Midway through the Reborn series, take a look at how Brubaker is handling the return of Steve Rogers.
CAPTAIN AMERICA: REBORN #3
Publisher: Marvel
Writer: Ed Brubaker
Artist: Bryan Hitch
Inker: Butch Guice
Colorist: Paul Mounts
Letterer: VC’s Joe Caramagna
Summary: Dr. Doom and the Red Skull together again! And what is the fate of the original Captain America, Steve Rogers — and how can he help save himself from the accidental trap he’s found himself in? All this and more — as the Avengers and the FF battle insane odds to save Marvel’s Fallen Son! By the astonishing team of Brubaker, Hitch, and Guice!
Review: Captain America: Reborn continues to bring it home with an adventurous tale of time manipulation, heroism, and remorse. Throughout the history of Captain America, there can only be a handful of times when this stout soldier expressed feeling hopeless; it happens here in issue #3. It’s Sharon Carter whose face shows pains of remorse on the panels but with this series being the return of Steve Rogers, we can hope Brubaker and company felt at least a twinge of remorse in killing off Cap in the first place.
As Steve’s physical body zaps from place to place throughout time, his mental stability teeters on the edge of insanity as each past moment is relived repeatedly. One of those moments is when Reed Richards seeks out Namor in the Arctic Circle to have the sarcophagus of Steve Rogers raised from the depths. They witness the body in the glass coffin only to see it disappear before their eyes which is the first time the series has shown witnesses to Cap’s time jumping.
Meanwhile, the guilt of shooting Steve and destroying the Red Skull’s machine is eating away at Sharon Carter. The entire world is looking for her since Norman Osborn declared her public enemy #1. Osborn claims that if Sharon turns herself in, he will release Bucky/Captain America. The threat of another Cap’s blood being on her hands is too much for her to bear. Ghost, Scourge and Ant-Man are among the Thunderbolts guarding Bucky but one among them is not so loyal to the cause nor Osborn’s paycheck. One individual helps Bucky out of the restraints just as Falcon launches an attack on their plane. While the term “anti-hero” gets tossed around like a ragdoll in comics, sometimes the moniker is fitting as is the case here. You have a bad guy doing something heroic even if it is for his own survival.
Steve is going through some epic fight scenes including parts of the Kree-Skrull War with Captain Marvel, Clinton Barton (Goliath) and Thor. As dynamic as the action sequences are, they don’t compare to the quiet still moment of Captain America isolated with Vision. A creative plan is devised to get a message to the Avengers about Steve’s time leaping torture.
But what are the villains up to, you ask? Father’s Day comes a bit late for Red Skull who had to wait for Norman Osborn to arrange for the Skull’s daughter Sin to be released from prison. She makes up for the delay by giving him the perfect crimson cranium to cap his current cyborg body. Her name is Sin and she has Daddy issues. If she lived in New Jersey, she’d end up on a pole.
The series is now passed the midway point and the plot isn’t slowing down nor is the pacing. Namor’s appearance in this issue is provocative and powerful largely due in part to the artwork and artistic direction of the panels. Sharon Carter’s pain is so clearly showcased as it has been throughout the series. Her eyes are always away from the reader and her head hangs in despair.
Steve Rogers didn’t have a choice to enter this unstable environment but he seems to finally have a plan for how to escape it which means fans might soon be able to have Steve back leading the Avengers – or perhaps rebuilding S.H.I.E.L.D. His abilities go beyond speed, strength, agility and marksmanship. His uncanny aptitude for strategy will always make him America’s #1 soldier.
