The Geek's Corner: Captain America Reborn!

Editor's Note: I have decided to begin an ongoing feature on my blog where I can talk about the stuff that I care about. 99.99% will not care one lick about this but I sure as hell do so cut me some slack. In fact, I can only think of one loyal reader who would even be mildly interested and I don't even think he really cares. I promise to keep the geekiness to a minimum. In conclusion, just ignore this entry and I will try and think up some good dick jokes for the next one. At the very least you can all make fun of me in the comments.

In the last few years, one of my favorite monthly comics has been Marvel's Captain America. Most of this is thanks to the superb writing of Ed Brubaker, who is one of my all-time favorite comic scribes. Brubaker drew on Cap's World War II experiences (if you're still reading this and you want more details I'm happy to share them with you) to craft some really fantastic stories and even managed to bring back Bucky, Cap's partner from the '40s. Normally, when something like this occurs, the cynic in me immediately rolls his eyes expecting some hackneyed comic book trick that will embarrass me, but Brubaker delivered, making the whole scenario believable (in comic book terms that is). As an added bonus, Brubaker seemed to revitalize the character making him more dynamic than the one-note hero that I always viewed him as.

Later in the series run, Captain America met his death at the hands of his old nemesis, the Nazi villain Red Skull. This looked to be an actual "death" in the comic book world, but as most people know no one ever really dies in comics. On June 15, Marvel made the announcement that Cap would be returning and today, the first issue of the new series detailing his rebirth hit shelves. As I mentioned with Bucky, whenever a hero makes his return from beyond the grave it usually blows. The stories smell of marketing ploys designed to sucker in readers and not give them much beyond a cheap gimmick or very transparent plot and the inevitable deus ex machina.

But this time I am happy to report that Brubaker has won my trust for the next couple of issues. Instead of having some sort of mystical trick or body-swap, the writer employed the very tools used by his enemies and had me scrambling for back issues while feeling like an idiot for not using my geek-smarts to remember what had happened.

In any event, the original Captain America appears to be alive and well and is currently doing his very own Scott Bakula/Billy Pilgrim impression in the Marvel Universe. How this will play out remains to be seen, but for the time being I am enjoying the ride.

Now hopefully, they'll announce someone cool to play Cap in the upcoming movies and then all will be right with the world.

We now return to your regularly scheduled programming.