Captain American Reborn#1 - Joe Quesada Variant Cover
When Steve Rogers died, everyone felt a little something. Shock, anger, sadness, and even glee (you sick bastards) were just a few of the emotions felt, not only by the Marvel Universe characters, but by hordes of comic fans. The most shocking part of the whole thing was not the death of Captain America itself, but the fact that it didn't suck. Never feeling like a stunt or cheap trick, the well written and amazingly executed death (no pun intended) was hailed as a master stroke for Ed Brubaker. The equally scary task of appointing a new man in the stars and stripes was also done with much respect to both the characters and fans, and the Winter Soldier has effectively won us over.
Now Marvel Comics has announced the return of Steve Rogers, the "one true Captain America" in a five-issue series chronicling his return. Beginning July 1, 2009, we'll find out just how Ed Brubraker and Bryan Hitch intend to bring our fallen hero back, and I'm almost completely certain that we'll all love it. Yeah, some may cry foul at yet another resurrection of a dead icon, but Brubaker can seemingly do no wrong! Though Marvel has been fairly tight-lipped on the subject, they graciously allowed me a few questions with Executive Editor Tom Brevoort. If you think you know what they plan to do with Captain America, I have a feeling that neither you nor I will see anything coming before it hits us. Continue on below for the full interview!
UGO: Does the return of Steve Rogers stem from any impact of the upcoming film? Do we want new readers to be comfortable knowing that the Captain America in the comics is the same guy they saw in the movie?
Tom Brevoort: Not really, no. The film is still a year and a half away at this point, and we felt no pressure to conform to it. Maybe in eighteen months we would have, but the point is moot, as we pulled the trigger on this phase of the Cap story now, when it felt the most natural to us to do so.
UGO: Ed Brubaker has done amazing things with Captain America. How much of what has transpired has come from his natural course with the character? Was "Reborn" already known to come about when the planning for the "Death of Captain America" or is this something to come about from fan responses? (Not in the negative sort, but how people seem to have loved the shakeup.)
TB: As you'll see in REBORN #1, the seeds for Steve's return were planted even before CAPTAIN AMERICA #25, so we knew we'd be getting to this point regardless... we just didn't know precisely when.
UGO: How widely will this effect the rest of the Marvel Universe?
TB: I don't think it can help but affect the Marvel Universe in the widest possible way, by the time all is said and done, but that's mostly after REBORN itself has finished up.
UGO: With the final result of the Death of Captain America, we got to see the reactions of major Marvel Characters and how they mourned for Steve Rogers in "Fallen Son" Will we get to see something similar upon his return?
TB: You mean like a "Rising Son" limited series where all of the characters celebrate Cap's return and take back their flowers from his grave? I don't think we're going to be doing anything like that. The Marvel heroes will have bigger fish to fry come that point.
UGO: We know that in comics we can never say that anyone is dead forever, however what made this the right time to bring him back?
TB: Honestly, it just feels like the right time. There's a sense of change in the air, and it seems like people are ready to want to believe in heroes again. And it's been long enough since we planted the seeds in all of those CAP issues prior to #25 that if we strung things out much longer, we'd run the risk of having the story come apart on us.
