Posts Tagged ‘ Captain America ’

Forget Legion of Three Worlds, forget Amazing Spider-Man – both were actually head and shoulders above the rest of the pack, true, but the best book of the week was a book so consistently good that it probably gets overlooked by most readers, and simply taken for granted.

You know the book I mean…

This week’s Captain America took several steps towards the conclusion of Ed Brubaker’s ‘Death of Captain America’ arc. At this stage, I think we can safely call it ‘epic’, actually – and I suspect that a lot of people will happily shell out money for a second omnibus edition of Brubaker and Epting’s (and everyone else involved) run.

At this stage, I think it’s safe to say (thanks to future solicits) that Bucky Barnes will remain in as Captain America for the forseeable future – although that’s not to say that Steve Rogers will never return. At some point, though, I think that I’ll get used to calling Bucky ‘Cap’…just not quite yet.

After all, you have Zola and the Skull still tinkering with Doom’s time platform that they obtained a while ago…

…and apparently Sharon Carter is the constant. Sounds to me like Brubaker may have been watching a bit of Lost, but it also suggests to me that Skull has a plan involving time travel and using Sharon Carter (when she was under mind control) and Steve Rogers. Given that Zola has made another machine to separate the Skull from Lukin, I’d also suggest that maybe the Skull will need a new body to inhabit.

In the past, he made use of a cloned body of Steve Rogers but maybe he’s had trouble since then – say, with maintaining the integrity of the super-soldier serum. What if he intends to snatch Cap’s body from the steps of the courthouse as it dies and transplant his consciousness into it? He could replace that body with a failed clone without the super-soldier serum – which is then the corpse that we’ve all already seen. Maybe the real Steve could return this way – maybe not.

Anyway, there’s lots of stuff happening this issue. With Faustus pulling a fast one and betraying the Skull, he also gave Sharon a gift of sorts…

Honestly, this whole Sharon’s baby plotline feels hinky to me. I’m not sure if it is what it looks like – a plot device to give Sharon a reason to fight Faustus’ control – or whether the baby isn’t so much lost as taken by Zola. Either way, for some reason it makes me feel a bit uncomfortable and I’m not really sure why.

Another nice touch was Sin’s going off mission. Before the Skull resurfaced, she and Crossbones were all set on raising some hell, and her constant beratement by her father obviously hasn’t sat well with her. Having her rebel by trying to kill the senator sets up a conflict there nicely – and allows Bucky to make a grand entrance as Cap, a damn sight more impressive one than he made a while ago in Washington.

Finally there’s one panel that gave me not one but two smiles for completely different reasons.

First up, I love the fact that Black Widow doesn’t just get out of her flying car when Bucky’s around. No, to impress the man she has feelings for (which must get a bit weird as she used to be ga-ga for Steve-Cap a while back), she vaults out.

And secondly, Falcon calls Bucky ‘partner’ and the only other person he’s called that is Steve Rogers. Aww.

Looks like Skrull Cap’s got a headache.

As a kid growing up in Britain, I didn’t really identify with Captain America (or Captain Britain for that matter, but that’s another story) and hadn’t really heard of him. The majority of my comics reading, aside from UK comics like Beano and Eagle, was limited to Spider-Man reprints in Spider-Man Weekly – up until the Secret Wars II weekly hit the stands.

The Secret Wars II book reprinted not only the much-mocked miniseries itself but also all the crossovers (well almost all; the Hulk and Micronauts ones didn’t make the cut) and storylines that spun off from those crossovers, so we got the full Malice/Return of Doom sagas from Fantastic Four #280-288, the full Nebula/Sanctuary II storyline from Avengers #255-#261 and a lot of the X-Men stuff circa #194-199. That comic pretty much introduced me to the Marvel Universe in its entirety.

Cap didn’t show up till the third issue of the comic, reprinting Captain America #308 – and to be honest I’m not even sure I knew who he was before that. The thing is it wasn’t long before I was picking up Cap’s own book imported, just in time to see him hand in his uniform to the Commission and become The Captain.

Mark Gruenwald’s Cap, more than any other, was my Cap. He was a shameless superhero, corny and straightforward and I liked it. At some points, I fell out with the book – like during CapWolf and Fighting Chance, but at the end of the day I always came back. When Gruenwald left the book and Mark Waid and Garney took over (and lets just gloss over the Heroes Reborn fiasco) the book changed in tone.

