This has been an amazing couple of weeks for comics (and I haven't got my hands on Buffy: Season Eight yet).
However, the infamous and controversial Captain America #25 - where Steve Rogers bites the bullet - has passed before my eyes; and I have to say: "wow!" Regardless of your feelings on the outcome, it's a masterful piece of writing by Ed Brubaker, who month-in, month-out produces some of the finest mainstream superhero scripts out there.
To repeat an argument I put forward over on the Midnight's Lair message boards (to all the people threatening to give up reading Marvel comics because of this 'outrage'): "Why give up now just as things are getting interesting? When you first read Lord of The Rings and you reached the "death" of Gandalf in Moria, did you throw the book aside, cursing all things Tolkien and swearing off "high fantasy" for life? No ... you trusted the author and wanted to see how the story played out. So stick with Cap (and Marvel), watch the story unfold ... have faith ... everything will work out in the end ... it always does ..."
I'm still convinced that the 'dead' Cap is either one of Nick Fury's Life Model Decoy robots or the Red Skull (who effectively pulled the trigger) bring Cap back to life with the Cosmic Cube. After all, no one stays dead in comics (including Bucky, Colossus and Captain Marvel ... who were all, for a time, definitely, positively, 'it-means-something' dead). What I'm really hoping for though is that Brubaker and Co. will pull a 'get out of jail free' card that I hadn't expected!
However, the best title I've read so far this month is The Confession - a Civil War one-off featuring a two part tale about Captain America and Iron Man, the leaders of the two sides in the superhero Civil War. The first part is a monologue by Tony 'Iron Man' Stark about how he knew the war was coming and why he believed he was right; while the second part is Cap (pre-assassination) confronting Tony, while he is being held ready for trial, about why he was right to do what did.
Bendis nails the conviction of the two protagonists and presents persuasive arguments for both points of view, but what I loved about this issue was the fact that once you put it down you can't help but feel that while the battle is lost, the real war is a long way from over. The end of the seven issues of Civil War and its spin-offs only marks the beginning of a long story arc that will (hopefully) lead to the restoration of some kind of status quo for the Marvel Universe.
Personally I'm looking forward to the ride - even if it's a bit bumpy along the way!
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