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CAPTAIN AMERICA #602

The monthly CAPTAIN AMERICA returns with a bang! Where has the Captain America from the ’50s been the past few months, and what part of our modern world has welcomed him? And what will Steve and Bucky do when an old enemy tries to become a revolutionary? TWO AMERICAS begins here! By best-selling writer Ed Brubaker with art by Luke Ross. Plus, the start of a Second Bonus Feature – NOMAD by Sean McKeever and David Baldeon!

WRITER: Ed Brubaker
PENCILS: Luke Ross
COLORED BY: Dean White
LETTERED BY: VC - Joe Caramagna
COVER BY: Gerald Parel

Price: $3.99
iFanboy Community Pick of the Week Percentage: 3.4%

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Comments

  1. JAMESDEAN2020 says:
    January 18, 2010 at 2:27 pm

    And "REBORN" STILL hasn’t wrapped!

  2. Avatar photo corpseed says:
    January 18, 2010 at 2:53 pm

    Another Marvel epic fail. Was it REALLY worth Reborn going to 6 issues?

  3. Avatar photo KickAss says:
    January 18, 2010 at 3:00 pm

    @corpseed – They could have done what DC does, and made the plot a crammed, jumbled un-enjoyable mess.  That only die hard fans will defend.

    Or they could do something like this, that will stand the test of time when re-read.  Unlike so many DC books I’ve read in paperback.

  4. Avatar photo mikeandzod21 says:
    January 18, 2010 at 3:15 pm

    I really don’t want this back up story in this. Just to jack up the price. And it’s not epting or frank darmata. Damn

  5. Avatar photo Bendrix says:
    January 18, 2010 at 3:24 pm

    I wonder if the book can regain my interest after the way to long hiatus.

  6. Avatar photo captbastrd says:
    January 18, 2010 at 4:16 pm

    "The monthly CAPTAIN AMERICA returns with a bang! "

    Ah, what perfect phrasing!

  7. Avatar photo Slockhart says:
    January 18, 2010 at 4:44 pm

    A 6 issue mini taking 12 months to wrap, and a 6 issue mini taking 7 months, but the entire company seems to have given up on caring.  2009 was not a good year to come back to life.

  8. Avatar photo Garrett says:
    January 18, 2010 at 6:01 pm

    I think I’ll get this but wait until I’ve read the final issue of Rebirth. I’m still holding on to that Who Will Carry the Shield one, or whatever it’s called. Would it really have killed Marvel to hold off on this for a month or so until Rebirth finishes. 

    Anyway, as long as Bucky stays as Cap, I’ll be happy. Consider it dropped if he isn’t. 

  9. Avatar photo PraxJarvin says:
    January 18, 2010 at 6:58 pm

    Marvel has done nothing but try and drive me away from what was one of my favorite titles for the past year. Reborn was a big dud, Who Will the Shield was laughably unimportant except for the final four pages. I’ll give this a try, but honestly… this is going to be a make or break moment.

    @Kickass There’s a lot of pots and kettles in your statement. Reborn is guilty of similar crimes. 

  10. Avatar photo drakedangerz says:
    January 19, 2010 at 2:24 am

    I’m in the same boat as some others here. I dropped Reborn after the first issue and have been patiently waiting for the series proper to return. Now it finally has returned and I am not really all that excited about it. Will try this first issue. If it doesn’t hook me, I’m dropping the title.

  11. Avatar photo ABirdseysView says:
    January 19, 2010 at 6:19 am

    if you don’t mind reading a few preview pages, go find the preview for this.  Luke Ross’ pages look great, no, not Epting, but still great.  I welcome the continuation of Brubaker’s excellent Cap stories.

  12. Avatar photo Diabhol says:
    January 19, 2010 at 8:54 am

    Luke Ross was doing a bang-up job on this title when he was co-penciling with Epting and pretty much nobody could tell them apart.

