In a move that I doubt will surprise anyone Marvel has announced that the late Steve Rogers will be returning to life in Captain America: Reborn this summer. “Reborn is the next chapter in the larger story that I’ve been building in [Captain America] since issue #1. This is a chance to really explore how things have changed in the years since Steve’s death and really delve deep into who Steve Rogers is and why he became Captain America. It’s a really a [story] with two or three different plotlines that all intertwine, which is a lot of fun and allows us to have [both] in-your-face action and quiet character moments,” writer Ed Brubaker talking on the Marvel site.
(John Cassaday cover to Captain America: reborn #1, (c) Marvel)
I imagine most of us have been thinking when will they resurrect Steve Rogers, not if – we all know that in superhero comics death is rarely a permanent condition and when a major character – Batman, Superman, Captain America – is killed its hard not to be cynical and think yeah, but this is just a huge plot device, he’ll get better. And normally we’re right. But, putting the cynical hat aside for a moment, such plots do have a positive aspect – just look at the huge international press coverage which followed the death of the Cap, or more recently the supposed death of the Batman by Grant Morrison. Newspapers, radio and TV all covered it (I was even asked on the BBC myself to discuss the death and resurrection of superheroes after the Batman tale). That’s a huge swathe of free publicity across the media, not just in the comics blogosphere and it draws attention to comics, which can’t be a bad thing, reminding even non readers that they are still a big part of popular culture and not just a source for blockbuster movies. And I notice Marvel made a point of releasing the story into the mainstream media about Steve Rogers’ return, with a story running in the New York Daily News because the death of a long-running iconic character is news outside the comics field and the inevitable return is of huge interest too.
(Alex Ross cover for Captain America: Reborn #1, (c) Marvel)
And why shouldn’t they use the event to generate some coverage outside the normal comics press? A character like the Cap has been around so long that even adults who don’t read comics today have more than likely read him when growing up and will be interested. Maybe that interest will draw them back to reading comics again, maybe not, but it would be silly for a publisher not to use the event for all its worth. And again leaving my normal cynicism to one side, while the idea of killing Rogers was obviously contrived with the idea of bringing him back in the future I can’t really hold that against Marvel – its part of the superhero game readers and creators both play and we know the rules and go along with it (we even applaud when Joss Whedon, with nod and wink, takes that and uses it in Buffy or Angel). Its interesting, its enjoyable. And I certainly can’t hold it against Brubaker who, let’s face it, has had an astonishingly good run on the Cap, working with some top artists and bringing new life (pun only slightly intended) to a character who’s been around for decades. And let’s be honest, cynical about marketing moves or not, most of us will want to read it and see how they bring back Steve, especially as its hinted that he might not just spring back all ‘hale and hearty’ as Tom Breevort put it, that there will be emotional and mental consequences to the trauma that Rogers has been through. And given Brubaker’s track record I’m inclined to cut them some slack because I imagine he will handle this with the same skill he’s shown throughout his run on the Cap. Yep, I’m cynical about some of this but I still want to read it! I bet a lot of you do too.
(The Death of Captain America Omnibus, coming from Marvel this winter)
Tue, Jun 16, 2009
Comics and cartoons