SPECIAL: Captain America Reborn

Captain America. In many ways, he is the most famous of Marvel's superheroes; proudly wearing the Red, White and Blue of the USA, he fought the nations' enemies in the 1940's, and has continued to do so throughout the decades. We've seen him crusade against agents of Communism, fight off alien menaces and face down his arch-nemesis, the Red Skull, countless times. We even saw him defend all that he believed in, even when his country insisted he was wrong. Finally, we saw the unthinkable.
The death of Captain America, gunned down by a sniper as he was about to stand trial.

But after the truth of these events are revealed, Captain America may not be as dead as we thought...

Join me for the return of the Star-Spangled Avenger; Captain America: Reborn.

Dramatis Personnae:
The Avengers
Special Agent Sharon Carter
Sin
Crossbones
Red Skull
Doctor Zola

Plot Summary:
One year after the death of Captain America, the US public is still torn between whether to honour him as a hero or hate him as a traitor. Bucky, who has since taken up the mantle of the Star-Spangled Avenger, is desperately trying to live up to his friends' legacy, but with him and his friends declared outlaws, it's increasingly more difficult to keep fighting.
Meanwhile, the Red Skull, trapped within a robot body, has hatched a new plan for power. Using the technology of Doctor Doom and Arnim Zola, he will do the unthinkable; he will recreate Captain America's body and take it for his own.

Verdict:
Well, now, this was a difficult one.
Let's start with the best bits.
The first three quarters of this series are magnificent. With the discovery of Cap's possible survival, Sharon and co. leap into action, and the plot is driven apace excellently; the Avengers take risk after risk in order to rescue their great friend, braving the government "Avengers" and worse, and as a result the reader is sucked right in. This is further enhanced by the narrative of Cap himself; he is forced to relive every failure of his in a horrible purgatory, able to act after a fashion but unable to change events or save his friends and loved ones, no matter how much he tries. In terms of value, these sections are magnificent; not only do we pity Cap's predicament, we are shown the lengths to which the Red Skull will go to torture and humiliate his opponent, truly solidifying his evil nature.
The tension builds up more and more as the series progresses, really lending the whole thing an excellent air of suspense. Finally, the last of the three "Great Quarters," a hectic rush to save the life of Sharon Carter and rescue Cap, is pretty much the peak of cool in this comic collection.

Unfortunately, this series is let down by two things; the anticlimactic ending and the Red Skull's representation. Though the audience may be expecting a dramatic face-off, that is not what they get; indeed, I'd say the final quarter was too standard and clichéd, following the traditional routine you'd expect of a super-hero comic. I mean, everybody likes a happy ending, but this felt rushed and too neat and tidy, if such a thing is possible. Then there's the arch-villain, the Final Boss of Captain America, the Red Skull. The artist's representation of his face was horrible. Just horrible. He looks like a cross between a chimpanzee and that damn owl from Ocarina of Time. What they hell were they thinking? That wasn't anything like the Red Skull we saw in the first few pages; a man with, funnily enough, a red skull for a face. How is that so hard to achieve? Gah.
Overall, then, a good series with great elements, which is unfortunately let down a bit by a lacklustre ending and one ugly looking piece of art. It's till worth getting, by all means, just be aware of the downsides.

Rating:
7.2/10