A lot of the superheroics went out the window – not all, mind, but a lot. Then, when Waid moved on and Jurgens replaced him a lot of them came back. This was at the time when, post-Heroes Reborn many books were shamelessly pushing superheroes again, and Cap was at the forefront – and while I still picked up every issue it had stopped being an essential read.

When the book was relaunched with a ‘real world’ slant in the aftermath of 9/11 I bailed on the book completely for several years, only coming back for the Kirkman-penned Avengers Disassembled tie-ins. I could get doom and gloom on the news; I didn’t need it in comics too.

And then there was the relaunch – the third since I picked up that first Cap comic years ago. I didn’t expect too much; I’d liked Brubaker’s work well enough on Catwoman and Gotham Central, but Epting was the real draw for me – being a fan of his much maligned Avengers run years ago, I was keen to see him back drawing Cap.

Didn’t expect much, eh?

Well more fool me.

For the past three years Captain America has been the best book Marvel have been putting out month in, month out. Who would have thought that entrenching Cap in the espionage side of the MU and bringing back Bucky – the closest thing to an untouchable character that Marvel had – would work so well?

And running the book with the main character dead for the past nine months? That takes some creative balls.

For years and more than any other book, Captain America followed the trends in comic books and America. Comics got darker, Cap got armor. Comics got lighter, Cap got soapier. Comics got serious, Cap fought terrorists. Now Captain America is setting the trend for superhero books – got a book with an overarcing villain who the hero rarely meets? Got a book with conspiracies? Got a book with a multi-faceted supporting cast? Got a book where each and every issue is complete unto itself and part of a bigger storyline? This is why.

Tonight Cap will be getting a new man behind the mask and while this isn’t exactly new for comics in general or for Cap in particular, I think its a bold move. Lets hope Steve Rogers rests in peace for at least a few more years because there are plenty of stories to tell with the new guy – and Captain America will keep moving forward, leading the way at the head of the pack.

Marvel announced that Alex Ross would be doing a redesign of Cap’s outfit for Captain America #34 – where we’re getting a new Cap; and one that’s very comfortable with a gun.

Note to self: Do not let a Muppet design your super-hero outfit….

…because what you get is this:

See now, this is why I don’t collect toys (well aside from the, er, occasional Star Wars and that Marvel Select Green Goblin dangling an unmasked Spider-Man behind him) – they’re too damn cool. There’s just too many Marvel Legends and DC Direct between them have churned out dozens of toys that I’d like.

But I am awed by Zombie Hulk! (Details just released on the Diamond Select site)

I’m not going to bother reviewing Captain America #25 – if only because I am certain that every comics blog or site on the internet will be carrying a review or some kind of comment on it today.

Suffice to say that it was a damn good issue; the entire creative team was on top form and I think the structure of the book worked well. The big reveal at the end – well, I had forgotten that particular element was in play, so that was a nice surprise.

I am somewhat curious as to whether this will stick. After all, Cap has died twice in my memory – once at the end of Mark Gruenwald’s run, where he was revived almost immediately by Mark Waid, and once at the end of the third volume in #50 which was supposed to launch the next Cap book. That was ignored completely in favor of the ‘war on terror’ relaunch.

And let’s face it, heroes die all the time – and they come back. Personally I think Cap will be back at some point (hell, over in Civil War: The Initiative, Ms Marvel told Spider-Woman that Cap was being worked on at the Raft – or was that merely misinformation fed by Iron Man?) and I expect him to be.

But that doesn’t mean I’m not going to enjoy the ride.

Other buys- FF was solid but unspectacular; I’m actually glad McKone is leaving; Marvel Zombies vs Army of Darkness was a ridiculous amount of fun; Civil War: The Initiative was a nice re-intro of the post-CW MU and damn, Sasquatch looked cool; Mighty Avengers #1 was fantastic, a note-perfect intro the team and set up a number of nice relationships in the book (Sentry and Wasp, Iron Man and Ms Marvel, Ares and Widow, Ares and Wasp, Ms Marvel and Wasp, Wonder Man and Ms Marvel, Wonder Man and his ego) – although I think they’re getting Ares on the cheap.

And then there was 52…you have to feel for Black Adam. That’s a story that will not end well, I fear.

I can’t believe that was 12 years ago!

Hold the Front Page

The New York Daily News carries a spoiler-filled article on Captain America #25 here. I haven’t read it, but I am impressed that they carry the comic’s cover on the front page of their website – the front page.

