Captain America Reborn #4 (OF 6)

After seeing Bucky take on the Dark Avengers in the last issue of New Avengers, do I even want Steve to come back?

Yes and no.

I do.

Me too.

4 of 6 now?

last time i cheaked to be the penultimate issue you had to be second from last but this 4 of 6 im confused 

@conor have you developed any affinity for Bucky as Cap?

I just want Steve Rogers to be back, and this convuluted, ridiculous "how he got back" to be over.

On a sidenote, I haven't been impressed by anything Brubaker in like a year now.  I'm hoping this new Criminal arc changes my mind; he's better than this

i like bucky cap but i cant wait for steve to knock norman osborn down a peg or two

I've said it before: "in brubaker I trust"

I forgot this was coming out at all.... Sigh.... I'll grudgingly pick this up since I want to know what happens to Captain America.

And no, I don't want Steve Rogers to come back. ;-) 

I agree with oldmanlogan, the only thing that I want Steve back for is to punch Normie. 

I know that it is heresy, but I like Ultimate Steve Rogers more than the main one.

I was thinking I wasn't enjoying this series until I realized this week how excited I am to get the next issue.  It's those big splash pages of Cap History that are sticking with me.

@vadaowens: Not particularly. They haven't really done anything with him since he officially became Captain America. There has been no overall point to his being Cap.

@Prax: You have to keep that interview you did to stay current. :)

I think this got another issue because Brubaker needed more time to finish the story. Same goes for Geoff Johns adding another issue for Flash Rebirth.

i would rather have an added issue then a rused story

Last issue was the best Cap issue I've read in years. Look forward to this one.

I want Steve Rogers back, but not necessarily as Cap.  I just miss the dude.

The Avengers without Steve Rogers as Cap is like Journey without Steve Perry. They complete each other!!

God, I hate Journey

I hope there's two Captain Americas.  Why not?  DC does it all the time, with Green Lantern and the Flash, Marvel can find a way to make it work.  Especially since they've established the suit as a symbol more than the actual man inside. 

Isn't their a 3rd Cap running around? Although he is technically the Grand Director.....so I dont know if he counts.

@vadamowens..you must be a Whitesnake fan!

lol. no I hate glam even worse.  My musical tastes are pretty narrow, at least recently.

Dr Doom and The Red Skull.

one's a gypsy, one's a nazi. Hilarity ensue!

When did the last one come out?  I forgot what's going on in this?  Did the Black Widow get captured at some point?  Or was that Inv Iron Man?

@conor: I agree and that is why I want Bucky to remain Cap.  I prefer the old WWII Cap stories if I want to read about Steve Rogers.

@TNC: Don't forget the 4th John Walker USAgent.  How America is it to be named after a brand of Scotch?

@JesTr  the answer is not american in the slightest

@JesTr: How could I forget about USAgent? So now we got four Caps running around....

Forget about the Deadpool Corps or the GLC....Give me the Captain America Corps!

My only complaint about this issue was i wanted a little more fall out from Norman outing Sharon to the public as the second gunman. we saw a news conference but i wanted some inner turmoil for sharon and some more media moments

This was surprisingly good.  5 stars.

Love this story- wish it was part of the regular Captain America run (#500+) instead of a special limited series.

That last panel with CapSkull was AWSOME!

That last page filled me with joy.  Evil eyeballs are always good POTW bait.

I'm going to announce a printing error that Marvel didnt catch! Hold on to your monocles!

Check the left corner of the cover. Notice what it says in terms of what issue it is? That's right, it says #4 (of 5). Bam!

Last page saved the issue but I did enjoy all the super villian banter.

I wasn't sure about this story when it first started but now I'm hooked. I should always trust Brubaker. Some of Hitch's splash pages (especially that last one with the dozens of panels) were amazing.

I don't want Steve back, but I'm not particularly annoyed that he's coming back. And let's be serious; as soon as Steve is officially back, Bucky is taking off the uniform. He's ONLY wearing it because Steve isn't around and he can't wait to take it off.

The REAL question is whether or not Bucky will get killed after Cap returns. :)

This issue was totally my POTW, btw. Mainly 'cause I didn't really think they were gonna go through with it.

I'm a little confused at what actually happened. Any one want to explain?

Not sure why this is still being called the "penultimate" chapter when they extended the limited series long ago.  They need to update they're solicitations. 

I'm left a little flat at the end... having only read Bru's Cap, is the last page significant?

I like the idea of Bucky being Cap, but they haven't really done much of anything with him, now that the regular series is on hiatus becuase of this mini, all we see of the new cap is through avenger titles and that kinda sparse because of the many characters they juggle in those books so too soon imo too soon and boy this sentence is really long, eh?

