Adam's Adventures: Captain America #600 (Marvel Comics) Review by Adam P.

Captain America gets a mammoth-sized extravaganza for his 600th issue

Captain America #600 contains a 40-page tale leading straight into the five-issue Reborn limited series launching in July, another 22 pages of backup stories, 26 pages of reprints and a couple bonus features. If you're an avid fan of Cap, it's a treasure trove. Even if he's not among your favourites, the issue provides lots of solid storytelling, mostly focusing on Cap's human vulnerabilities and the profound effect he had on his loved ones.




We kick off with a two-page painted retelling of Cap's origin by Alex Ross from 2002. It brings back memories of when Ross used to actually do the interior of comics and not just covers. It's a sterling introduction to our protagonist and serves as a reminder that Cap has already “died” twice before: upon injection of the superhero serum the old Steve Rogers passed away, and he remained in a near-death coma after World War II.

Next we have the main 40-page story which is told in eight parts by series writer Ed Brubaker and drawn by Howard Chaykin and a gaggle of other artists. One year after his assassination, we meet a who's-who of Cap's closest allies and sworn enemies and get an inside glimpse as to how his passing has affected them. The various episodes move along briskly and are mostly highly entertaining and fascinating in that they provide a very real glimpse into how a death has massive repercussions.

Although newcomers to Cap will have no clue who some of these characters are, it's not too difficult to pick up on the gist of what's going on. Most importantly, the New Avengers get the tantalizing surprise that Cap might be able to be brought back from the dead, although the Red Skull will certainly have something to say about that. The story generates interesting thoughts about politics and sociology as Norman Osborn co-opts the Central Park Captain America memorial service for his own ends.

The reminiscing continues in a 12-page backup feature where Steve Rogers' ex-girlfriend Bernie Rosenthal yields her recollections of the man. More poignant is Mark Waid's 10-page backup feature about Cap's memorabilia being auctioned off and the motivations of those buying the items. In these two stories, the art of John Byrne and Jack Kirby is said to have been created by Steve Rogers himself. Speaking of Jack, we're also treated to a two-page article by Cap co-creator Joe Simon where he shares the comical struggles he had getting King Kirby to draw the hero.

We then get a 24-page reprint of a 1942 tale by Stan Lee. The art is simply atrocious and Lee's writing has not yet attained the magnificent heights he reached in the 60's. The Red Skull even has uniform malfunctions as his chest emblem switches from a Japanese imperial flag to a Nazi swastika from one panel to the next. Still, it's nice to see Cap being unjustly labelled a traitor in the 40's the same way he was in the present day when he opposed Osborn and the Superhuman Registration Act during the Marvel Civil War.

Finally, there is a 9-page spread of all 600 Cap covers. Impressive, but printed so small there's not much point. At least a collaborating website is listed so that fans can see the same covers in a less headache-inducing format. It was nice to see one of the first comics I ever bought on the newsstand: Captain America #355 from 1989. So here's to another 600 issues of one of Marvel's premier heroes.

8/10
Adam P.
Review Co-Editor