When reading a comic about a concept that I am opposed to, the writer has to do an extraordinary job to win me over. The task has been accomplished many times before. Brian Reed did a phenomenal job of making me a fan of Moonstone in the Ms. Marvel role and I tried to hate the new Batman and Robin series, but Grant Morrison and Frank Quietly were just too good. Unfortunately, Ed Brubanker was not able to make the resurrection of Steve Rogers anything more than a publicity stunt.The biggest problem with the story is that it never feels natural. Sharon Carton all of sudden remembers everything about everything that's ever happened in the history of the world. Three issues ago she forgot that she was pregnant, but now she can recount, with spectacular accuracy, all the stuff that happened in the first 48 issues. Not only does she recall Dr. Doom's plans, the fake gun, and a crazy time machine, but Sharon also remembers gathering herself long enough (even though she was a zombie throughout most of her capture) to hear Red Skull talk about trapping Steve Rogers in time. Seeing Steve trapped in the time loop was actually kind of cool, but it's still a blatant rip-off of Lost.
Bucky and Black Widow's infiltration of the HAMMER Helicarrier take up the rest of the issue. This part fits well with the rest of the series and proves to be just as entertaining. Brubanker has created a great chemistry between these two characters and I love seeing them work together. The duo's methodical rampage on the HAMMER agents reminded me of the great teamwork from Hawkeye and Mockingbird in their series. And despite my reservations about the overall concept of the series, a final splash page teasing a throwdown with Venom and Ares has me very eager to read the next issue.
Just as Brubanker's story falters in this series, so too does the art. Usually Cap's team of artists do a great job with character work and capturing the mood of a situation, but in this issue the overabundance of black and blues makes some of the action hard to decipher. Also, Black Widow looks different than she's ever been depicted and Sharon Carter looks like Karolina from the Runaways in a few panels. At times, some of the body contortions make the torsos look a tad elongated too. As if that weren't enough, some of the facial expressions don't quite match up.
Captain America: Reborn was mostly what I expected it to be. Steve Roger's resurrection seemed like a silly idea and this issue made that even more clear. Something I wasn't expecting were art hiccups, which only adds to my frustration with the series. Despite all that though, this is still a very important story and a fight between Bucky and the Dark Avengers has me anticipating the next issue.
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