@grandturk um it's significant because the red skulls mind is now in steves body. was that unclear? you can see red skulls in his eyes on the last page

@Roi - I saw the eyes, sure, but is that what it means?  Or is it someone else?  Who's in Red Skull's body then?  Did Skull's body disappear Obi-Wan style?  I thought it could have just been Red Skull's reflecting in Cap's eyes.

@Grandturk- Wow you really didin't get it, did you?  It tied up plotlines strung out for years.  Read it again.  Don't comment when you don't understand.

@kickass why shouldn't he comment?  I myself was a little confused with the plotline.

@kickass-He asked a clarifying question, man.  Stop being comic-book-guy.

@Grandturk-We do not 'know' that Skull's mind is in Steve's body, but that is the likely explanation, and we will find out for sure next month (or so).  As to Skull's body, well that is dead, gone, and disposed of several issues ago.  Skull's psyche is now inhabiting a robotic body same as Zola.  If you go back and check all of Skull's word balloons have different 'tails' to them to signify that he is a robot.  So, likely the robot is still standing there and it is either dormant or Steve is now in it.

Now as to what I thought...The art from when we were in WWII was SO good.  I loved that part.  Doom was presented incredibly.  I absolutely love it when they get Doom right.  Good issue and I am so glad that Brubaker only took the Lost premise and did not follow it with more from the show.

One little nitpick.  While I absolutely appreciate the fact that Marvel editorial is letting Brubaker write this with great autonomy, they should have told him to use another character besides Ronin.  While continuity does not need to match up perfectly, it is a pretty big point across the Avengers Universe that Ronin has been arrested and that Osborn has in custody two of the Avengers.  It did not really matter to use Ronin specifically, so that little change would have been good.

Can someone explain why Sharon Carter is relevant to Steve still being "alive" and in the timestream?  I'm a bit on the confused side

Sharon is the key to finding Steve Rogers. The weird gun she shot not only knocked Steve out of the timestream (NOT killing him), but connected her to Steve in some way. I believe this very issue spends some time with Reeds Richards yammering on about nanoparticles or some such truly pseudo-science nonsense to explain it, but the concept is simple. If you throw a person out of time you need a way to find him again. Sharon was the way.

Putting the Red Skull in Steve's body was always the plan, Sharon just delayed the whole thing by escaping and smashing up the machine (which Doom just fixed). It is some seriously convoluted crazy-shit. Why go through all this trouble: assassination, knocking people out of time, mind controlling Sharon Carter to shoot Cap, etc. Skull just needs a new body. But the Red Skull IS insane and hates Cap soooo much maybe he would jump through any hoop to steal his body without interference from the Avengers or whomever else might care if a living Cap suddenly disappeared. My justification muscle is being stretched to the max, but has not completely broken yet. Yet.

@jimbilly - I just want Steve to be back in the flow, so I can begin the process of forgetting this miniseries

...and thanks for the explanation

This story is so typical of all the other Cap dying stuff. I expected so much more from Brubaker.

If you read this and try to rationalize the plot you wind up feeling like Scott Evil.

If only Syn could say "Dad I have a gun in my room. We could shoot him together, it would be fun." only to have the Skull reply, "obviously daughter you have no idea what it means to be a Super Villain in a Marvel comic".

Apparently time traveling, body switching, mumbo jumbo stuff bores me. Very average for me, and not sure why the excitement for the last panel - they straight up told us this was happening - I would have been happier if Cap entered Skull's robot body. It would've been ridiculous but at least I would have laughed.

If I were the writers, i'd eventually have Bucky get recaptured by the bad guys, get re-mind wiped, and then start being the evil badass Winter Soldier again....that way Steve can angst 24/7 about his old poor old pal Bucky and Black Widow could actually have motivation as a character to work against the Russian government, and start acting like a Widow.

@MisterJ
What matters more, continuity (that can be ignored considering this could be happening after Ronin gets out of HAMMER custody or perhaps even before) or Clint Barton being part of the return of Captain America?Furthermore, your complaint is invalidated by the fact that even the regular New Avengers book isn't up to speed with him getting captured in Dark Reign: New Avengers: The List: Oneshot: Men and X-... (sorry, wrong overly long title).

@KickAss
Do you have some obsession with trying to turn iFanboy into some shitty message board? This is the place for people to ask questions like that!

@captbastrd-I didn't recall seeing him in the last issue of New Avengers, but I will take your word for it.   Like I said, it's just a little nit-pick.

That much being said, I really do not care if they decide to add superfluous characters to the story just because they have a long history with the main character.

@MisterJ: Clint Barton absolutely has to be involved in this. The Clint/Steve relationship is too important. Continuity is transistory and quickly forgotten.