Captain America #600 **Spoilers**


dc20willsave

Recommended Posts

From The New York Daily News:

Captain America is coming back to life in a comic near you

Captain America is making a miraculous recovery.

Two years after Marvel Comics knocked off its famous star-spangled superhero, he's gonna be back and better than ever.

"The original Captain America is finally coming back," Marvel Comics editor in chief Joe Quesada told the Daily News. "We've been patiently planning for this moment for 21/2 years."

Captain America will return next month in a five-comic book series, "Captain America Reborn."

The dramatic return is coming not a moment too soon for fans of the superhero and his alter ego, Steve Rogers.

Marvel writer Ed Brubaker was stunned at the global reaction when Captain America was gunned down on the steps of a courthouse.

"It was crazy," said Brubaker. "I had shock jocks calling me up at 5:30 in the morning - they got my home number somehow - and they were like, 'Ed, tell us it's not true, tell us Captain America is not dead.'"

It's been 68 years since creators Joe Simon and Jack Kirby introduced Rogers - a scrawny kid who is injected with a "Super Soldier" serum to fight the Nazis - to an adoring fan base.

Captain America has appeared in more than 210 million comics in 75 countries since then, and a big-budget movie is scheduled for 2011.

"He's a pop culture icon," said Bryan Hitch, artist for "Captain America Reborn."

"[Captain America] at heart is a bit of an old-fashioned guy - he looks like Brad Pitt, but smells like your granddad."

Death in comics, of course, is almost never as final as it is in real life.

Marvel's archrival, DC Comics, killed Superman in 1993, only to bring him back a year later.

There's still no word about how creators plan to bring Captain America back to life.

One thing's for sure - it'll definitely be a hit.

"Consumers are responding to it like crazy," said Gerry Gladston, co-owner of Midtown Comics in Manhattan. "They don't feel like it's a stunt."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

BOO! He's barely been gone long enough to establish Bucky, unless this is a plot point that Brubaker himself had mind mind right from when the shots were fired I say BOO! They only just finished off the storyline about the immediate aftermath of his death about 4-5 issue of the comic ago. They only just brought him into the New Avengers.

BOOO! I love Cap but he means more dead. Give Bucky a chance! Give Bucky a chance!

edit: OK, its being written by Brubaker so I'll be getting it. The video trailer gave me chills, I just read Captain America Vol 5 from start to the latest issue this weekend.

Please let Bucky remain as Cap though. Steve Rogers can lead the attack to counter Dark Reign and become the big boss at Shield, and then we can start to see some Buckycap/cap interaction, possibly even clashes over time. Steve needs to be something else other than Captain America for a long while, even if he dons the suit occasionally.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Marvel's Press Release:

It was the shot heard ‘round the world. Following the most shocking and controversial event in comic book history – the assassination of Captain America in the pages of Captain America #25 – neither the heroes of the Marvel Universe nor the rest of the world have quite come to grips with this most traumatic of losses. From the moment he was taken from us until today, one fact has proven to be true: the world still needs Captain America. And now, the time has come! At long last, the legend, the hero, is back. Steve Rogers makes his triumphant return from the grave in the publishing event of the year: Captain America Reborn, a five part series from Marvel Comics beginning this July.

Long seen as the world’s greatest hero, Captain America made his first appearance in March, 1941, boldly fighting the Nazis in World War II. As a symbol of true patriotism, his popularity soared during the war as he became a nationally revered icon of US efforts to spread freedom around the globe. Serving as the Sentinel of Liberty for nearly 70 years, Cap embodied the spirit of the American people and became one of the world’s most beloved and recognizable characters. His death rocked the entire world, real and fictional, and his return from the grave promises to be a landmark event as well.

The recipient of two Eisner Awards for his tale about the life and death of Captain America, Ed Brubaker joins forces with acclaimed Ultimates artist Bryan Hitch for the landmark Captain America Reborn series. This partnership promises to produce the visually arresting, action packed story that fans around the world have been eagerly anticipating.

A story that captured international attention, Captain America #25 polarized shocked audiences by starkly depicting the murder the cultural icon. On that fateful day when shots rang out on the courthouse steps, Cap’s greatest enemy—the Red Skull-- achieved his greatest ambition—or so it seemed. Since that time, the Marvel Universe has been in chaos, as as the Red Skull has worked towards his true endgame. But now there is a ray of hope in the form of Steve Rogers!

How can Steve Rogers return from the dead, and will his rebirth be enough to stop the global threat of his sworn enemy? Hitting shelves on July 1st, the special five part series Captain America Reborn finally reveals the true scope of the Red Skull’s nefarious plan, and begins Captain America’s triumphant return.

