Captain America Reborn #6, Captain America: Who Will Wield The Shield #1, Captain America #602

That's right everybody, it's Captain America night!!! With Cap Reborn #6 FINALLY arriving, I can read that issue, as well as Who Will Wield The Shield and Cap #602, both of which I've been waiting a good month to read! However, before I get into my Cap mode, I have a few quick things to state. First off, I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to post anything new tomorrow night... I have my first Accounting 2 exam Wednesday, and as such, I'm probably going to spend much of(if not all)of tomorrow night studying. However, there's supposed to be a pretty major snowstorm heading my way Tuesday night into Wednesday, so there is a possibility(however slight)that my college might be closed Wednesday thanks to the foul weather. The National Weather Service has already posted a Winter Storm Watch for Tuesday night, so needless to say, I've have my fingers crossed that the school will decide to close for Wednesday. Needless to say, no school means extra time to read comics/blog! Besides that, Aquaman #0-75 arrived at my place today, which has me pretty excited. I'm pretty close to ditching the Green Arrows I'd been reading and starting up the Aquaman stuff. Peter David+Aquaman=Awesomeness! Alright, that's more then enough pointless rambling for now, let's get to those Captain America comics!

Captain America Reborn #6(of 6): Writer: Ed Brubaker. Pencils: Bryan Hitch.

We open this issue with Hank Pym rescuing Sharon Carter from her imprisonment aboard the Red Skull's AIM ship. From there we head to the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, where the Red Skull(who is currently in possession of Steve Rogers body)is preparing to behead Bucky with his own shield. Before Skull can deliver the death blow, Steve begins to fight back against the Skull from inside his head. The two mortal foes battle for control of Steve's body and mind, and Skull ultimately retreats from the confines of Steve's mind, thanks to Steve's more powerful resolve. Upon regaining his senses, Steve decks the Skull's daughter, Sin, and helps Bucky to his feet. Although Steve is happy to have vanquished the Red Skull from his mind, there is still quite a battle being waged around the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, thanks to Crossbones and his army of AIM agents and miniature MODOKS. Back on the AIM ship, Pym and Sharon battle through the hordes of AIM and attack Armin Zola, who was attempting to crack the Vision's security codes, thus giving himself access to tons of top secret Avengers files. While Pym takes on Zola, the Red Skull's consciousness returns to his mechanical body aboard the ship. Once Sharon spots the Skull trying to make a getaway, she grabs one of Pym's weapons and fires it at the Skull, accidentally causing the Skull to grow to over 30 feet tall! The now enormous(and UBER-pissed!)Skull begins to wreak havoc in front of the Memorial on both Avengers and AIM agents alike. Upon seeing the giant Skull, Cap and Bucky spring into action and attack the Nazi madman, which rallies the Avengers who were present. However, the combined might of two Captain Americas and several Avengers isn't enough to halt the Skull's rampage, so Sharon, still on-board the AIM ship, fires several missiles into the Skull, destroying his body, and severely burning Sin in the process. After the battle, Norman "Marvel" Osborn is upset about the loss of the Red Skull and Steve Rogers body, and he is given pictures of Sin, which shows that her skin was burned to the point where she actually looks much like a literal Red Skull. From there, we go to the rooftop of Bucky's hideout, where Steve Rogers is reflecting on everything that had happened to him, as well as several visions he saw while he was free-falling through time, visions that seemed to have revealed a terrible future, one where all of Earth's heroes were laying dead all around him, thanks to some unseen menace. While Steve tries to reason what the images mean, he is joined by Sharon, and this comic concludes with the two sitting on the roof of Bucky's hideout together.

All I have to say about this comic is bravo. It was well worth the wait. Ed hit all of the right notes here, the battles were fantastic and his mastery over all of the inter-personal relationships here was a thing of beauty. I really can't find fault with anything that was in this comic... Even as it wrapped up the Reborn storyline, it planted seeds for the future with whatever those weird visions Steve was having were all about. After reading this, even without reading the final issue of Flash Rebirth, I declare this mini-series the winner of the Cap Reborn/Flash Rebirth mini-series contest... Hands down. I think you know what score I'm going to give this one...

Score: 10 out of 10.'Nuff said.

