having the government step in and outlaw secret identities was probably a bit too realistic for the super-hero genre to bear. My problem with the whole idea is that what they're doing is ALREADY illegal. They're vigilantes slugging away at other vigilantes, really. In the real world, how many thugs, evil master plan notwithstanding, would have to go free without being charged because they were illegally apprehended and detained by a guy in spandex shooting spider webs? Post-modernism is all well and good in new stories, but it doesn't make for good superhero comics, especially not in a universe with 50 years of costumed crime-fighting behind it.

Reuters

E$ contributed to this report

shel99

Here's how it works:

1. Put your playlist on shuffle.

2. Post the first lines to the first 25 songs to come up (along with these instructions). (I cut some of the lines short 'cause they'd give away the title of the song otherwise)

3. Have people guess the songs and artists in comments to the post.

4. A couple of days later, post the answers to the ones people guessed correctly. Post the first two lines of the ones no one got and get people to guess again.

5. Repeat, adding the next line to the unguessed songs each time, until they're all guessed/you've posted the whole song/you've gotten bored/no one's going to get the damn thing if you don't tell them.

Since I'm pretty sure there's not more than 4 or 5 people who ever look at this, I'll be surprised if 1/5th of these are guessed. And since I've ripped all my CDs, entire albums, to my drive, my playlist contains songs even I've probably never heard. So I've tried to make it easy for you. It's just a matter of finding the answers. And there's no such thing as cheating.

( I'M READY TO PLAY )

“You're keeping the bottle, good sir.” Lord di Brisi said through a smile.

“My Lord? Oh, of course.” The young knight startled to alertness, a blush coming to his pale cheeks that reminded Anna of the apricots that grew in the manor's orchards. He had been so distracted, he had missed the last few minutes of the discussion. As he passed the wine, rich Elven wine, on to the next guardsman, Anna's blush echoed the knight's. She giggled, knowing the cause of his distraction was at least in part due to the shy smile she had given him across the table.

Her father, the lord of the manor, spared her a glance, as if seeing her in a new light. She could read no disapproval in his eyes, and she returned to her study of the elven face opposite her. Normally, elves, especially such fine elves as these, would not spare a thought for a young human woman such as herself no matter what her lineage, but the deep aquamarine eyes she was admiring seemed to be gazing back at her more often than not.

He had come with the Thaen's retinue, a knight in brilliant armor, like the others, but angelically beautiful, and from the moment he entered her father's hall, she had been unable to take her eyes from him. The Thaen and the Lord discussed whatever business the elves had traveled so far to discuss, Anna never truly understood it, and the conversation and the dinner were winding their way to a close. The beautiful knight had managed to maintain the semblance of attentiveness to the business of the lords, but if he had sipped his wine as often as he had stolen a glance in her direction, he would have long since fallen asleep at the table. Even in his bedazzled state, he composed himself perfectly, recovering from the moment's embarrassment and sending her a covert smile. At least he thought he'd been covert, but at that moment, the Thaen chose to say to Lord di Brisi, “As I find I will be unable to extricate my guardsman from your house, I must give you instructions for his care.” Although an amused chuckle went around the table, the smiles did not reach the eyes of some of his brothers in the retinue.

Anna was used to this aloofness from the elves. As her family's lands were situated so close to the border of the Elven lands, visitors such as these were not so rare an occasion in her father's house. She had been brought up to understand the Elven culture and language, had shared meals with elven envoys from the time she was allowed to sit at table. But never had she found one so fascinating. She barely remembered herself in proper time to excuse herself from table so that the men could speak of more serious matters, and as she retired to her chambers, she held his face so clearly in her mind that she dreamed of nothing but him.

He found her in the garden the next day, or perhaps he had been waiting for her. As Anna came around a wind in the garden path on her daily stroll, she heard the plucking of a lyre, and rounded the bend to see him seated on a bench, idly fingering a melody foreign to her ears. He seemed not to notice her and as she approached, his soft voice could be heard sweetly mingling with the notes he played. His words were archaic, an older form of Elven she wasn't fluent in, but she could understand the meaning of the song. She sat on the bench beside him, and listened, and his eyes opened as her leg brushed against his.

He sang on, only now he looked at her as he did so. He sang of enchantment and beauty, and of a love that defied the duties of the court. He sang of two lovers who escaped their stations in life and traveled together, forging a new place for themselves despite the differences of their two nations. As his song ended, she took his hand, and would rarely let go of it for the next month.

Elves have a great deal of time and are never rushed to do anything, and yet always seem to be exactly where they are meant to be at the proper time. The retinue of the Thaen stayed at the manor for a few more days, and then passed on into the countryside. In the time they stayed, Anna's beloved knight had contrived a leave of absence for himself, and as the Thaen found his business was not so pressing as to deny true love, he allowed it. His companions bid the knight farewell, though once again, Anna noticed that there was little cheer in the parting words of some.

Her father was glad of the knight's company. Though he saw little of either his daughter or the knight, Lord di Brisi was ecstatic about their bond. He welcomed the knight into his household, gave him a suite of rooms and, apart from the times she was to be with her tutors, allowed him to escort Anna about the manor. He began to make wedding plans, and Anna's happiness grew by the day. As she became closer to the knight, their hand-holding quickly led to stolen kisses under the apricot trees. Their touches became more, and grew into a passion for one another that could no longer be denied.

Some two months into his stay at her father's house, she rose and went to the garden to find him staring out over the flowerbeds. When she touched his cheek, she realized it was wet, and she saw he had been weeping. She immediately fell into his arms. “What is it, love? Why do you weep?”

A long moment passed, his hand stroking her hair, as she listened to his heart beating fast in his chest. “I have been summoned back to my home. My mother has ... commanded me to return. Alone.”

“You cannot go,” she sobbed. The full weight of his final word struck her deep in her chest, and her heart lurched. “I fear I'll never see you again.”

As he held her, hushed her in his arms, he whispered, “We will find each other again, my love. This is only a moment's absence. We must only have patience.”