By Brodie H. Brockie

A civil war was recently waged in the pages of Marvel comic books. On one side, Iron Man lead heroes demanding that all superheroes register their identities and sign-up to work for the government. On the other side, Captain America lead heroes who believed in their right to stay anonymous and set their own crime-fighting schedules. There were several startling casualties: Goliath, some guy with letters on his face, Marvel's ability to keep it's own continuity straight. None more shocking than when, after surrendering, Captain America himself was shot and killed.

In the weeks that followed there have been several memorials. We present two as written by two of Captain America's fellow super-heroes. First, the lyrics to "Shield in the Wind" a song recorded by light-shooting mutant and pop vocalist Dazzler (aka Alison Blair):

Shield In The Wind

Goodbye Steve Rogers,
Though I never at all knew you,
You somehow stood above the rest,
Though those around you flew.
They flew at your from shadows, And shot drugs into your tiny frame,
They dressed you up in spandex,
And they gave you your codename.

Dazzler from her music video for "Shield in the Wind"

And it seems to me you lived your life,
Like a shield from the wind.
Always knowing which heads to shelter,
And which to kick in.
I would have liked to have served with you,
But I was just C-List.
Your shield may have fallen now,
But your legend will persist.

Heroes are tough,
The toughest role you ever played.
Science created a super soldier,
And being frozen in a block of ice was the price you paid.
Even when you thawed,
The Red Skull still hounded you.
And Batroc the Leaper was heard to say,
He throught he could out-leap you.

Goodbye Steve Rogers,
From Alison Blair (whose middle name is Erica),
Who sees you as something as more than a superhero,
More than just our Captain America.

And it seems to me you lived your life,
Like a shield from the wind.
Always knowing which heads to shelter,
And which to kick in.
I would have liked to have served with you,
But I was just C-List.
Your shield may have fallen now,
But your legend will persist.

Next up, the following speech was presented by a mourning, black-clad Spider-Man, immediately after a speech given by Iron Man at Captain America's memorial dedication:

"Avengers, Defenders, super-men, lend me your ears;
I come to bury Captain America, not to praise him.
The evil that heroes do lives after them;
The good is oft interred with their costumes;
So let it be with Cap. Noble Iron Man
Hath told you Captain America was traitorous:
If it were so, it was a grievous fault,
And grievously hath Cap answer'd it.
Here, under leave of Iron Man and the registered -
For Iron Man is an honourable man;
So are they all, all honourable men -
Come I to speak in Cap's mermorial.
He was my leader, loyal and fair to me:
But Iron Man says he was traitorous;
And Iron Man is an honourable man.
He hath brought many bemasked villains to the vault,
Whose captures made the general populous safe:
Did this in Captain America seem traitorous?
When that his country has cried, Captain America hath wept:
Treason should be made of vibranium:
Yet Iron Man says he was traitorous;
And Iron Man is an honourable man.
You all did see him fight Baron Zemo
Who thrice requested an alliance,
Which he did thrice refuse: was this treason?
Yet Iron Man says he was traitorous;
And, sure, he is an honourable man.
I speak not to disprove what Iron Man spoke,
But here I am to speak what I do know.
You all did love him once, not without cause:
What cause withholds you then, to mourn for him?
O judgment! thou art fled to shifting skrulls,
Men and mutants have lost their reason.
Bear with me; My heart is in the coffin there with Captain
America, And I must pause till it come back to me."