    I’m not particularly annoyed by the whole continuing past Reborn thing, but I have a hard time believing that Reborn as a mini + Bryan Hitch was a better financial decision for Marvel than having the entire story run through the regular Captain America comic.

     

  13. Avatar photo Conor Kilpatrick (@cskilpatrick) says:
    January 19, 2010 at 2:52 pm

    @Diabhol: I would disagree quite vehemently with the "no one can tell Luke Ross and Steve Epting apart" assertion.

  14. Avatar photo Josh Christie says:
    January 19, 2010 at 7:27 pm

    Count me among the folks that dropped Reborn (or never picked it up in the first place). Still, if there’s a decent recap page explaining why Steve is back and with Bucky, I’ll roll with it.

    Even with the occasional weak issue, Brubaker hasn’t let me down in the main Cap series.  It’s been too damn long since an issue, but I’m hoping he pulls me right back in.

  15. Avatar photo NealAppeal says:
    January 19, 2010 at 9:10 pm

    Did anyone else think this was Cap 1602 when they first saw it?

  16. Avatar photo ABirdseysView says:
    January 19, 2010 at 9:13 pm

    too damn long since an issue? well maybe so, but it would have been this long even if Reborn had come out on time.

  17. Avatar photo skeets says:
    January 20, 2010 at 8:37 am

    I can’t see why anyone would be unsatisfied with Reborn (other than the delay) it’s been the best Cap story since his death. I love it. I’m not looking forward to paying an extra buck for a backup I’m not interested in.

  18. Avatar photo BetaRayRyan says:
    January 20, 2010 at 4:30 pm

    For some reason, my store didn’t receive any.  Damn it.  

  19. Avatar photo JaqueNargg says:
    January 20, 2010 at 5:20 pm

    I haven’t LOVED Reborn, but it’s not terrible either. A little annoyed that Reborn 6 exists, and Who Will Wield kinda sucked, but just by flipping through this book I think I’m gonna like it. Falcon! Nick Fury! Bucky!

    Definitely not thrilled about the backup either…

  20. Avatar photo drakedangerz says:
    January 20, 2010 at 10:40 pm

    This wasn’t that good. Not bad…but certainly not as good as the series was before the hiatus.

  21. Avatar photo JaqueNargg says:
    January 20, 2010 at 10:43 pm

    I think it’s gonna take a while to get that momentum back.

  22. Avatar photo PraxJarvin says:
    January 20, 2010 at 11:04 pm

    This was a nice return to where we were, but I have to ask… aside from a few references to Steve, couldn’t we have run this side by side with Reborn? It picks up right from #50 (The Red Wolf Armor guys). The momentum’s a bit off, but it’s a step in the right direction. The "Conservative Middle Americans" thing was a little too… heavy handed for me. Still I give it a 4/5. Which is a little generous, but it’s a step up from Reborn.

  23. Avatar photo Diabhol says:
    January 21, 2010 at 12:57 am

    @conor: You’re welcome to be excluded from the "almost nobody" group. 🙂 I do, however, recall y’all talking about the transition from Epting to Ross in a given issue being very seemless and I would defy the vast majority of fans here to be able to tell one from the other in a "Pepsi Challenge"-type fashion. S’all I’m saying.

    Other’n that, this issue was really good. 🙂

  24. Avatar photo JaqueNargg says:
    January 21, 2010 at 8:49 am

    @Prax

    Yeah…the right winger stuff was a bit more than we’ve seen on this book before, gotta wonder how readers from Idaho feel about this. Laughed out loud at the "Obama" comment though.

  25. Avatar photo mikegraham6 says:
    January 21, 2010 at 9:27 am

    I really really hope this issue isn’t indicative of the series going forward. the quality i was used to from the Death of Cap epic (which i just re-read in Omnibus form) has been lacking ever since that story "wrapped up" (including Reborn). This was a very average story, and not an average Cap story (which i’d rank as "above average") but average in general. I was glad to see they stuck with Bucky as the main character though, although it is kinda of weird to be reading a book called Captain America in a world where Steve Rogers is alive, and he’s nowhere to be seen. You’d think he’d at least be in a supporting role, make him a mentor or something.