Captain America: Who Will Wield the Shield #1: Writer: Ed Brubaker. Art: Butch Guice & Luke Ross.

This issue opens up with a flashback sequence showing Bucky and Steve's relationship back during WWII. We then head to the present, where the Black Widow discovers Bucky trying to figure out what his new identity should be. Widow tells him that he's Captain America, but Bucky explains that there is only one Cap, and that's Steve Rogers. Widow continues to try to persuade Bucky that he should remain Captain America, even if that means there would be two Caps, but Bucky seems steadfast in his belief that there is only one Cap, and it's not him. From there, the scene shifts to Steve and Sharon. Steve is still having some difficulty adjusting to the fact that he's back, as well as all of the changes the Marvel U has gone through in his absence, and after some more brooding by Steve, the two wind up in bed together. After Sharon is asleep, Steve gets up, and begins to think about the apocalyptic visions of the future that have been plaguing his thoughts. In order to forget about them, he gets dressed in his Cap outfit and decides to take a midnight stroll. At the same time, Bucky gets words from Black Widow that there was a jailbreak at the Raft prison, and the two rush out of the hideout to see what they can do to help. As they leave, they are spotted by Steve from a rooftop, and he decides to follow them to see what's going on. Bucky and Widow wind up running into Mr. Hyde, who immediately attacks the two of them. While Bucky and Widow battle Hyde and his goons, Steve arrives on the scene, but chooses to silently watch from a nearby rooftop. Eventually, Bucky notices Steve watching, and tosses Steve his shield, which leads to Steve taking down Hyde with ease. After the battle, Steve tries to give the shield back to Bucky, but Bucky is unwilling to take back what he considers to be Steve's property. Steve explains to Bucky that he isn't ready to come back full-time, and that until he is ready, he wants Bucky to carry on as Captain America, which Bucky reluctantly agrees to. After returning home, Steve thinks to himself that even though he wants to be Cap again, he can't, because in his terrible vision from the future, Bucky's corpse was wearing his Winter Soldier outfit, meaning that if Bucky isn't Cap, he could very well wind up dead, which is something Steve couldn't live with. The following day, Steve visits Pres. Obama at the White House, where the President gives Steve a full Presidential pardon for his actions during Civil War. The President asks Steve when he's going to take on the role of Captain America again, but Steve explains that he may never become Cap again, that is unless the President himself wants him to. This issue ends with Pres. Obama telling Steve that he won't ask him to take back his shield yet, but that he has a strange feeling that the country may be in need of Steve's abilities sometime in the very near future.

Before I get into what I thought of this comic, I want to take a moment to point out something that has been bugging me for years now... Yes, I'm about to launch into yet another attack on the Civil War storyline, so bear with me for a moment. Towards the end of this comic, Pres. Obama remarked that the Super-Hero Registration Act seemed very un-American. That is the EXACT reason I was so annoyed by the Registration Act/Civil War storyline, because the Registration Act is indeed un-American! That is the biggest failing of the Civil War story in my eyes. All Civil War was, was Marvel deciding to make a ludicrous political statement, and I for one would rather get my political information from a newspaper, not a comic book... Alright, I'm back off my soapbox, and back onto the comic book at hand. This was a very enjoyable book, and once again, Ed showed off his excellent writing skills with the way he showed Steve as a man who does want to be Captain America again, but is afraid that if he takes that step, he's dooming his friends to a horrible death at the hands of the mystery creatures from his visions. As long as Bucky is Cap, the terrible future Steve has seen shouldn't be able to come to pass, although that also means another possible future Steve saw, one where he does become Cap again, and he winds up marrying and having children with Sharon can never come to pass either... So basically, if Steve becomes Cap again, either he'll live happily ever after, or he'll damn everybody he cares about... As it stands right now, Steve seems content to sacrifice his own happiness for the good of everybody else. Now THAT is what I call some DAMN fine writing!!!

Score: 9 1/2 out of 10.You know Cap, now that you're back from the dead, you can lend a hand!

Captain America #602: Writer: Ed Brubaker. Pencils: Luke Ross.

