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Howard Powell checked out a New York newspaper online at work, and Pow!

"The first thing I saw was this red glove on the Web site," the comic book fan from Attleboro said.

"When I clicked on it, it said, 'Captain America is dead.' I was blown away. I couldn't believe it."

Yes, true believers. Captain America was shot dead by a sniper in Captain America issue 25, which hit the newsstands and comic book shops Wednesday.

The death was a surprise to fans as well as retailers; Marvel Comics had kept the issue's contents vague. Both comic book shops in the Sun Chronicle area, Wildtime Comics and Stories in South Attleboro and the Collectors Guild in Mansfield, were sold out by late afternoon, despite doubling their usual orders for Captain America's monthly adventures.

"People would stick their head in the door and go, 'Do you have Captain America?'" said Wild Time owner Randy Conlin, who sold all 40 copies in stock within two hours.

One person who had both variant covers of the issue was offering the two comic books, at $3.99 each in stores, on eBay for $49.99 Friday night. However, Marvel Comics on Friday announced a second printing would hit stores March 28.

Meanwhile, local super-hero buffs are in shock over the death of a character who has been a patriotic icon since his debut during World War II.

"I don't know if there are any Marvel heroes besides Spider-Man who have that super-star status," Powell said.

Captain America was the unofficial field leader among Marvel heroes, he said.

"There was always one person leading the Marvel super-heroes when things got rough, and that was Captain America," Powell said.

But the hero became a wanted man in his universe last summer when he opposed a new federal "Superhuman Registration Act." This law, which required heroes to register their secret identities with the government, created a "Civil War" among the heroes.

Captain America led the resistance against pro-Act forces led by Iron Man.

But the Star-Spangled Avenger gave up when bystanders held him back during the last brawl in issue 7 of Marvel's Civil War mini-series last month. Their actions and seeing the property damage from the battle convinced Captain America that he was hurting the public, not protecting it. Powell said the story reflected "what's going on in America today."

"The whole Superhuman Registration Act speaks of what our government is doing to some of our citizens," Powell said.

But comic book fans are no stranger to characters dying.

Superman died in 1993 and then came back, for example.

"I would be very suspicious of any kind of death of a major character," Powell said. "It would be very interesting to see if a major character was dead for 10, 15, 20 years."

Collectors Guild owner Charlie Pike predicted that Marvel will explain Captain America's revival using a clone.

"Because if they felt the need to bring (X-Man) Colossus back, a much lesser character, they'll bring Captain America back," Pike said.

"There's too much money involved."

MICHAEL GELBWASSER can be reached at 508-236-0372 or at mgelbwasser@thesunchronicle.com.