For fans of Captain America and those wanting to own a part of this historic moment in Marvel history, visit your local comic book retailer on July 1, 2009 to purchase Captain America Reborn #1. To learn more about this landmark event, go to www.marvel.com/reborn! To find a comic book retailer near you, visit http://www.comicshoplocator.com/ or call 888-COMICBOOK. And be sure to pick up Captain America #600, on sale this week, as the road to Reborn begins!

So, for intents and purposes, the press release ignores that Bucky has become Captain America. At least DC didn't let one of the replacement Supermen take the title, run with it, become an exciting character in a new direction only for Big Blue to show up and invalidate the new Superman's existence (Like they're going to do with Batman but I digress.) Also, I wouldn't exactly call Cap's death the "most shocking and controversial event in comics history." Not unless you're already trying to forger, Marvel, who editorially dictated that Peter Parker sell his marriage to the devil. Yeah, this entire thing screams of Marvel trying to recreate the fever of Cap's death selling all those issues.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A story that captured international attention, Captain America #25 polarized shocked audiences by starkly depicting the murder the cultural icon. On that fateful day when shots rang out on the courthouse steps, Cap’s greatest enemy—the Red Skull-- achieved his greatest ambition—or so it seemed. Since that time, the Marvel Universe has been in chaos, as as the Red Skull has worked towards his true endgame. But now there is a ray of hope in the form of Steve Rogers!

Things that annoy me about this-

Red Skull was defeated by Bucky. That threat is over. The Marvel U is in chaos over Dark Reign which he has nothing to do with Red Skull as far as we know. This is a press release that seems to indicate an entirely different course of events than has actually happened.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please let Bucky remain as Cap though. Steve Rogers can lead the attack to counter Dark Reign and become the big boss at Shield, and then we can start to see some Buckycap/cap interaction, possibly even clashes over time. Steve needs to be something else other than Captain America for a long while, even if he dons the suit occasionally.

I love that idea. That is great.

I'm dreading this. BuckyCap is freaking great and one of my favorite Marvel characters right now. I want him to stay. Steve Rogers should've been dead a lot longer than that.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

From the Associated Press

Captain America rises from the dead for new series

By ERIN CARLSON

AP Entertainment Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — Captain America is rising from the grave.

The Marvel Comics superhero returns for the five-part series "Captain America Reborn," beginning July 1.

But Marvel won't disclose how he rises from the dead. Executive Editor Tom Brevoort teases that the character has been "on a Vonnegut-esque metaphysical journey," including some soul-searching about his place in the world.

"He hasn't just been lying in a cold grave for these many months," Brevoort says. "While he seems to be dead, his mind and his spirit" are active elsewhere.

Captain America, the superhero alter ego of Steve Rogers, was apparently shot and killed two years ago on the steps of a courthouse in lower Manhattan. He was buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

Rogers' sidekick Bucky Barnes took his place, continuing the series. Brevoort says Barnes will embark on a quest to revive Rogers after tracking down what really happened to him.

"There's definitely a question that must arise, which is 'Can there be more than one Captain America?"' says Brevoort. "And if not, even if there can't, what does this mean for Bucky? Where does he fit in the world now?"

According to Brevoort, some Bucky fans are none too pleased.

"Right this second, it's kind of a split," he says. "When Steve was first killed, there was great outcry. But then as Bucky has taken over as Cap, and has sort of struggled to fill those big shoes, a lot of our readers have really taken to him as a character."

He says Marvel planned to bring back Rogers in one shape or form and, given the general mood of the country, the timing seemed right to resurrect one of the comic book empire's most patriotic icons.

"It feels like there's a desire for hopefulness," he says. "A desire for heroes and for somebody to show us that we can be our better selves, and to help pull us all up by our bootstraps and get out of the situations that we find ourselves in."

I've heard nothing about a split. Most everyone I've talked to things this is a bad idea.

After reading this:

He says Marvel planned to bring back Rogers in one shape or form and, given the general mood of the country, the timing seemed right to resurrect one of the comic book empire's most patriotic icons.

"It feels like there's a desire for hopefulness," he says. "A desire for heroes and for somebody to show us that we can be our better selves, and to help pull us all up by our bootstraps and get out of the situations that we find ourselves in."

I feel like Marvel is completely, totally out of touch with their readership.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

"There's definitely a question that must arise, which is 'Can there be more than one Captain America?"' says Brevoort. "And if not, even if there can't, what does this mean for Bucky? Where does he fit in the world now?"

Ha! I was right!