After meeting with Nick Fury, Bucky discovers that the Bad 1950's Captain America has been up to no good in some little town in Idaho. Not wanting to force Steve to battle a crazy man who shares Steve's face, Bucky decides to take down Bad Cap with Falcon. The two heroes head to Idaho and after going over Fury's files, learn Bad Cap has been putting together an anti-government army(The Watchdogs), and Bucky decides that the best way to get close enough to Bad Cap is to secretly join the Watchdogs. Upon arriving at the town in question, Bucky and Falcon watch a anti-government rally that was going on at the town square, and Falcon realizes that it's going to be impossible for him to infiltrate the Watchdogs, since they seem to be a bunch of ignorant rednecks. However, Bucky assures Falcon that he has a plan... That night, Falcon arrives at a local bar disguised as an IRS agent, and begins to tell the bartender that he was being audited. Bucky, disguised as a trucker, punches Falcon and tosses him out of the bar, which causes some members of the Watchdogs to approach him with a proposition. This issue ends with some Watchdog members handing Bad Cap a few photos of potential recruits, which leads to Bad Cap immediately recognizing Bucky.

I know I probably sound like a broken record by this point, but once again, this was an excellent issue of Captain America. You know, reading these three issues in a row has reminded me why I consider Ed Brubaker to be one of(if not)THE best comic book writer in the business today(Sorry Geoff Johns)! Man did I miss reading my monthly installment of Captain America! I really don't have anything left to say... This series is easily the best thing coming out of Marvel today.

Score: 9 out of 10.Heh-heh, Nick Fury said "asshat"...

A Quick Look at Captain America: Reborn #5(of 6)

Writer: Ed Brubaker. Pencils: Bryan Hitch.

What Happened: We begin this issue with Steve Rogers trapped in a bizarre version of 1930s New York if it had been taken over by the Nazis. In the present, the Red Skull, who is now controlling Steve's body, intends on meeting the president of the United States and proclaiming himself the true Captain America. Before Skulls transport reaches Washington DC though, a ragtag group of Avengers, led by Bucky, attempt to stop him but are blown out of the sky by the Red Skull's forces. The Avengers crash land right outside the Lincoln Memorial, and are soon met by the Red Skull( in Captain America's body) and several AIM agents. Meanwhile, Steve Rogers manages to find the Red Skull inside the Skulls mind, and the two battle for control of Steve's body. Crossbones, along with a mess of MODOKs, attacks the heroes in Washington. By this point, the Red Skull is headed toward the White House, but is intercepted by Bucky. The two battle, but Bucky continues to pull his punches out of fear of hurting his friend. The Red Skull's daughter, Sin, shoots Bucky in the back, and the Skull uses that distraction to take Bucky's shield away. This issue ends with the Red Skull severing Bucky's robotic hand and standing over him preparing to deliver the finishing blow.

What I thought: Once again I thought this was a good comic, but to be perfectly honest this storyline is kind of ruined for me. I mean let's face it, Marvel hasn't exactly done a good job of keeping what was going to happen in this miniseries a secret. Hell, Bucky and Steve Rogers are both shown at the end of the Dark Avengers annual I just read. Of course when the sixth issue comes out I'll happily read it, but unfortunately this whole comic experience is spoiled for me.

Score: 7 1/2 out of 10.Don't you just love the way Captain America's eyes are red while the Red Skull is in control of him? Isn't that a tad bit too obvious?

A Quick Look at Captain America: Reborn #4(of 6)

Writer: Ed Brubaker. Pencils: Bryan Hitch.

What happened: The Red Skull, Crossbones and Sin visit Dr. Doom in Latveria, where Doom brings them to Armin Zola, who is working on a way to return Capt. America to the present. In the meantime, Norman Osborn's right-hand woman, Victoria Hand, is preparing to deliver Sharon Carter to Dr. Doom. Hank Pym and Reed Richards have figured out that Sharon is the key to returning Captain America to the present, but are unsure of how to find her now that she is in the custody of Norman Osborn. Black Widow, Bucky, and Clint Barton take care of that problem by attacking a HAMMER mobile data collector and discovering where Sharon was being held. However, Sharon is already in Latveria, where she, Captain America's body, and the Red Skull are being hooked up to machines. Captain America, still stuck in the past, is suddenly pulled forward in time, and his body in Doom's lab suddenly begins to stir. This issue concludes with Sharon realizing in horror that it isn't Steve Rogers in Captain America's body, but the Red Skull.

