Customer Reviews

Captain America: Reborn

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Ed Brubaker's "Captain America" run set a new standard for mixing noir and science fiction elements to create epic, long-form plots that have not once but twice attempted an impossible story and made it work. Now, after two years of his original main character, Steve Rogers, lying mouldering in the grave, Brubaker initiates the next big story of his run. Joined by "Ultimates" artist Bryan Hitch on this special event miniseries, "Captain America: Reborn" is an interesting, if not completely successful, departure from the main series. Some spoilers follow.

Picking up from Captain America #600, Steve's old allies (girlfriend Sharon Carter, successor James 'Bucky' Barnes, partner Sam Wilson, and James' girlfriend Natasha Romanova) scramble to track down his body and uncover the truth behind his seeming death. Expanding beyond the typical cast of characters in his story so far, we also get appearances by Ronin (Clint Barton, usually called Hawkeye), Hank Pym, Reed Richards, and the Vision. Meanwhile, the villains (the Red Skull, Dr. Doom, Norman Osborn, Arnim Zola) gather their forces and strike deals, as virtually the whole cast of the series up to this point comes into play.

Contrary to what some critics of this series have suggested, Brubaker's run prior to this was not "grounded" in any real way; the first 51 issues included time machines, a cosmic cube, cyborgs, and all the usual Marvel technology. However, it felt a bit more "real" than much of this, due to a tendency to underplay things; here, Brubaker indulges in a lot more bombast than had previously been the case, giving the sci-fi less of a gritty gloss. There's not a huge amount of room for characterization here, but everyone feels right, and Brubaker does have an excellent feel for his expanded cast. Bryan Hitch takes over for the regular series artists, and while this isn't his best work, he does a good job; it took a while, but he's gotten more of a handle on 616 costumes.

The series ends with the not especially surprising return, but there are also hints at what the next big story of Brubaker's run will be, as Steve's journey through time presented him with glimpses of future scenes. If they're any indication, the heavier presence of sci-fi is sticking.

Recommended.

Did the Captain America: Reborn event live up to all it's hype? In short, no. I knew it was inevitable. Captain America just couldn't be dead forever. None of Marvel's characters can!
I digress, this event seemed drawn out. I won't lie, the art is good and the dialogue is good. But it just seemed... lacking.
Overall, I recommend Captain America fans get this. For more casual Marvel fans, you can pass this over.

It was perhaps inevitable that Captain America would return. Marvel - like DC - could never really kill off one of its flagship characters. But more importantly, Ed Brubaker hasn't done a bad job at all. It's been a while getting here, but credible and pretty well crafted. I'll admit that the main fault with this, and with Road to Reborn (the previous volume) was: I'm tired of reliving Captain America's past! His origin story, his adventures with Bucky and Zemo, etc - nonetheless, Hitch and Guice's artwork is the main constant and reason to read this. Dark, edgy and hyper realistic, it keeps the noir in the tale, in spite of rehashing the "flashbacks."

The real question is: will we go back to the same ol' vanilla flavoured Cap or will we get better subplots. Bucky Barnes was a soldier for a new era - but not a symbol. Let's hope the future path of Steve Rogers won't be so straightforward after all these twists. I foresee a Captain America - Norman Osborn showdown in the near future...

I bought this book looking to find out how Steve Rogers was able to be resurrected. He was shot dead in front of hundreds of people...How could Marvel find a way to bring him back while keeping the continuity of Issue 25?

They couldn't. Captain America's resurrection tale makes no sense, and breaks so many rules (scientific, continuity, and just plain common comic book sense) that I can't see how anyone could read this and not be pissed off at Marvel for not coming up with even a slightly plausible explanation of such a big event.

MASSIVE SPOILER ALERT

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Sharon's gun used to kill Rogers in Issue 25 was actually Doomtech. Fine, I can buy that. What I cannot believe is that this Doomtech gun "locked his body in time and space" (whatever the hell that means) with zero indication of magic/doomscience when it fired and "killed" Rogers. There's always a weird sound, or explosion, or lights when strange stuff like time manipulation occurs. But nope; bullets that behave like normal bullets can send people through time apparently.

So, fine these bullets transport Rogers' body and mind through time. Then what the heck was his corpse in issue 25? You can't send his body back in time, but then also still have his body in the present. Even if you assume the Doomtech gun only sent Roger's "mind" into the timestream, the machine used to pull him back to the present which is used later in the story somehow is able to generate his body as well, then. WTF

The last gripe I have is, at some point Namor and Reed bring Roger's dead body to the surface. They see his body for about 1 second in a windowed coffin, and then it vanishes/fades away. Thing is, absolutely nothing happened that would have triggered the body to fade away at that time. Apparently merely talking about the possibility of ressurecting Steve Rogers can cause his corpse to disappear.

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END SPOILERS

I realize this is a comic book, and things usually don't make real/scientific sense in them, but when a story is about the resurrection of someone, readers want to know HOW it was possible. You do not get that in this book. A character simply says that Doom's gun sent him into the timestream, and that's that. No Steve Rogers point of view as he was shot "dead" and transported away in time, no explanation of weird corpse behavior.