Can’t get better publicity than that. I suspect Ed Brubaker may be right about multiple printings – and looks like one rumor is true…

Breaking up is hard to do

Anyway, crosstown (well actually at WonderCon), DC confirmed that Green Arrow will end with #75 – and that the last page will end with a proposal. Let’s just hope that Black Canary has the good sense to stick the moustache-twirling ass out on his, uh, ass and doesn’t say yes.

Does whatever a Spider can

Looks like Topher Grace really had to think about his character Eddie Brock in the upcoming Spider-Man 3 (did I mention I won’t see the film in its first week as I leave to go back to the UK for a wedding on May 4th? ARRGH!)

Aint it Cool has more production shots online here.

Moving House

ComicAddiction may be down right now (temporarily?), but the site’s founder can be found at Short Fuse Reviews reviewing Dynamite releases. That shill! Is he getting them for free?!?

Also, longtime readers may recall the Collector’s Mentality, that chronicled an old colleague’s (and current Postcards Assistant Editor and contributor) battle with collecting. It closed in September, but James Powell is back with a completely (so far) non-comics related blog on his own site – Raising the Steaks kicked off recently.

Meanwhile, Comicbook Christian is exactly where it’s always been, and none the worse for it!

Until later…

This week’s big book is Captain America #25 – the book that I looked at the cover of here.

Ed Brubaker teases at it- and predicts that it will go into multiple printings here.

And over in Tom Brevoort’s answers to Civil War questions on Newsarama, this came up:

Q: When will we find out who the “Fallen Son” is, if not in Civil War: Fallen Son #1?

TB: You’ll find out before FALLEN SON #1 comes out. More than that I cannot say at this time.

Hmmm…..Fallen Son is due out in a few weeks, so Cap is definitely out before that…

Not only that, but popular scuttlebutt (and how good is that word) has it that the series will actually be called Fallen SOLDIER – even Marvel’s own solicits say that Fallen Son isn’t the actual title

So could Cap be the Fallen Son?

Well if he is – and remember that #1, the Wolverine issue states that the series does revolve around a death – the third issue could be areal snooze as it focuses on Captain America himself.

So who else qualifies as a major character in the MU and a soldier?

Nick Fury, that’s who.

In fact, he’s about the only other character who would fit this. So what if he bites the dust in Cap #25 trying to spring Cap from jail?

Of course…I suppose the solicit for Fallen Son #3 itself could be a fake…gah….

Note to self: Cuffs and gloves do not work well together.

You may have seen the page-by-page panel-by-panel commentary I did on Civil War #7 yesterday – or not – but its easy to think that was the only book around yesterday (well, that and Amazing Spider-Man) so here’s what might end up being a weekly thing, even if I haven’t read everything yet (Wonder Woman, Superman and a few others are still on the ‘to read’ pile).

Top 10: Things that happened yesterday (including Civil War)

(And yes, there will be spoilers for this week’s books here)

10. Best Wake Ever – Punisher War Journal #4 had the best wake ever. Seeing this bunch of B-, C- and D-listers mourn the passing of Stiltman was hilarious and poignant, a sad swansong to a better time. And having Spider-Man confirm it was a nice touch too. And what are the odds they’re all really dead? Zip. If Fraction keeps this up I may have to stick around in spite of myself.

9. Tony Stark becoming Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. in a move that absolutely everyone saw coming. He’s still the smuggest character in comics though, but now potentially one of the most interesting.

8. Barbara Gordon going all last-season of A-Team on us unexpectedly. And you just know that Spy-Smasher’s going to get hers at some point down the line. I pity the fool!

7. Cap hanging up his flag for the cause. Okay, I was kind of rooting for him buying the farm symbolically but I can live with this. I suspect hell be out of prison pretty soon, though. And I do still wonder who’s going to die that leads to Fallen Son…

6. Renee Montoya finally working out what we all did about 42 weeks ago – she’s the new Question.

5. The End is coming. Or near. Or perhaps beginning, I can’t remember which. Lots of DC books this week carried the double paged spread of the image that was revealed a while ago.The build up to Countdown starts here…

4. The Monsters of the MU returned in the hit-and-miss Legion of Monsters: Werewolf by Night, and while Mike Carey and Greg Land’s title feature felt a little been-there, done-that (even if it looked great), Skottie Young’s take on Monster of Frankenstein was – quite honestly – fantastic. I know he has his detractors, but he knocked this out of the park with a slightly different style than usual.