    Also, the backup was useless. who cares about She-Bucky? she’s from a forgettable storyline with little to no fan interest. Marvel: Either have Brubaker write the backup or ditch it and drop the price of the book back down (ya… ’cause that will ever happen)

  26. Avatar photo usagi says:
    January 21, 2010 at 11:09 am

    Front story OK but was happy it had nothing to do with Reign/Siege. I  love the art, Luke Ross just seems perfect for Cap.

    The backup story never got beyond mildly interesting, and seems aimed for a totally different demographic than the front story. I don’t see the cross-over between people who want to follow Bucky fighting anti-government militias drawn in a classic style and people who want to see an unrelated story involving teenage characters in a manga-lite style. Which brings me to….

    New price: boooo! I hated Reborn but was willing to stick with the regular series, but now I have to pay more for a backup story I don’t want. It’s as if Marvel is trying to drive me away.  

  27. Avatar photo RoiVampire says:
    January 21, 2010 at 12:02 pm

    @mikegraham6  I for one care about Noman. She had a good mini series and now i can get more of that in addition to a book i’m already buying

  28. Avatar photo Conor Kilpatrick (@cskilpatrick) says:
    January 21, 2010 at 1:16 pm

    @Diabhol: No, we didn’t. If anything we talked about how the coloring holds the look of the book together, but I specifically remember our conversation about how stiff Luke Ross’ pencils are.

  29. Grandturk says:
    January 21, 2010 at 2:30 pm

    I thought the story was ok, but the lib agenda (ie if you don’t bow to O you’re an Alabama Militiaman) was a little over the top.

  30. Avatar photo coltrane68 says:
    January 21, 2010 at 2:44 pm

    For those who feel the need to make this a political story, it’s not. I accept that there are people all across the political spectrum, all of whom need to be heard. Rather, it’s a story about how the ’50’s Cap would react to a world he no longer understands. His instincts to gravitate towards separatist militia groups are perfectly reasonable in the Cap storyline. This is quite a gutsy issue, and I congratulate my man Brubaker.

    By the way, Luke Ross did a fine job with this issue. True, his lines are more stiff than those of Epting, but let’s not forget that he is constrained by trying to meet the Epting style.

  31. Avatar photo PraxJarvin says:
    January 21, 2010 at 3:03 pm

    @coltrane68 My issues with it are that it’s terribly convenient for 50s Cap to stumble upon a town (even if it is his home town) that is prepackaged to except becoming a militia force. It’s a bit silly. As for the protesting and such, it came off as incredibly forced (Who exactly were they protesting/rallying for to begin with? It just seemed to be happening.). My issues with it aren’t political but story based. The over the top nature of it all took me right out of the story. (And for the record, I’m not agreeing or siding with the "wrong party" in the book and it still bothered me.)

  32. Avatar photo drakedangerz says:
    January 21, 2010 at 5:25 pm

    The problem with this issue is it all feels rushed. It’s not characteristic of Brubaker at all. He doesn’t take the time to fully establish the story and it shows. In fact, the only real reasoning given for why 50’s Cap is doing any of this is "oh look out, he’s full blown crazy now."

    My issue with the artwork is that it doesn’t at all feel like an issue of Brubaker’s Captain America. It’s brighter, less gritty. I enjoyed it, but it doesn’t really fit into what I want, and have previously enjoyed, from this title.

    And the Nomad feature was too light-hearted to be paired up with this book.

  33. Avatar photo Urthona says:
    January 21, 2010 at 9:48 pm

    I thought this issue was dreadful.  For one thing…do we really need a story about a 3rd Captain America?  It’s ridiculous.  Isn’t there something better for these heroes to be doing?  The Idaho teabaggers as intolerant racist America-haters was ridiculous, and I’m a registered democrat and voted for Obama.  It was way forced.

