Review: The Death of Captain America: The Man Who Bought America hardcover/paperback (Marvel Comics)

[This guest review comes from Scott Cederlund of Pop Syndicate and The Secret of Wednesday's Haul]

In Daredevil: Born Again, Frank Miller wrote one of the most succinct and concise descriptions of Captain America:

"A soldier with a voice that could command a god ... and does."

A soldier that can and does command a god. The Captain America that Miller described was Steve Rogers and he's dead. Bucky Barnes now has the shield and wears the familiar stars and stripes but, as we saw in The Death of Captain America Volume 2, when he needed to inspire the American people and rally them in times of political and financial trouble, he wasn't able to. He failed where Steve Rogers most likely would have succeeded. Fighting the Red Skull's terrorists and soldiers, Bucky had all the moves and fighting skills but when it came to getting the people behind him as Captain America, he failed. He was learning how to be Captain America but he still had a long way to go.

In the third and final volume of the trilogy, The Death of Captain America: The Man Who Bought America, Bucky Barnes has two loose ends after the murder of Steve Rogers. Sharon Carter, Steve Rogers' lover, is still under the Red Skulls' control and the Skull is still poised to attack America on a financial, political and terrorist level. And then there's the little issue of someone else running around in a Captain America costume, saving Presidential candidates getting the American public excited about the return of a hero. And what can it mean when the second Captain America endorses a candidate who's a pawn of the Red Skull?

While this story is called "The Death of Captain America," maybe calling it "The Birth of a new Captain America" would have been much more appropriate. Over the course of three books (and more if you count the entire Brubaker/Epting run on Captain America,) Bucky Barnes is learning how to live up to the dreams and aspirations of Steve Rogers. By this book, he's finally figured out that they way to do that is instinctively to fight for what is important. Ever since Steve Rogers was shot down, Bucky has thought through and questioned every act. He's spent a lot of time inside of his own head, asking himself "what would Steve do?" Trying to be Steve Rogers and Captain America got in Bucky's way. There's still that questioning and probing in this final book but when it comes time to act, Bucky fights like he always has, even like he did when he was the kid charging into battle with Captain America -- act first and think later. Actions are what makes the hero and Bucky has finally learned and accepted that by this last book.

It's an oversimplification to say that Brubaker and artist Steve Epting have created a Captain America for the twenty-first century but that's exactly what they've done. For the past eight years, Captain America has tried to be relevant and topical and failed. All you need to look at is the Marvel Knights relaunch post-September 11th that tried to address the attacks on America and the heroes reactions to them. The character floundered around after that, trying to comment on current society while getting sucked into typical superhero shenanigans with Avengers Disassembled. Let's be honest for a moment; it's been a long time since the character really mattered. And that's a harsh statement for someone who may be the top American icon behind Uncle Sam and maybe even Superman.

Somehow with this new Captain America, Brubaker and Epting have finally made him a reflection of society without being jingoistic or patronizing. Brubaker's Captain America isn't the relic from the 1940s that Steve Rogers could easily become even though Bucky also is a relic from the 1940s. Steve Rogers was just too much "your father's Captain America," a soldier and an American cut out of an old and outdated cloth. Considering that he was revamped in the early 1960s and still espoused a very 50s/60s viewpoint of America, it was hard to take him seriously after everything that's happened in the last 50 years or even in the last 10 years. Bucky allows a younger view of America and gives the writer a chance to explore and rediscover what makes Captain America a hero and what makes him an American hero.

In all three volumes of The Death of Captain America, Ed Brubaker, Steve Epting and a few other artists redefine Captain America. Spider-Man, Green Lantern and even Superman have all had new or different characters step into the costumes and we know that never lasts. In the back of our minds, we know someday Steve Rogers will be back wearing the blue chain-mail costume and slinging the shield but Brubaker and Epting have been pulling off miracles since they began on Captain America. They killed the Red Skull, brought Bucky back, killed Steve Rogers and now have Bucky stepping into the costume and role of Captain America.

