Am I the only person a little uncomfortable with this level of (albeit faux) reaction? Cute marketing ploy, yes. Sure, a tribute to a character that has brought a lot of happiness and entertainment over the years. But, and I am not trying to avoid a high horse here, when we have actual soldiers dying on a regular basis (in a war some of us strongly disagree in and some of us strongly support) this takes it a little too far for me. And I stress, for ME. I respect that many folks would say: “lighten up”. Fine. But Cap ain’t dead. Particularly given that Brubaker is the guy that pulled off bringing Bucky back from the dead (and it is a run that I’m enjoying). Then again, in fictional terms, Cap always fought for the right for people to put whatever kind of displays they want to in their stores (well, not exactly, but the dude stands for freedom). So I respect Ms. Lopacinski’s effort here, but let’s just say, it makes me feel a tad uneasy.

If we’re going to view this within the context of Iraq, then you have to rewind things and ask whether Marvel should have “killed” Captain America in the first place, or whether some in the mainstream media should have played it straight with their coverage, making it seem as if the character were real. Heck, go back to the very beginning of Civil War: Should Marvel have blown up part of Stamford, Conn., when soldiers are being killed in explosions? If I had another cup of coffee, I probably could raise similar questions about DC’s 52 and the impending World War III.

I hate to throw out the “slippery slope” argument, but there you have it.

The floral arrangements and candles make me a little uncomfortable. Acting as though some real has died strikes me as being somewhat tacky in the face of real deaths that occur around us every day.

Don nails exactly what I should have written in my initial response. I’m completely fine with 99% of it–it’s the floral cross that bugged me for a fictional character. And yea, Kevin, slippery slope and all that. Get that next cup of coffee, though, I’d love to hear your juxtaposition of WWIII (which hey, I wonder how these folks feel about the use of WWIII (just kidding).

When Lois and Clark got married my comic shop bought a cake and gave away back issues to anyone who bought the wedding issue…

Great way to make the stores inclusive and fun for people who wander in for the hype.