Bucky can be a great character, but Captain America he is not. Make him the new U.S. Agent or something; the Cap title belongs to Steve Rogers and only Steve Rogers.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

http://comics.ign.com/articles/994/994682p1.html

Captain America Reborn Interview

Marvel's Executive Editor, Tom Brevoort, discusses the return of Steve Rogers - and what that means for the current Cap, Bucky Barnes.

captain-america-reborn-20090615082634877-000.jpg

IGN Comics: Tom, let's start with the basic concept of Captain America Reborn. Fans know the series is obviously about the return of Steve Rogers. What else are you able to say about the project at this point?

Tom Brevoort: Well… -laughs- It's written by Ed Brubaker with art by Bryan Hitch and Butch Guice. It's five issues. It comes out July 1. And the first seeds for it are in Captain America #600, which is on sale today.

IGN Comics: Okay, cool. You mentioned both Bryan Hitch and Butch Guice. What's the artistic structure for the project then? Are they alternating issues or do they weave their styles throughout the mini-series?

Brevoort: Well Butch is inking Hitch. But there's the understanding that if Bryan were to fall behind, then Butch could step in and do some penciling as well. So he gives us a certain amount of security that the issues can come out when they need to come out. But assuming everything goes to plan, he's there to ink and embellish everything that Bryan is doing. It's been a pretty successful combination.

IGN Comics: I wanted to get into the planning of Steve's return. It's my understanding that this had been planned since his death, correct?

Brevoort: Yes.

IGN Comics: Did you guys always have this planned to start after about 25 issues or was it more flexible than that?

Brevoort: Oh, not at all. Not at all. In fact, not to cast things onto him, but I think Ed was so fearful of going into this segment, to run the book without the lead character, that initially Ed was saying, "Oh, yeah, I'll bring him back by issue #30." And we all kind of smiled and went along for the moment and let him have his fantasies, knowing and hoping that this would be a much bigger deal and that we wouldn't be able to do it that quickly.

But the exact timing has sort of been fluid as things went along. It just seemed like the time is right, that the amount of time that has gone by has been sufficient to make this all work. But the specifics of how, why and where Steve is – all of that was set up, not only in Captain America #25, but even before that. So this has been a piece that has been building since about 2006. It's always just been a question of when we're moving into that phase of the story. Certainly people reacted much more positively to the idea of a Captain America series without Captain America than Ed had thought at first. Certainly everyone… well, most people, have embraced Bucky Barnes as Captain America as well. So there hasn't been any particular rush to get to this point, but we always knew we'd hit it sooner or later.

IGN Comics: So I guess that brings up the question… you know, Bucky has been so well-received by the fans… was there ever the thought that Steve is better off dead?

Brevoort: Um, no, no serious thought. This was the plan all along. The setup was all there. Once you get through Reborn, you'll say, "Oh, that was such and such sequence from this issue. And that's what that was about. There's that piece over there."

The most we would have done was extend the term of Bucky's Cap-hood. But inevitably, eventually we were always going to get to where we are going now. That being said, there's nothing that necessarily says that there isn't room enough for two Captain Americas – or even that Steve will come back and be Captain America. There's plenty of story left to be told and it doesn't mean that we're going to be strapping Bucky to a flying bomb or anything.

IGN Comics: Captain America #600 lays on the hints pretty thick. I mean there are repeated instances where the characters almost flat-out tell the reader "you don't know what happened." Before that it seemed like you guys were avoiding laying out too many hints. Was that an effort to keep people focused on Bucky rather than having them continuously thinking about Steve?

Brevoort: Definitely so. Ultimately we did our groundwork in Captain America #25 and earlier. Though every time we get back to Sharon, we see stuff. And there have been times over the course of the past year and a half that have maybe been clues that people haven't really realized. But when we got to the point where Bucky was Captain America, our mission statement became "make him Captain America." Make people love him as Captain America. Make people invested in him. And that's definitely a tough thing to do if not only the shadow of Steve as a figure is looming over him, but the figure of Steve as a guy knocking on the door, returning any time now, is also there.

That being said, Ed's been very diligent about dropping bits of information and the seeds and dots to build the story where it needs to go next. And that's been all during that period. Once you get into Reborn #1, and beyond, you'll start to see the pattern emerge. You'll start to say "Aha! That's what that was all about!"

IGN Comics: So what's the publishing plan for Captain America while Reborn is hitting stores?

Brevoort: During Reborn, Cap will go on hiatus for a few months, after Gene Colan's issue #601. The reason for that is pretty simple – all those characters are going to be in Reborn! –laughs- We considered doing '50s Cap stories, but it just seemed like a lot of effort for no reasonable result. So until around November or December, that's how long fans will have to wait until Cap #602.

