Captain America's Return

Next month the Captain America: Reborn mini series will start. Tom Brevoort, Executive Editor, and Ed Brubanker, Captain America writer, have both confirmed that it will be about the return of Steve Rogers. Is his return necessary? He died only three earth years ago, which equates to about one Marvel year. The Death of Captain America was probably the biggest thing to happen in the Marvel Universe in the past few decades. His return makes that monumental event a joke.

I was reluctant to accept Bucky Barnes as the new Captain America at first, but I eventually realized that the Captain America series was never really about Steve Rogers, even though he wore the uniform for the first 25 issues. Bucky Barnes was the star along. Every story arc has led to his return, his redemption, and his rise to becoming Captain America. Bringing Steve Rogers back so soon spits in the face of that progress. Fifty issues were spent telling me about Bucky's tragedy and bravery and now he won't be star of the story any more. Why should I have bothered reading how his actions as the Winter Soldier would come back to haunt him as Captain America if Steve Rogers' mystical return was going to render that a moot point all along. Imagine watching Lost. For five seasons we've been watching the survivors of flight 815 try to find out why they crashed and what their purpose on the island was. What if Jacob says in the season premiere, "You didn't really crash, you've all been dreaming?" That would suck. Even though the first five seasons were amazing, they would still seem like a waste of time. That's exactly how Steve Rogers' return feels to me.


His return doesn't just spit on the Captain America series, but others as well. Civil War: The Confession is one of the best single comic books I have ever read. The whole issue consists of Iron Man visiting Captain America and going over the tragic events of Civil War. He tells how opposing Cap, his best friend, was the hardest thing he's ever had to do. Finally at the end of the issue, all the emotion built up from his monologue explodes as the camera pulls back and we see Iron Man is talking to Cap's dead body and confessing that none of his actions were worth it. But Cap's not dead anymore. Does that mean the incredible events of this comic never took place? Even if they did take place, the impact of that amazing issue is lost. Iron Man has nothing to feel sorry for anymore. Every thing ended up the way he wanted it. He won the war, registration is required, and his best friend isn't dead.

My favorite issue of Thor gets shafted as well. In Thor #11, Thor makes a visit to Cap's grave. In an awesome few panels Thor summons the spirit of Steve Rogers to give him a proper a goodbye, by giving him a special moment of silence and telling him that the "greatest honor of this ancient and tired soul has been the privilege of fighting beside you and calling you my friend." This was an awesome moment in the Marvel Universe. They have been fighting together for decades and every amazing past story culminated in that one moment. Captain America's return makes that moment meaningless. It becomes just another dialogue between Thor and Cap. No longer will this issue be an historical one, because the emotion and impact will be taken away by Cap's hasty return.

Sure Bucky's evolution, Iron Man's confession, and Thor's goodbye were all great stories, but I can't remember them fondly anymore. They will be tainted by Cap's return. It's like having a great girlfriend and then finding out she's been cheating on you for a year. The time together was fun while you were ignorant, but after finding out about her infidelity, you can't look back fondly at any of it. Don't come back Steve Rogers. Please.