In any lesser creator's hands, none of this would have worked. It would all have felt like cheap stunts to increase sales. Brubaker and Epting have created an instant classic with The Death of Captain America, redefining the character in a time of political, financial and international uncertainty and war. Bucky Barnes may not have the voice to command gods yet but he's on his way to being a hero and an icon. Maybe a new Captain America can be a symbol for a new America.

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Review: The Death of Captain America: The Burden of Dreams hardcover/paperback (Marvel Comics)

[This guest review comes from Scott Cederlund of Pop Syndicate and The Secret of Wednesday's Haul]

What is a hero? That's one of the main questions that writer Ed Brubaker has been asking during his run on Captain America. What characteristics and qualities do you find in your heroes like Captain America, the Falcon or even Iron Man?

Ever since Brubaker revealed that Bucky Barnes was still alive and brainwashed into being the Winter Soldier, we've seen Steve Rogers doing everything he could to rescue and redeem his former sidekick, friend and fellow hero. As Steve Rogers struggled to believe in and help Bucky, we've had to ask if redemption and freedom was possible as we've seen the Winter Soldier be used and kill. The Winter Soldier was more weapon than man and he was a weapon in the wrong hands. Bucky, one of the great deaths in comics, was back but Steve Rogers was the only person who believed he could be saved and we watched as Captain America fought to reach out to his friend, his ally and his brother-in-arms. Now Steve Rogers is dead, killed by the Red Skull and Bucky is out for revenge. Without Steve Rogers around to guide him, can Bucky Barnes truly be a hero again?

In The Death of Captain America Volume 2: The Burden of Dreams, events begin to come more into focus following the killing of a national hero and icon. The book opens with two of the main characters, Sharon Carter and Bucky, captured by the Red Skull, one brainwashed into serving him and the other being tortured and brainwashed. Even as the Red Skull fights to keep control of his ally General Lukin, no one is in complete control of themselves or their actions but it does look like the Skull has the upper hand. But the Red Skull does not have as strong of a hold over everyone as he likes to think and Bucky soon winds up on a SHIELD helicarrier, under the control of Tony Stark.

While it is still part of the same larger story, The Burden of Dreams is a very different book than the The Death of Captain America volume one. Brubaker shakes up his storytelling, abandoning the quick and choppy transitional storytelling of the first volume and spending more time developing his scenes while he concentrates firmly on the growth and development of Bucky, who takes center-stage in this story. The chaos and confusion following the death of Steve Rogers is replaced by planning and action as Tony Stark and Bucky begin filling the void left following Steve Rogers' death. Borrowing a term from another superhero's famous death, what do you do in a world without Captain America?

I don't think it's much of a spoiler at this point to say that by the middle of this book, Bucky Barnes is wearing Captian America's uniform and slinging his shield. Does the fact that he's got the look make him Captain America? Does that make him a hero? Brubaker has shown since the beginning of his run on this title that there's more to the hero than the clothes and the shield. It's the man who's wearing those clothes that's important. Steve Rogers wasn't a hero because he was Captain America. He was Captain America because he was a hero first. That's the man he was, sacrificing himself in his last moments to save one of his guards from the assassins bullet. Brubaker has continually shown that Bucky Barnes was a fighter and that he was loyal but his heroism is still questionable.

Brubaker doesn't give any easy answers to the questions he raises. His story is a fantastic thriller, equal parts Bourne Identity, All The President's Men and old school Marvel. The best Captain America writers like Steve Englehart, Jack Kirby and Roger Stern have used the character to explore heroism and the American way. Brubaker continues the heritage of Captain America, questioning the characters role in the twenty-first century. Setting up the Red Skull as the now head of a large mega-conglomerate corporation, Brubaker shows America being attacked on many levels, from within and without. As well as the obvious and overt actions of Sin, the Skulls' daugther, at causing chaos in Washington DC, the Skull's company begins undermining the fabric of America, striking at Wall Street and Main Street through weak financial institutions. On all fronts, America has been beaten and weakened and is in need of a hero. It's in need of Captain America.

