Captain America: Road to Reborn [Hardcover]

Ed Brubaker (Author), Luke Ross (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 4, 2009

Sharon Carter's dreams are forcing her to relive the death of Steve Rogers - and her time under the control of Dr. Faustus. But will these dreams also reveal hidden secrets about what she saw and did on the day Steve died Collects Captain America #49-50; #600-601.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 176 pages
• Publisher: Marvel (November 4, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 078514174X
• ISBN-13: 978-0785141747
• Product Dimensions: 1 x 1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #440,962 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Brubaker gets his ducks in order for "Reborn"., October 22, 2009

By 

Sean Curley (Charlottetown, PE, Canada) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Captain America: Road to Reborn (Hardcover)

Ed Brubaker's stellar run on "Captain America" enters a transitive phase here, as one might divine from the title to this trade paperback collection, which is aimed at positioning it as a lead-up to the events of the "Captain America: Reborn" miniseries (the mere title of which should tell you quite a bit). This is very much a worthwhile collection, featuring a collection of strong artists (including the possible last hurrah of one of the greats of the Bronze Age of Comics). Herein are collected issues #49-50 and 600-601 (thanks to the miracle of renumbering, Marvel got to do two back-to-back anniversary issues). Some spoilers follow.

The first two of these are illustrated by Luke Ross, the replacement regular artist for Steve Epting (partnered with Butch Guice). #49 focuses on Sharon Carter, Steve Rogers' girlfriend (on and off), who was used as his assassin by the Red Skull in previous stories. She was temporarily put off-panel for six issues for #43 to 48, and so Brubaker uses this issue as an opportunity to update the audience on what she has been up to in the aftermath of her ordeal in "The Death of Captain America". It's a well-written character one-shot, including a long-needed update of Sharon's relation to Steve's World War II girlfriend Peggy (changed from sister to niece), and the trailer for a future story concerning another loose end from that era. This is followed by what is probably my favourite of the issues collected here, a single-issue story focussing on Bucky Barnes, on the theme of various birthday celebrations. We see various episodes, such as a wartime party where the procurement of a cake inadvertently leads to a clash with supervillains, and a surprisingly upbeat ending showing how far Bucky has come in the world.

The big issue is, of course, #600, which is about as long as the other three combined, between the main story, two supplemental stories, and various other odds-and-ends. The main story by Brubaker and a phalanx of talented artists checks in on what various characters are doing on the first anniversary of the death of Captain America. This includes not just the main cast and the villains, but also such odd ends of the mythos as Rikki Barnes, a sidekick from the "Heroes Reborn" universe. Brubaker uses this as a direct lead-in to "Reborn", though one plot development involving how Steve was shot feels a bit dropped-in rather inelegantly.

Finally, #601 is a standalone war story that is drawn by Gene Colan, one of the original Captain America artists (co-creator of
the Falcon, among other things). It also incorporates Colan's time as an artist of the supernatural ("Tomb of Dracula") in the 1970s. It's a solid piece of work, and fans of Colan will definitely want it.

All in all, probably a four-star collection.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Weak for Brubaker, March 24, 2010

By 

Paul M. Mullenix (Ashley, IL United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Captain America: Road to Reborn (Hardcover)

Ed Brubaker's run on Captain America has revitalized the title, unfortunately this hardcover/tpb is weak. Additional information on Bucky Barnes is nice, but not essential to driving the plot any farther and is just filler for Captain America Reborn. The last several books have been great and very interesting, it is a shame Marvel has to waste time on issues like this.

5.0 out of 5 stars Brubaker is one of the best!, January 27, 2012

By 

S. Penrose (Small Town, OH) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Captain America: Road to Reborn (Paperback)

The best thing about Ed Brubaker writing Captain America is his absolute love for the character, history, and mythos. Brubaker somehow "killed" Steve Rogers, replaced him with the impossible, and is still able to make unbelievable stories month in and month out. Here we get to read an amazing look at how so many different individuals are one year after Cap's assassination. Add to that some fantastic looks back into Bucky's past. The art was almost an A+ across the board with only a few missteps. I thoroughly enjoyed this collection and agree that Brubaker is one of comics' finest writers.