The plot of the book is what you'd expect. Steve's friends want to bring him back, and Osborn has different plans. Nothing that would surprise you. And then, to make a rather bland story worse, the "death" and "resurrection" explanation/occurence is awful. I really wish Marvel had put more effort into this storyline.

Everybody knew Steve Rogers had to come back. The question was: "how?" (as in "how the %§*µ# will they manage to do the trick?"). This book gives us the reply. There is no black or white magic involved. No supreme sorcerer Brother Voodoo whatsoever. No God. So the reply has to be grounded in sci-fi. Something to do with time being a dimension like any other dimension. You can go back and forth in time. No big news here. But provided you have got the proper evil scientist (and what bigger evil scientist could possibly Brubaker pick apart from (erased spoiler)?), you also can bring back Cap from a certain point in time because he is somewhat linked to a still living sweetheart by some (erased spoiler) or other. The story is as good as any previous Brubaker written story in the series and Hitch's art, though not as strikingly exceptional as in the first Ultimates issues, is much better than his recent spell with the FF. Probably something to do with the ever reliable Butch Guice. All in all, this tome is a very good read and is well recommended for all Cap fans. Now, what will become of Cap's trial for his involvment in Civil War?

I was never a big fan of the resurrection of characters in comic books. But in Ed Brubaker's Captain America Reborn Story is one of the few exceptions to this case. The death of Captain American following the Marvel Civil War Storyline was one of the cataclysmic events in comic books during the 2000s. The initial comic book detailing the events of his death sold out within hours of being put on the shelves.



Captain America Reborn is less black ops--paramilitary writing, which has defined Brubacker's take on Captain America and more of a superhero type storyline with military undertones. The story centers around Steve Rogers, Bucky, and Sharon Carter with appearances by Falcon, Hank Pym, Mister Fantastic, Namor, Ronin, Crossbones, Sin, Doctor Doom, Norman Osborne, the Thunderbolts, the Dark Avengers, and of course the Red Skull.



Brubaker keeps the dialogue simple and the plot intriguing, yet easy to follow. Sharon Carter is broken down psychologically in this TPB, as the comic deals with the consequences she must endure in being mind controlled into murdering Steve Rogers. Meanwhile Bucky adjusts to the new role of Captain America and does quiet well as the new American Superhero. He is able to fill in the shoes of his former mentor without having doubts or whims about the situation. Bucky's Captain America Costume keeps to the traditional colors yet adds modern technology to it. There are some nice scenes involving the villains as well such as Norman Osborn's conversations with Crossbones, and Sin's attempt to escape the clutches of HAMMER only having to deal with the new Hawkeye. Brubaker uses these entire characters well and does not force or contrive any part of this story.

From an artistic standpoint, I was satisfied as a fan but it would have been nice to have Steven Epting draw the entire TPB. The art in this book is not bad, yet not great at the same time.

Captain American reborn is a solid story for Captain American fans and explains much of what happened in the Marvel Universe during the Dark Reign era. This is a good read for fans of Captain America and quiet an enjoyable experience for any comic book fan.

I wanted to hate this book, but Brubaker and Hitch just wouldn't let me. Let me just be clear that I thought Brubaker's story leading up to Cap's death is my favorite Cap story ever, and I wanted Steve Rogers to stay dead. Not from any lack of love for the character, but to keep the powerful emotional impact of his death. Steve Rogers himself was always more of a symbol of American ideals than a complex character, and Brubaker had been able to tell some good Captain America stories with Bucky wearing the shield. I was certainly hesitant when I started reading this book, and for the first issue or two, I remained unconvinced. The explanation for what actually happened to Steve Rogers when he was shot is a bit of a groaner, and I was confused about the frequent jumbled visits to key moments in Cap's history.

Then I understood. What Steve Rogers brings to the character is his longevity. He gets to flash back to World War II and to the early days of the Avengers and to essentially any point in Marvel's history, and no matter how compelling Bucky is as a character, he doesn't bring that kind of storytelling potential (at least not in a straightforward way). Although I am sure that Cap's return was motivated more by economic considerations than storytelling ones, Brubaker really makes the best of it in this arc, bringing together clues that he had legitimately left in early issues, delighting in his rich supporting cast, and really hammering home the point that Steve Rogers matters and is ready for a triumphant return. He succeeds completely, especially with the rich Bryan Hitch artwork that echoes the best aspects of Steve Epting's style, and Captain America is an even more valuable hero for this story. What a beautiful surprise this book was.

We all knew Cap was coming back soon, the only question would be "How does Cap return?". In this series, legendary Cap writer Ed Brubaker pays homage to some classic Sci-fi tropes as well as stays close to the Cap's marvel comics roots. This man was made to write Captain America.

A good solid story. The title of this book basically says it all and somewhat spoils the whole thing. The whole story happens during the Dark Reign era. I love that they bring in some of Cap's friends, who are still in hiding, to try and bring him back as well as some of Cap's famous villains who want him to remain hidden. Overall, I enjoyed the reading. I would recommend anyone to read it. If your a Captain America fan I would say that this is a must-buy.

It's not listed in the TPB's contents, but this volume also has the eight-page Captain America: Reborn Prelude digital comic (July '09) before issue #1. A nice addition to the tale.