IGN Comics: When you guys first started off with the death of Steve, you mentioned there was the question of how Bucky would be received. Were you guys then worried, after the strong reception, about what to do with Bucky once Steve did come back?

Brevoort: I think it's the other way around, in a sense. I've been supremely confident, and I think Ed has been as well. From the moment Bucky came back… that's by all means a story that should not work. It's one of the big taboos of the Marvel Universe – Bucky Barnes is dead, and you can't bring him back. Leave him alone. And Ed, Steve Epting and all the guys who have worked on this series have found a way to make it work, to make the readers accept him. So from that point, when Cap died and Bucky was going to be the new Cap, I had absolute confidence.

You know, I get this question a lot – were you ever afraid Bucky as Cap wouldn't work? And it never crossed my mind in a serious way. We jumped the hurdle getting him alive. So in the same sort of way, what happens to Bucky once Steve is back, I'm not at all worried about that. I think we've had four years of making him a character people are interested in, regardless of set of clothes he happens to be wearing. It's not like his history changes, his background changes or his situation really changes. And we actually haven't gotten to a point where, because of Steve's death and the Winter Soldier situation, these two guys are really standing face-to-face in their right minds. So there's a whole series of stories you can tell just based on that.

The questions for Bucky, I would think, are now that Steve is back – 1) does he need to be Captain America anymore? Does Steve want to be in that role? Is there room for two of them? And 2) regardless of that, this story will make him face something that he's been avoiding. Being Captain America gave him a mission and a focus. It propelled him forward. If that's taken away, he'll have to stop and go "Okay, what is there in this world of 2009/2010 for me?" Everyone he's known, for the most part, growing up is dead. He has no family. He has no job. He has a horrible past where he's done horrible things to mostly-horrible people. It was relatively easy for him to become Captain America, to put on Steve's boots and define myself by that. But in some ways that's been his way of subconsciously running away from big questions in his life that he'll now, whether he wants to or not, have to face.

IGN Comics: I don't know if it's possible to characterize Reborn one way or another, but would you characterize this as a mini-series about Bucky or Steve Rogers?

Brevoort: It's definitely about Steve Rogers, but not necessarily with Steve as the lead character. As you'll see in Reborn #1, Bucky and the Black Widow are taking the bulk of the action in the story – all in the pursuit of Steve. Steve as a figure looms large… but he's not really the star… and yet it's all about him.

IGN Comics: Will we see Reborn reflecting Dark Reign? Will Norman Osborn have a heavy influence on the storyline?

Brevoort: Umm, I wouldn't say a heavy influence, but there's definitely an influence. Reborn happens now. It happens today. So Norman plays a role. You'll see the Dark Avengers. You'll see some of the Mighty Avengers. You'll see Dr. Doom. There will be a wide range of characters during the course of Reborn. So yeah, Norman is running the show and he and his guys will play a role.

IGN Comics: In terms of impacting other titles, will it be once Reborn concludes we'll see other books reflect that story or will we start to see an immediate impact throughout other books?

Brevoort: Well there are no tie-ins to Reborn. Through the course of those five issues, that will be entirely in Reborn. Throughout that you'll see impact on various characters, but it's really once Reborn is over that you'll see those effects wider in the Marvel Universe.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

IGN Comics: Will we see Reborn reflecting Dark Reign? Will Norman Osborn have a heavy influence on the storyline?

Brevoort: Umm, I wouldn't say a heavy influence, but there's definitely an influence. Reborn happens now. It happens today. So Norman plays a role. You'll see the Dark Avengers. You'll see some of the Mighty Avengers. You'll see Dr. Doom. There will be a wide range of characters during the course of Reborn. So yeah, Norman is running the show and he and his guys will play a role.

Anyone else read that as, 'Oh shit, we didn't even think about that huge crossover we're doing right now. We should probably talk to someone about that'?

This just seems like a money grab to me. I don't see how they had this planned all along and haven't once thought that it might not work.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Anyone else read that as, 'Oh shit, we didn't even think about that huge crossover we're doing right now. We should probably talk to someone about that'?

It seems more like "this is more of a personal story about Bucky and Steve; the other details will be important later. (Perhaps in New/Dark Avengers or one of those stories that would logically involve Norman more heavily)"

This just seems like a money grab to me.

I really don't read it that way. Steve is almost the Christ figure of the Marvel Universe; he needs to be the one to come back and lead the charge against Osborn. Besides, they already said that it was planned from the beginning. I mean, seriously, how can they keep Steve F-ing Rogers dead? He's practically the embodiment of all that is good and holy.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.