Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle Reviews

Captain America Reborn #3Captain America Reborn #3 of 5
Marvel Comics
Brubaker, Hitch & Guice

Captain America continues to relive his life over and over again as he's still trapped in time. Meanwhile, his friends in the present continue to try to outmaneuver Osborn and his malicious intentions. The issue is an enjoyable read as many characters have smaller roles, which helps to keep the issue at a strong pace and it continues to explore many of the angles that make up this complex plot. I enjoyed the issue more than any other in this mini series because there was a huge development in the plot tucked away in one throwaway piece of dialogue in one of the flashbacks. This was a good read.


Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle ReviewsThe opening scene is one that has been played out many, many times, but its inclusion here is a good one because of how awesome the artwork is. Namor, in a fit of rage, rips the ice chunk that Steve Rogers is frozen in and tosses into the ocean. The scene is an old one, but the art here captures the anger in Namor so well. You can feel him explode through the water and tear the ice block from the iceberg. It's a stunning sequence.

From there we find Namor in the present exhuming the body of Steve, only to find the casket in the ocean empty. Or is it? The comic isn't explicit about what is going on with Steve's body, but its clear there is more to this story that we'll discover later.

The remainder of the issue has the Thunderbolts bungle their transport of Bucky from point A to point B. It's a good scene because it involves a lot of characters and gives each of them just a taste of the spotlight. It helps to keep this issue from getting too slowed down with the science behind bringing Steve back.

The bulk of the issue has Steve reliving his life over and over again. The flashbacks aren't that exciting, but they do prove necessary as in one of them we find Steve pulling a trick out of Batman's hat. Captain America plants a seed in the back of the mind of a key character back in the past. He essentially buries a time capsule to assist him in getting back to the present. There's your big step forward in plot development. It's not straightforward and I simplified it but it's still there.

The artwork is brilliant. Even the flashbacks seem to have their own specific touches on them to set them apart from the regular parts to the issue. It's funny, but you can see how Bucky still is Captain America on the junior scale when you watch Steve doing his thing back in the past.

The mini series up until this point seems to have had a slow moving plot and a watered down version of the characters. However, this issue has restored some of my faith in the creative team. Bucky felt more like Bucky in this issue and the storytelling relied on the supporting cast of the supporting cast to keep the issue moving and keep it interesting. I liked the plot development too. I'm still not sure how this series will rate when its' over but I am certainly interested in it, which is a good thing.

4 out of 5 geek goggles