When Marvel Comics killed off Captain America — one of the company’s oldest and most iconic characters — back in 2007, sales were predictably brisk, thanks in part to the attention of the mainstream press. The surprising thing, though, is that the series actually continued to build upon its regular audience without its title character, and when Steve Rogers was eventually replaced as Captain America by his former sidekick Bucky Barnes, the fan response was almost universally positive. With this in mind, it seems a bit strange that Marvel would begin to hype a forthcoming mini-series titled Reborn with imagery strongly hinting that Rogers is about to return from the dead.
Since the mini-series is set to be penned by regular Captain America author Ed Brubaker, it seems rather likely that the story will be a pretty big deal and match the consistently high quality of his work on the series, but even still — why bother bringing back the old guy when it is obvious that the Captain America franchise is more popular when he’s not around? Sure, this is probably all part of Brubaker’s long-term master plan, but since we think that the Rogers-free Captain America is one of the best superhero comics currently being produced, we’d much rather that the original Cap continue to take his dirt nap.