Bucky may have the costume and the mask but he's still not Captain America in The Burden of Dreams. It takes more than a costume to be a hero just as it takes more than a hero to be an icon. In this book, America is under attack and looking for a hero and that may be Bucky Barnes but he still has the same doubts about himself that others have -- can he fill the void left by Steve Rogers? Can he be a hero like Rogers was, fighting for something larger than himself? Of course, Steve Rogers wasn't the national icon overnight, so how can Tony Stark or the Black Widow expect Bucky Barnes to be?

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Review: Captain America: The Death of Captain America hardcover/paperback (Marvel Comics)

[This guest review comes from Scott Cederlund of Pop Syndicate and The Secret of Wednesday's Haul]

Steve Rogers has been a hero, a soldier and an icon. When he is in the hands of the best writers and artists, he's a man of our times even when he was a man out of time. Since Ed Brubaker and Steve Epting took over the character in 2005, Steve Rogers struggled with the idea of Captain America. In Brubaker and Epting's first issue, they killed the Red Skull and introduced the Winter Agent, a shocking face from Captain America's past. In a move that most comic fans said could not and should not be done, Brubaker and Epting brought back Bucky, Captain America's WWII-era sidekick, long dead and a part of Captain America's legend for over 80 years. It was a bold move by the creative team that surprisingly worked out better than anyone actually thought. So, after bringing Bucky back, what could they do next?

They killed Steve Rogers. Shot him dead on a courthouse steps in front of hundreds of witnesses and broadcast around the world, thanks to the ever present live media coverage.

Captain America: The Death of Captain America literally begins with a bang as Brubaker wastes no time. There's no long, drawn out death scene, no final words or last rights; just a simple bullet in the early pages of the book. Even in the end, Steve Rogers dies a hero, saving the life of one of his guards. After the events of Marvel's Civil War, Rogers was arrested for his rebellion against the Super Hero Registration Act and was ready to meet his fate at the hands of the justice system. Brought to the court house by U.S. Marshalls, he is the only one in large crowd who notices a sniper's rifle in a far off building, trained on one of his own captors. Knocking the officer out of the way, Rogers apparently takes the bullet, saving a life as only he would.

The rest of the book deals with the mourning and grieving of an American hero by those who knew and loved him. Sharon Carter fights to understand her own role in the tragic events. Tony Stark, the "winner" of the Civil War, tries to hold the country together. The Falcon and the Black Widow, two allies of Captain America, fight on, looking for the killers while trying to protect the legacy of Steve Rogers. Bucky Barnes, the Winter Soldier, faces the toughest battle, believing in everything Steve Rogers did even after witnessing his assassination. The Death of Captain America is about the survivors trying to make sense out of actions that should not make any sense at all to them. Sharon Carter and Bucky face the worst in this story. Each, in their own way, have betrayed Steve Rogers and have to come to terms with their failures.

In a brilliant move, Brubaker hides almost nothing from the reader from the moment that bullet is fired. This is not a "whodunnit" type mystery, looking for clues as to who pulled the trigger or why. From the outset, Brubaker lets us know who is behind the murder and how it was done. The motivations are clear and make perfect sense within the story that Brubaker has been working on for the last couple of years. The hows and whys of the act are not what Brubaker is particularly concerned about here. He is concerned with how all of the characters react to it.

Ed Brubaker and Steve Epting killed a hero and an icon. It's a gutsy move to take your main character, a hero of several generations, and completely remove him from the book but this is not some cheap death, designed to boost sales and ultimately be forgettable. Brubaker and Epting have a story to tell about the loss of an icon. Steve Rogers may be dead but the dreams of Captain America still live on in his friends and allies.

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