What I thought: I liked this issue, it wasn't great or anything, but it was a good comic book. To me Dr. Doom really stole the show, especially with the way he was constantly insulting everybody around him. So now, the Red Skull is in possession of Captain America's body... I still don't exactly get why, but you know how wacky super villains are, always with their crazy master plans. Personally, if I were the Red Skull, I would have happily left Steve Rogers dead instead of allowing for his potential return. But I guess that's why I'm not a crazy super villain. Since it's sitting right in front of me, I guess I might as well review the next issue of this miniseries now.

Score: 7 1/2 out of 10.

As usual, Doom really brought the awesomeness to this issue!

Captain America Reborn #3(of 5)

Captain America Reborn #3: Writer- Ed Brubaker Art- Bryan Hitch
Before I get this review started, I have to ask, why didn't I read this comic sooner???

What Happened: Captain America(Steve Rogers)is still continuing his trip through time, with no way of knowing where he'll end up next or why he's passing through various points in his life. However, while he's fighting in the Kree-Skrull War, he manages to give a message to Vision before he is shunted elsewhere in the timestream. Namor and Mr. Fantastic retrieve Steve's coffin which was laid to rest in the ocean. As soon as they look inside of it, Steve's body vanishes. At about the same time, the Black Widow returns to Pym's lab just as Pym and company are learning from the television that Osborn has revealed Sharon Carter as the secondary shooter of Steve. Widow tells Sharon that Osborn wants her to turn herself in to him, or he'll kill the current Captain America(Bucky Barnes). Widow then tells Sharon not to worry, as the heroes already have a plan in motion to free Bucky from captivity. However, Sharon worries that if the heroes were to fail, she would have the death of another Captain America on her head. Bucky is being transported to Thunderbolts Mountain by a couple of the Thunderbolts via an airplane, which is promptly attacked by Falcon. Sam manages to defeat the T-bolts and rescue Bucky in the process. Sam reports his success back to Pym, and before Pym or Widow can tell Shanon that Bucky was safe and sound, they hear a news report stating that Sharon had turned herself over to HAMMER custody. This issue ends with Sin and Crossbones finding the Red Skull(who is still trapped in one of Armin Zola's old bodies)and telling him that Osborn wants to help him take possession of the body he deserves.

What I thought: This was an exceptionally good issue, which really isn't much of a surprise considering who the writer is. Not only was story great, the dialogue was fantastic, especially Steve's inner monologue, and Bryan's art was beautiful. So now Osborn has Sharon Carter in his possession, who seems to be the key to retrieving Steve from the timestream. Why would Osborn want to rescue Steve? Apparently the plan is for the Red Skull to take possession of Steve(which was the Skull's original plan following Steve's "death")and then for Skull to lead Osborn's Dark Avengers as Captain America. There are a few small pieces to this puzzle we aren't privy to yet, such as what exactly Steve told Vision back in the past, as well as what happened to the body that was in Steve's coffin, but with this mini-series rapidly roaring towards a conclusion, I'd say it's a safe bet we'll find out the answers to all of these questions and more. I know I'll be eagerly anticipating the final two issues of this mini!

Score: 9 1/2 out of 10.I loved this scene, the art was fantastic and the dialogue was perfect.

A Quick Look at Captain America Reborn #2(of 5)

This comic is written by Ed Brubaker and pencilled by Bryan Hitch.

-We start off with Steve Rogers still taking an unwanted joyride through time, reliving events he has already lived through. A battle during WWII, a meeting with President Roosevelt, as well as the moment he received the Super-Soldier Serum. Steve is still at a loss as to why this is happening to him.

-Meanwhile, Bucky and the Black Widow are captured by Venom and Ares after the ambush last issue.

-Pym and Mr. Fantastic run some tests on Sharon Carter and Reed discovers something foreign in her bloodstream. Reed also begins to think back on Steve Rogers' autopsy results.

-Osborn(AKA Mr. Everything)tells Sin and Crossbones he wants them to pull a job for him, one only they would be able to accomplish. Osborn then mentions the possibility of a reborn Captain America leading his band of Avengers and the huge PR boost he would get from that.

