Everyone knows by now that Captain America died. What most people don’t know is how we got to that point, or what it truly meant. Starting with Captain America #1, Ed Brubaker began spinning an extensive plot involving the Red Skull, Cap’s old partner Bucky (now returned as the murderous and insane Winter Soldier), Arnim Zola, the Red Skull’s daughter Sin, Crossbones, Doctor Faustus, and Sharon Carter, all resulting in the death of Cap and his replacement by Bucky. The thing that truly makes it great is the absolute intricacy of it all. When you read it as one big piece, you are treated with one of the most cleverly crafted stories in all of the Marvel U. There are plenty of elements in the very first issue that quietly foreshadow what was to come, and by the end of “The Man Who Bought America,” you’re treated to an absolutely dynamite finale that wraps up everything quite wonderfully for Bucky to take over and move forward (or so we thought until now). The artwork is done from front to back by Steve Epting, who does a phenomenal job at making Cap’s world dark and scary to fit the tone of the conspiracy story. It is arguably the best team run in all of Marvel right now. A lot of people complain about the state of it, and don’t like that Bucky has a) returned or b) is the new Cap, and they bring up ridiculous arguments like how he uses a gun, but these people obviously haven’t been keeping up with the whole story.
And now we have Reborn, an easy challenger for top event this summer against DC’s Blackest Night. First off, we have Bryan Hitch as the artist instead of Steve Epting, and as much as I love Epting, I love Hitch even more. Those who have seen his most recent work on Fantastic Four know he can draw an insanely great and lush scene, and those who have read Ultimates 1 and 2 will be sure to remember the giant fold out in the last issue of Ultimates 2 that defined epic-ness in comic books. He also draws one of the best Captain America’s I’ve ever seen (pictured), so to put him in charge of the book is pure genious in my mind. Plus, I have absolutely adored all of the conspiracy elements of the story so far. Granted, I somewhat bashed issue #600 of Captain America, but that’s simply because it was just a large scale tease, not offering anything new and being just a lead in to Reborn. I’m a fan of teasing sometimes, but when you pay $4.99 for a book that keeps spouting the beginning of the return of Steve Rogers, you want a little more bang for your buck. Either way, Captain America is by far one of the my favorite books on the market, and it definitely made Ed Brubaker number one in my mind as a comic book writer. He easily showed his mastery of the book and the story, and I defy you to sit there from issue 1 all the way up to now and not enjoy the thrill ride presented. I defy you!
Click on the image to the left to start catching up with Captain America, and now is definitely time to pick it up. Reborn doesn’t come out until July 1st, so catch up in the next two weeks for the big Marvel event of the summer. It’s sure to sell out like crazy, and you don’t want to be the only one on the school bus who doesn’t know what’s going on.