Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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42 of 45 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Mixed bag collection., October 17, 2007
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.
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28 of 34 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Warning: No Issue # 25, October 28, 2007
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.
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13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
the old jeph loeb, he ain't what he used to be, December 1, 2007
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.
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