-We end this issue with Osborn(yes, him again)meeting with his captives, Bucky and Black Widow. Osborn tells them he informed the media that Sharon Carter was involved in Steve's assassination, which infuriates Bucky. He then tells BW that he wants her to find Sharon and convince her to surrender to him. BW scoffs at that notion, but Osborn warns her that if she doesn't do as he says, Sharon will have the death of a second Captain America on her conscience.

This was an OK comic book. I wasn't blown away by anything here, since this mini is still setting the table for what's going to happen down the road. This issue gives Osborn a motivation for wanting to see Steve reborn(he wants Cap leading the Dark Avengers), as well as providing us with some pieces to what Red Skull's ultimate plan was regarding Cap's assassination. Apparently, Armin Zola and Skull wanted to implant Skull's mind into Steve's body, which makes perfect sense. Remember, at that time, Skull was inhabiting Aleksander Lukin's body. Possessing Steve would give Skull a better body than he was currently in, but more importantly, any crimes Skull would go on to commit would be done using the body of the Skull's greatest nemesis. That seems EXACTLY like the sort of thing Skull would want to do. What better way to destroy your greatest enemy's reputation then by having him go around committing heinous crimes? For a score, I'll give this comic an 8 out of 10. This was another good set-up issue, which will hopefully lead to some great fireworks down the road.I love the hostility between Reed and Pym here!

Captain America Reborn #1(of 5)

Yay, my comic book order finally arrived at my door today. I've got a lot of very good looking books to get through, but first and foremost is this comic, Captain America Reborn #1. I've been both looking forward to and dreading this comic since I heard it was coming out, and now that I finally have it in my hands, I can't wait to dig into it. The creative team for this mini is Ed Brubaker and Bryan Hitch! This should be good.

-We open with a flashback of Cap storming the beaches of Normandy back in WWII. Then we get a flashback of Cap getting killed after the events of Civil War.

-In the present, Bucky and the Black Widow break onto the HAMMER helicarrier in search of the Time Platform Dr. Doom traded the Red Skull. Following the schematics they received from Nick Fury, the two heroes head to the storage room that should contain not only the destroyed Time Platform, but pieces of Armin Zola as well. Bucky and the Widow find neither, and Bucky begins to smell a trap. He is proven right a few moments later when Ares and Venom, along with a mess of HAMMER agents arrive on the scene to arrest them.

-Sharon Carter and the Falcon head to Pym, and proceed to tell him everything Sharon can remember about her time spent as the Red Skull's captive. She also reveals to Pym that Zola and the Skull were trying to pull Cap out of the timestream using the Time Platform, and that the gun she used to "kill" Cap actually fired some kind of unstable bullets which froze Cap's body in the exact moment in time he was shot(or something like that).

-Norman Osborn has managed to repair Zola, and Zola reveals that due to Sharon's interference when he and the Skull were trying to transfer Cap to the present, Cap has become lost in time(or something like that!). This issue ends with Cap reliving various moments from his life while trying to figure out what's the matter with him.

I actually liked this issue. I did have some problems with the story, and some of the reasoning used by some characters bugged me, but all in all, this was a good, enjoyable first issue. First off, I'll tackle my issues with the story. I really don't like the whole "Cap's lost in time!!!" thing. It just seems to... Convenient I guess. I was expecting something more from a writer of Ed's immense talents. Cap being lost in time just feels uninspired to me. Plus the fact that I didn't understand what the hell Armin Zola has talking about didn't help matters... Damn those mad scientists and their incomprehensible mumbo-jumbo!

My other main problem is the entire idea of bringing Cap back at all. It just doesn't make sense from the Red Skull's point of view. I'm sure as this mini-series progresses we'll find out the Skull had some kind of nefarious reason as to why he wanted to bring Cap back to life, but my complaint is why would the Skull even bother? Its already been established that the Skull has always craved Cap's death at his hands, so why wouldn't he have just been satisfied by the fact that it was his master plan that resulted in Cap's death? Why bring back your worst enemy? My only guess is that the Skull wanted to personally finish Cap off, but still, the man was dead! Why not leave well enough alone? For a score I'll give this comic a 9 out of 10. This was a very strong first issue to this series, and I'll be waiting anxiously to find out what issue #2 has in store for us.