3. Ralph Dibny beats the Devil. Damn…just…damn. I have to go re-read his storyline from the start. Although…hasn’t Faust already shown up in the new JLA. Guess either that binding spell didn’t stick or this isn’t as final as it looks.

2. Hal Jordan shows Bruce Wayne how to win big at blackjack – play without fear! And Bruce’s reaction is priceless too; “I wish Barry had lived to see you with money.” An otherwise very old-school, slightly dull The Brave and the Bold #1 was completely redeemed by that one scene.
1. Hercules – against all odds – comes off as one of the best characters on the planet, so I guess Civil War did change something (and I liked the guy to begin with!)

Clearly President’s Day didn’t delay the comics shipments, and as a result, Civil War #7 has hit – and I thought I’d do a page by page reaction as I read the ending of this game-changing mini.

Its like live blogging, only kinda not.

Needless to say, spoilers ahoy!

The Cover – Nice. Seen it online for what seems like months. In fact, it may have been months!

Pg 1 – The Recap -Okay, a brief recap – probably needed given that its been forever since #6. Nice little illustration too. But seriously, nobody on the Pro-reg side looked around, saw Venom, Bullseye and Lady Deathstrike and thought ‘huh, maybe I am on the wrong side’?

Pg 2 - Oooh, splashy. Nice work, if a little stiff. And seriously, Cap takes down Wonder Man? Unlikely. Maybe Wondy is faking it. Maybe he’s a traitor to the Pros. Maybe he’s biding his time. Maybe it’s just because it makes Cap look like a bad-ass.

Pg 3 – (1) Man, Bishop’s an ass-hat. He really needs curb-stomp- (2) oh, ask and ye shall receive. Cool. (3) Hey, is Cage hugging Iron Man? And who did Iron Man take down? Seems like a wasted panel. (4)Ha! Taskmaster taking down Solo and vaguely-familiar stock villain #2. (5)Oh-oh, SHIELD are locking the place down.

Pg 4 – (1)Maybe not. Dagger kicks booty. Mmmm….Dagger booty. (2)Oh look, Black Panther is making with the computer – and he can remember a 69 digit code – that’s how cool he is. Must be Hudlinitis. Mmmm…69. (3) Heeere’s Spidey! And Iron Man is pantsing himself while fightig off Cage’s manly advances. (4) Okay, that could be trouble for everyone’s favorite side-switching webbed wonder.

Pg 5 – (1) Apparently SHIELD has nothing on Panther-Fu! (2) Or maybe not. Time to call in the cavalry! (3) And it’s Cloak? Really? Cloak is the cavalry? And surely if they got stuck, the Pros would too, right? Surely they could fight safely without endangering innocent civilians? (4) Man, he looks in pain. Maybe Cage is hugging him too. (5) Oh, come on – it’s Cloak! Who’s scared of Cloak? And isn’t Torch on the Antis? Why is he surprised?

Pg 6 – Cloak ride! Doesn’t matter that everyone’s getting sucked through the Darkforce dimension, they’re still fighting!

Pg 7 - (1)Hmm. Dark. (2) Wait, that was the plan? Drop everyone a couple of hundred feet in the sky? Way to go, Panther! (3) Wonder if anyone grabbed Bullseye? (4) Damn, so much for keeping civilians out of it – way to go, Panther!

Pg 8 – (1) Okay, that doesn’t sound like Wonder Man. Maybe he’s just pissy that Cap took him down so easy. And at least Iron Man has his priorities straight. And I can’t believe I just typed that. (2) Although that was uncalled for – and condescending. (3) Nothing says calm down like a stampede of mounted policemen. (4) Random fight scene where no-one seems to do too much. Kinda pointless.

Pg 9- (1) Spidey so rules. Four in one! (2) Damn skippy, Reed! (3) Ha! Comeback! (4) Yes, Iron Man, with all these walking weapons of mass destruction knocking about, a man with a shield is so the one to focus on.

Pg 10 - (1) And apparently Lady D agrees. That’s gotta hurt. (2) Damn. I’d be ‘Unh!’-ing too if that was breathing in my face! (3) Okay, bad guys dogpiling on Cap seems kinda wrong… (4) …but then he looks awfully cocky for someone about to get his neck snapped. (5) What the hell? I thought he said ‘pal’ singular….

Pg 11 – (1) Yes! Namor rules! (2) Take that, Toyetic villains!

