Customer Reviews

Fallen Son: The Death of Captain America

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

First off, this book does not contain issue 25 of Captain America. Amazon does this a lot with their graphic novels, going by early listings and never updating.

The book itself was something of a mixed bag. It consists of 5 1shot issues that focused an a different stage of Grief.
Book 1: Wolverine 4/5: Good issue, just did not stand out all to well. great art and some nice appearances with other characters.
Book 2: Avengers 2/5: Pretty weak, nothing really happens over the course of the book.
Book 3: Captain America 5/5: By far, my favorite of the series. Great stand alone story.
Book 4: Spider-man 1/5: Worst of the Bunch. Spider-man written like he's a total jerk. Just real bad.
Book 5: Iron Man: 4/5: good issue, great art, features funeral.

I pre-ordered this book hoping to read the infamous Captain America issue #25. The Amazon description states: "Collects Captain America #25..." but it does not.
The book cover clearly states "The Death of Captain America" but when you open the book, the first line reads: "Captain America is Dead... This is what happens next."
How can the buyer help but feel cheated?
That being said, If you've been following the massive Marvel publications revolving around the "civil war" story line, this collection is a must-have. It just would have better if it included C.A. #25.

reading this book i found myself thinking, "what the heck happened to jeph loeb?" i mean, he used to be good, right? at least i thought so. then i thought back on his body of work, and i just couldn't really remember what was so great about him. i own a lot of his work, and none of it stands out as being anything special. so i've come to realize quite how much top artists like tim sale and ed mcguinness elevated his writing, but even the top-notch artists he's paired with here can't do a thing to disguise this terrible script. it's not hyperbole to say that this is some of the worst comic book writing i've ever read.

the dialogue is just ridiculous, from shoe-horning each chapter's title (anger, depression, etc.) into conversation, to a cringingly-inappropriate joke in cap's eulogy about his time spent as a werewolf. this writing was just awful. now, i understand that loeb lost his son to cancer just a few years ago, and i don't doubt that this had something to do with his choice as writer and possibly the abject failure at a reasonably dramatic farewell to captain america, but none of that makes the work itself any better. i can't say enough bad things about the script, and no matter what is going on in loeb's personal life that lead to this horror, an editor shouldn't be too sheepish to make a correction or three. per page.

the art, as i said, is top-notch. it's the sole reason i bought the book and the sole reason i'd ever think to open it up again in the future. these are five very consistent artists, all appropriate choices for their respective chapters, and each does his usual best. if you're familiar with these artists, you know what you're in for. no surprises there.

but the writing. eesh. i'm at a loss. i honestly couldn't believe my eyes at first, and even though the element of surprise worse off as i went, i was no less appalled. i admit that loeb was fighting an uphill battle by attempting to pay tribute to a character nobody expects to stay dead forever (and given his final resting place, readers have no reason whatsoever to believe he won't be back), but this is truly abysmal. the nicest thing i can say about the writing is that i think i cringed only a handful of times during the middle chapter, which was the strongest by miles.

given the high profile of this project, the mass media coverage, and the fact that this is basically the first captain america release since his death (excepting the massive omnibus collection that i don't imagine a casual reader ever picking up), this book was a great chance for marvel to put their best foot forward. but i'm afraid anyone new to comics who picked this up will find everything the general public expects from comics. i don't doubt that ed brubaker would have jumped at the chance to write this. after all, he writes the fantastic captain america series, which is one of the best books coming out from marvel right now. and i have no doubt he would have done an awesome job writing a powerful send-off to marvel's greatest hero. and heck, maybe one day marvel will re-release this book with a new script by brubaker, but until then we're left with one of the worst things ever written in any medium ever.

In the aftermath of Civil War, Steve Rogers, AKA Captain America, met his apparent end via sniper's bullet. With Cap dead, Fallen Son focuses on the aftermath of his demise, and the effects it has on fellow heroes Wolverine, Spider-Man, and his one time ally and opposing force of the pro-registration act, Iron Man. The comics collected in Fallen Son: The Death of Captain America, are the various Fallen Son one-shots written by Jeph Loeb, who marked this as his return to Marvel. The biggest flaw of Fallen Son is that there are so many great ideas here that never really come to fruition. Loeb has managed to garner emotion in his previous, more higher profile works for Marvel (Daredevil: Yellow and even Spider-Man: Blue), but his attempts to do so here just seem stale. There's great artwork throughout though, including the talents of the great John Romita Jr., Ed McGuiness, and Planetary and Astonishing X-Men artist John Cassaday as well. That being said, you'll either dig Fallen Son or you won't, depending on how you feel about an icon like Steve "Captain America" Rogers getting laid to rest (for now). All in all, Fallen Son is worth a look at the very least, but don't expect anything special.

Please make note that this does not contain Captain America #25. This only contains the Fallen Son issues. I would not have purchased this collection if the listing was correct. The story is fine and the collection is a nice read, but do not buy this if you want #25.

This is really getting old. Where do these writers get off? Jeph Loeb?! I had so much respect for him. I just don't understand where these modern writers think they have the right to take a legendary character like Captain America/Steve Rogers and just decide that they have the right to end the storyline on their watch. IT'S NOT YOUR CREATION! You're just a custodian of something that the late greats created. If you want to kill off a character, then create and kill off your own stupid characters. And then on top of it, it's a completely overly-sentimental, lackluster, forget-it-five-minutes-later story; nothing they didn't do with Superman when DC butchered his storyline. I understand that writers are getting desperate for material for these decades-old characters, but that hardly gives them the right to end a character, even temporarily. It's completely a painfully obvious jumping-the-shark move on their part. If you're out of ideas, then just resign and let someone else take the helm.

I have to say, I absolutely loved this book. It almost made my permanent collection, but it didn't, only because of all the books you have to read to prepare for it (the early new avengers, most of the civil war books, death of Captain America, and a working knowledge of all included.

Wolverine is the first one, and what I really loved was seeing a man so jaded when it comes to death be really affected, in denial.
The Avengers were next and I liked it, though it probably is the weakest story in here.
The Cap America story... wow.
Spider-Man comes next, and let me tell you, Peter responds the only way he knows how, with tremendous hurt and guilt.
And we close with the funeral in Iron Man. And you get the sense that something new is coming out from within him.

You don't have to buy this book, but you mus read it.

This comic-book is essential in order to understand the whole Marvel's CIVIL WAR. It contains 5 comic-books of 5 different heroes with a heavy influence in the Civil War with the common plot of Captain America's death.
For those who want to understand all the repercutions of the amazing Civil War, this is an essential buy.

I would wholeheartedly agree that this book is a mixed bag and second the comments/review put forth under "mixed bag." As has been pointed out, first off, it does not contain issue 25 of Captain America, which was a disappointment and one of the main reasons I ordered it.

This Marvel novel has the aftermath of the death of Captain America and deals with the 5 stages of grief through the perspective of different heroes and culminates with Cap's funeral great storytelling and flashbacks to some of Cap's past adventures I would highly recommend this novel to any Marvel fan out there