Comic Review: Captain America: Reborn #1 (Marvel Comics) by Adam P.

Steve Rogers returns... but not quite yet

Much has been made of Captain America's death. Captain America: Reborn #1 seems to demonstrate that there'll be nothing to fear here, it's just comic book business as usual. It's important for readers not to see the death of a superhero as a regular death. Comic books are in the realm of fantasy, complete with retcons and myriad ways of traveling through time and space. That Captain America was alive at all in the twenty-first century is impossible enough, since he served in World War II.




We witness Ed Brubaker defining the legend of Captain America here. Other issues like Captain America #600 focused on what his death meant, and here we get to see what his life meant.

The five issue mini-series will see Captain America come back thru the dead seemingly thru time traveling science fiction methods. We have Dr. Doom, Dr. Zola, the Red Skull, Norman Osborn, Hank Pym and even Reed Richards mentioned as the great scientific minds of the Marvel U. who were or will be involved in the complex reasons behind Cap's imminent reappearance.

For starters, we see Bucky (as the new Captain America) and Black Widow attempted to sneak into H.A.M.M.E.R.'s space station to steal the fabled but now broken time machine that arch-nemesis attempted to use to bring Steve Rogers back. All seems to be going well... until some Dark Avengers show up on the scene.

Meanwhile, Sharon Carter, Cap's ex-lover and unwilling killer, explains the mad plot behind Steve's death to the brilliant Hank Pym.

The original Cap finds himself hurtling through time, reliving key moments of his far distant past, confused as to how he got there. These are truly the best scenes of the book and a beautiful rebirth of the Captain America mythos for the present day. To see Captain America on the D-Day boats off the coast of Normandy trying to boost the courage of his fellow American troops is a perfect use of historical fact in the realm of comics and an amazing visual definition of true heroism when the stakes are as high as they get.

Overall the book is a solid work, with page-turning storytelling by Brubaker and heroic rendering by Bryan Hitch. It's a pleasure to read and will pique the reader's curiosity as to what the rest of the series holds in store.

8.5/10
Adam P.
Review Co-Editor