captain america dead at 89

from afp/raw story: Captain America, the comic book superhero with a penchant for figure-hugging body suits in red, white and blue, has died at the age of 89, shot dead in New York... felled by a sniper's bullet on the steps of a Manhattan court house.

"Breaking news: Few details are clear at this time, but the scene outside the Federal Courthouse in Manhattan is a portrait of chaos and confusion as a former superhero has been shot," Marvel comics said on its website...

Draped in the American flag, a giant "A" on his mask and a shield that handily doubled as a discus, Captain America was part of the US war effort, created just months before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

His first cover saw him punching Adolf Hitler in the face and he entered his golden age after the United States joined World War II. But he soon faded in popularity after the war and was retired in 1950 before returning in the 1960s...

Co-creator Joe Simon, himself a little older than Captain America at 93, told the New York Daily News he was saddened by his character's demise. "It's a hell of a time for him to go. We really need him now," he said.