Pg 12 – (1) She-Hulk’s a scaredy cat, but Tony has a plan – as always. (2) Clor! Captain Marvel! Unnamed Initiative-type heroes who may or may not be the new Champions we met last issue!

Pg 13 – (1) Doesn’t look good for our Atlantean chums at the hands of generic heroes…. (2) Face off! And hey, what’s that behind Tony? (3) Oh, man, that’s gonna smart if he gets the armor off….

Pg 14 – (1) Great! No more Mr Nice Cap! He totally deserves that. (2) Uh-oh, Clor doesn’t look too happy with Dad taking a beating…(3) Ha! I tell you, between this panel and ish #2-3, I think Hercules has totally been the star of the show. (4) I’m as confused as Sue is. Who’s taking out pros and antis?

Pg 15 - (1)Ah, that explains it. Trust ol’ Benjy to just clobber everyone. (2) Okay, I’m kinda glad to see him! (3) Taskmaster you fiend! Not in the back! (4)Oh, nice save! That is totally going to get him some make-up sex! (5) Er…assuming he’s okay.

Pg 16 – (1) Man, she’s pissed. (2) And he knows it. (3-4) Ouch. That’ll learn ‘im! (5) You tell him, Herc! (6) Man, now he’s pissed…and looking kinda like Gorgon. And I think that proves that ain’t the real Mjolnir.

Pg 17 – Damn! Hercules owned this series. Great splash! I’m first in line for a Herc solo!

Pg 18 -(1) Take that, Shellhead! (2) And that! (3) And that!!! (4) Uh….Cap? Anyone home behind those raging eyes? Looking kinda scary there… (5) Man, Iron Man doesn’t look good…DON’T DO IT CAP!!!

Pg 19 – (1) Uh-oh…looks like he’s losing it! (2) Damn New Yorkers! I tell you, I never see them pull together like that…and one of them would have to be a fire-fighter wouldn’t it? (3) I’m assuming that’s Danny-Devil…not that it matters. (4) I tell you, Cap is not looking too rational right now…

Pg 20 - (1) Oh, that’d a bit of a mess. (2) Uh-oh, realisation setting in… (3) Well, that’s symbolic. (4) And that tear’s the money shot. Stamford wasn’t a one-off, was it?

Pg 21 – (1) So…you going to listen to them? (2) Guess not – and that actually makes sense. (3) Wait, they’re not arresting him? (4) Oh, okay, I get it. Someone else is going to be behind the mask, eh? (5) And when Cap says stand down, everyone just listens? What about the villains?

Pg 22 – Man, I guess everyone does listen to him…and it looks like everyone got up from the battle and everyone’s okay – wonder what that death that Fallen Son concentrates on is all about then?

Pg 23 – (1) Who’s that reaching for Cap’s mask? (2) Really? That would be interesting…but he already has his own book. I guess that’s maybe just symbolic because of how much he looks up to him and stuff that got really hammered in to us – and him – last issue. (3) Sometimes I think you need to think about what captions to put with what images. Because the Dear Susan thing doesn’t work here… (4) Nothing like modesty to endear yourself to your estranged wife…

Pg 24 - (1) Man, he’s a romantic isn’t he? Although she is quite impressive… (2) Okay, Wonder Man looks like a dork here too – and hey, what did Sentry do in that battle? And Captain Marvel for that matter? Geez. (3) Wow, looks like the Texas Rangers have some new members – Armadillo, Firebird, Phantom Rider…cool.

Pg 25 – (1) Well at least they’re keeping the villains in 42 too, I guess. (2) Yay, Omega Flight get a look-in! (3) Cage rules the underground! Kinda like House of M now that I think about it. (4) That might have been a better reveal say, six months ago. (5) Wow, someone looks upset…and I don’t blame him. Spend your life in service and this is what you end up with?

Pg 26 – (1) Hank Pym is man of the year? Cool! Y’know, its the little things that please me… (2) Hmm, so someone got promoted, eh? (3) No more clones? What about mutants? Oh… (4) For a guy so clumsy with words, he does okay sometimes.

Pg 27 – (1) And it looks like it worked. (2) Oooh, sultry lady! (3) That flaming Helicarrier gets everywhere, doesn’t it? (4) Ah, so the rumors were true about Tony’s new job! And doesn’t he look the smug bastard?