    I liked Reborn.

    But for the first time in this run, I am seriously considering dropping the book.  Too dang convoluted, and while I like the concept of the alternate Earth female Bucky…this all-too-teen Nomad is ridiculous and panders to a crowd that I don’t think is the same one as the people who read Cap.

    Is it time for Brubaker to move on?

  34. Avatar photo ABirdseysView says:
    January 21, 2010 at 10:39 pm

    I think it was clear that 50’s Steve was beating his insanity and acting rationally, albeit in his twisted worldview, by starting the Watchdog group.

    so I’d be okay with alternating arcs of Bucky-Cap with Ross/Guice/White art and Steve-Cap with Epting/D’Armata art. 

  35. Avatar photo Diabhol says:
    January 21, 2010 at 11:33 pm

    Am I the only one who sees the similarity between this arc and the John Walker issues from the late 1980’s? I think it’s kinda awesome.

     

    @conor: It feels like we’re either remember different parts of the same conversation or two different conversations about the same thing. Almost makes me wanna go back and check the episodes. 🙂

  36. Avatar photo Conor Kilpatrick (@cskilpatrick) says:
    January 22, 2010 at 2:43 pm

    @Diabhol: I remember quite clearly Ron saying the art was good and me disagreeing and pointing out many instances of stiff characters.

  37. Avatar photo EAGLEBAUER says:
    January 22, 2010 at 8:49 pm

    Dropped, but I’m probably gonna pick it up in trade. I didn’t have a problem with the politics of this, although they are a little over-simplified. I know that Brubaker is clearly setting up a big story here -one that will read better in trade. The problem is the price change, and that fact that the Nomad back-up didn’t do a thing for me.

  38. Avatar photo ColdVenom says:
    January 23, 2010 at 3:57 pm

    I really did not like the over-simplified take on the tea-baggers as stupid rednecks.  Plus, I generally think of Cap as a libertarian (small L) spirit incarnate.  So, that makes it feel weird for the tea-party folks to be the bad guys here.

  39. Avatar photo TommyBrownell says:
    January 23, 2010 at 9:43 pm

    I agree with ColdVenom on Cap…both of them, really.

     Between Marvel just blowing the ending of Cap Reborn, the heavy handed politics, the annoying back-up strip and the price increase, Cap went from Must-Buy to About To Drop in about a month.

     Great job.

  40. Avatar photo Eadge says:
    January 24, 2010 at 2:02 am

    They took away Bucky’s cool metal arm in this issue. WHY?!?!?  

  41. Avatar photo jobob247 says:
    January 24, 2010 at 9:42 pm

    Wow, hey Brubaker thanks for the display of ignorance. Clearly you’re a big Kieth Olberman / Rachel Maddow / MSNBC fan.

    You just made my decision to drop this ridiculously easy.

    And lets be clear, reborn sucked, and the title has been weak lately anyways so it’s not like anyone that’s dropping this now is reaching , you just made it easier to justify. 

     

  42. Avatar photo BoldCoffee says:
    January 24, 2010 at 10:32 pm

    I’m dropping this till I know where this ends up landing since way too many things are up in the air plus I have not enjoyed this book for a while now.

  43. Avatar photo captbastrd says:
    January 25, 2010 at 12:48 am

    @jobob247, ColdVenom
    Brubaker didn’t have the tea-baggers (which was ColdVenom’s wording, not mine so if anyone else is conjuring up images of Glenn Beck squatting crotch-first onto someone’s face, it’s his fault not mine!  … well, now maybe it is my fault.) eating live babies and screaming for Obama’s blood. The bad guys are those who take whatever concepts behind these protests to the extreme. Bucky attempts to look like one of these bad guys being being really bad, assaulting Falcon, and referring to him as ‘Obama’ as a means of infultrating their ranks.

    @ColdVenom (specifically)
    That’s assuming that the tea-baggers are thereby the true spirit of liberty as well; I’d argue that.

