Wield the Shield reactions
I thought I'd write up some of my Christmas reading. I'll have a second post with my X-men Noir reactions as well.
I don't know what to make of the "Captain America: Reborn: Who Will Wield the Shield" issue. I think I need to let the story sink in a bit. I'm honestly rather torn. The James fan in me is delighted with this development, however long it lasts. It'll be interesting to see how things shake out when the regular series returns. Hopefully James won't be a "Siege" victim.
Steve's reasons worry me though. He sees both his past and his future, but we don't know all Steve has seen. Why does he think he can have his life with Sharon but not as Cap? Is it the real future or only a possible one? I'm annoyed by Steve's backhanded way of protecting James. His logic smacks me too much of "I'm doing this to protect you for your own good" trope I loathe so much. On the other hand, I'd rather this ending than Steve putting on a good face for everyone. He's just the duty bound guy who would do that, too.
This "James is so fragile" attitude that's cropped in Breevort's interviews just bugs me. If they'd said it when James first became Cap, I might agree with him, but James has grown as a character considerably since then. I do think James has earned the shield in his own right, but convincing him of that is another story. I was amused that Alex Ross' design for the new Cap is chalked up to old one of Janet's. Of course I did love seeing Natalia all supportive. For someone who was against him taking up the shield, she seems not so quick to have him give it up without a fight.
Maybe the last issue of Reborn will fill in the blanks for me. It sounds like Steve has a bigger future ahead of him - except we see Steve being Cap in Invincible Iron Man and Siege, so something pulls back into action. So something pushes him into action, either that executive order he asked for or something far worse. And judging by the scans of Siege #1, I've seen, I'd say "far worse" covers it pretty well. At least in most of those appearances, we see *both* Caps together, rather than "Steve's back, James who?"
The other big question mark in my mind when Steve came back was Sharon. I still think they have a LOT of issues to work through together. To shove it off-camera feels like a disservice, although another part of me wonders if it's a way of ignoring that horrible storyline altogether. I wish Sharon didn't look so lifeless and flat in that sleeping scene. She looks downright creepy. If it wasn't Steve Rogers saying it, I would have been really nervous about Sharon!
The art duties were split by Butch Guice and Luke Ross. I much preferred the Guice half of the artwork. The black and white previews particularly gave it a wonderful Steranko-60s feel to the art. I would have loved a whole issue in that style, even sans color! All the same I'm missing Epting's artwork and his eye for detail. I hope he'll come back to the main Captain America title after he finishes up on Marvels Project.
I don't know what to make of the "Captain America: Reborn: Who Will Wield the Shield" issue. I think I need to let the story sink in a bit. I'm honestly rather torn. The James fan in me is delighted with this development, however long it lasts. It'll be interesting to see how things shake out when the regular series returns. Hopefully James won't be a "Siege" victim.
Steve's reasons worry me though. He sees both his past and his future, but we don't know all Steve has seen. Why does he think he can have his life with Sharon but not as Cap? Is it the real future or only a possible one? I'm annoyed by Steve's backhanded way of protecting James. His logic smacks me too much of "I'm doing this to protect you for your own good" trope I loathe so much. On the other hand, I'd rather this ending than Steve putting on a good face for everyone. He's just the duty bound guy who would do that, too.
This "James is so fragile" attitude that's cropped in Breevort's interviews just bugs me. If they'd said it when James first became Cap, I might agree with him, but James has grown as a character considerably since then. I do think James has earned the shield in his own right, but convincing him of that is another story. I was amused that Alex Ross' design for the new Cap is chalked up to old one of Janet's. Of course I did love seeing Natalia all supportive. For someone who was against him taking up the shield, she seems not so quick to have him give it up without a fight.
Maybe the last issue of Reborn will fill in the blanks for me. It sounds like Steve has a bigger future ahead of him - except we see Steve being Cap in Invincible Iron Man and Siege, so something pulls back into action. So something pushes him into action, either that executive order he asked for or something far worse. And judging by the scans of Siege #1, I've seen, I'd say "far worse" covers it pretty well. At least in most of those appearances, we see *both* Caps together, rather than "Steve's back, James who?"
The other big question mark in my mind when Steve came back was Sharon. I still think they have a LOT of issues to work through together. To shove it off-camera feels like a disservice, although another part of me wonders if it's a way of ignoring that horrible storyline altogether. I wish Sharon didn't look so lifeless and flat in that sleeping scene. She looks downright creepy. If it wasn't Steve Rogers saying it, I would have been really nervous about Sharon!
The art duties were split by Butch Guice and Luke Ross. I much preferred the Guice half of the artwork. The black and white previews particularly gave it a wonderful Steranko-60s feel to the art. I would have loved a whole issue in that style, even sans color! All the same I'm missing Epting's artwork and his eye for detail. I hope he'll come back to the main Captain America title after he finishes up on Marvels Project.