    I really don’t like Luke Ross’ art. Gahdamn the guy can’t draw anyone with any subtlety whatsoever. 

  44. Avatar photo jobob247 says:
    January 25, 2010 at 12:02 pm

    "Tea bag the libs before they teabag you" is right there on one of the signs. Anyone that has any level of awareness knows that these protests are referred to as Tea parties and that the vulgar way they’ve been referred to by those at MSNBC is teabaggers…. It isn’t rocket science to get what’s being insinuated there. Not to mention the sign that says "Keep the government out of my medicaire". Again, only a complete moron doesn’t understand the insinuation there. Summary: Angry dumb white people.

  45. Avatar photo RoiVampire says:
    January 25, 2010 at 12:25 pm

    @jobo247  and the problem with this is….?

  46. Avatar photo jobob247 says:
    January 25, 2010 at 1:51 pm

    @RoiVampire. Indeed. I really should be philosophical about this. Ignorance like that showcased in Cap #602 is what lead to 1994 and will lead to 1994 the Sequel for people like those at MSNBC. So lead on Bru!

  47. Avatar photo RoiVampire says:
    January 25, 2010 at 2:36 pm

    @jobob247  Hey i live in Texas in a pretty liberal town surrounded by other not so liberal towns and i didn’t see anything in this book that was anything but dead on for how some of these people think. i think Bru did a good job of showing the worst of the emerging tea party

  48. Avatar photo Smasher says:
    January 25, 2010 at 2:43 pm

    I haven’t read this issue yet but I’m finding the comments fascinating.

    Let’s just remember this is a comic book set in a fictitious universe with some similarities to our own.

    –Capt. Obvious Out. 

  49. Avatar photo captbastrd says:
    January 25, 2010 at 10:47 pm

    "’Keep the government out of my medicaire’. Again, only a complete moron doesn’t understand the insinuation there. Summary: Angry dumb white people."

    Actually it’s showing the people at this fictional (as Smasher is keen to point out) protest and showing the type of thing they would have on their signs. Any assumptions that those people are dumb are left to we the readers. If one person sees them as such, it’s probably due to their own political leanings. Or someone who would be more in line with the ‘protester’s’ way of thinking taking this benign moment from a comic and seeing it as an attack on their own ideology. 

  50. rmoonyose says:
    January 27, 2010 at 2:59 am

    "Hey i live in Texas in a pretty liberal town surrounded by other not so liberal towns and i didn’t see anything in this book that was anything but dead on for how some of these people think. i think Bru did a good job of showing the worst of the emerging tea party"

     

    Hey, I live in Texas in a pretty liberal town surrounded by other pretty liberal towns and I didn’t see anything in this book that was anything but utterly wrong headed in displaying how any of these people think.  I think Bru did quite possibly the worst job of showing anything except his own ill-informed opinions which were likely taken from watching that lunatic Keith Olberman on a nightly basis and simply displayed the worst characteristics of a collapsing Democrat Party.

  51. Avatar photo flakbait says:
    February 4, 2010 at 11:59 am

    As someone who just last week saw a truck with "I voted for the American" scrawled on the back, I don’t see any problem with the way the protest was represented. What in there wasn’t accurate? We’ve all seen much worse images of people with the Obama-Hitler signs and what not. Hell, I thought it was pretty tame.

  52. Avatar photo canucklehead says:
    February 10, 2010 at 9:57 pm

    The main story isn’t bad, but it’s too short. The back-up is "crap", and doesn’t pair well with the main story. Would it kill Marvel to have a Falcon backup? An extra dollar for some Nomad crap? Man.

  53. Avatar photo rockingeek says:
    February 15, 2010 at 9:04 am

    Any human being against universal health care should be hang. Fucking ignorant!

  54. Valerie says:
    February 17, 2010 at 12:11 pm

    As a longtime Idaho resident, I have been tired of Idaho being portrayed as a haven for racist wingnuts.

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