Pg 28 – (1) Oooh, someone doesn’t like getting him coffee! (2) Looks like Miriam Sharpe has some of the TBolts’ numbers, even if Tony doesn’t! (3) Sure, try to rehabilitate the bad guys – what about the good guys? (4) That’s why it’s 42? Lame. I thought it was the meaning of life…and could Tony possibly be more smug? (5) Smug-tastic bastard. And more full of hihmself than ever. Iron Man could actually be really interesting soon. I can’t believe that Civil War worked as well as it has in this regard!

Pg 29 – (1) Well, if Miriam, Miss Disposable, says so it must be true! (2) I know I said it before but Tony Stark is the Mayor of Smugtown, King of Smugonia and Lord of the Smugolions. The tit. (3) And so it ends….

Well.

I have to think about that. I guess its the only way it really could end with a change to the status quo but without destroying any franchsises.

So not bad, not bad at all. I need to go re-read it and the rest of this week’s purchases…see you tomorrow!

The War ends this week after bloody battles and interminable delays. And someone will die- we know that much.

In fact, as Civil War #7 finally comes out, spoilers have already abounded (is that even a word?) for the last few weeks thanks to Marvel’s scheduling issues and the plague that is advance solicitation (anyone else remember having to pick up a comic to see what happened in it?).

I’m pretty sure there are spoilers and reviews out there on the internet too, but I’ll be damned if I’m going to fire up Google and search for them. DAMNED, I tell you!!

Anyway, here’s what we can already work out:

1. The Super Human Registration Act is the new status quo, as shown in the latest ish of Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man and a couple of other places.
2. Ben Grimm and Johnny Storm will be joined by the Black Panther and Storm in the new FF, as shown in solicits for upcoming issues of both Fantastic Four and Black Panther.
3. Reed Richards is not dying in Civil War #7 – he popped up in last week’s Sensational Spider-Man, where a doctor mentioned she hadn’t seen him since his ‘friend’ died – so I’m pretty sure that Sue Richards is safe too.
4. Spider-Man’s mourning/movie-promoting move of donning the black threads seem to be as a result of events in this week’s Amazing Spider-Man #538, and a potential death in the family, but that doesn’t mean that MJ is kicking the bucket. It looks like the upcoming Sensational Spider-Man Annual will have MJ with Peter in his black costume trying to sort some kind of witness protection for her. Of course it could be a flashback…but I’m going out on a limb and saying that it’s May Parker who dies on Thursday.
5. Civil War: Fallen Son follows five characters /teams through themed one-shots following the War’s conclusion – Wolverine, New Avengers, Captain America, Spider-Man and Iron Man all get a look in. Oddly, of the final three issues only Iron Man’s final issue is without a solicited cover image. Of course, there’s nothing to say one of these issues couldn’t be retrospective…
6. Captain America is absent from the line ups of both New and Mighty Avengers. So why is the New Avengers team still around. Bendis said:
   

   “Cap said these people are the Avengers so that is why they are Avengers. And what that means and how that motivates the team is a big, big, big, big part of
   why the series exists after Civil War. These people are together for a reason
   and just because the person who put them together isn’t physically there doesn’t mean that reason doesn’t matter… or matter more… “

7. Then there’s that cover image that showed up on Amazon a while back (below). While its widely assumed that it’s a red herring, I still wonder about this. It just seems like a lot of work to go to to photshop a few images together and post a false solicit.
8. Joss Whedon has widely been credited with breaking the story’s finale. And any viewer of any of Whedon’s shows will know that there’s one piece of writing advice that he tends to stick to: kill your children. Killing off beloved characters as spurs to develop everyone else is a staple of much of his work.
9. Tony Stark has been named in solicits going forward (like May’s Iron Man) but Steve Rogers hasn’t. Not only that but May’s Captain America solicit doesn’t even feature him – while Winter Soldier, Sharon Carter and the Falcon feature on the cover with the triumvirate of Red Skull, Arnim Zola and General Lukin. No Cap.
10. Wizard’s Mighty Avengers preview some months ago appeared to have Iron Man getting used to his new toy (ie armor) – which suggests that it isn’t Tony Stark in there. So maybe that trade solicit on Amazon was half red herring – maybe someone else is in the armor but its not Steve Rogers. Maybe its Maria Hill…

So I’m going out on a limb: there is a death in Civil War #7 and it’s Steve Rogers. As a result. Tony gives up the Iron Man armor – but ends up as head of SHIELD. The New Avengers stick together out of respect to Roger’s vision, and Spider-Man dons the black to mourn him and his Aunt, sending MJ out of his life and into hiding for her own good.

I guess we’ll see how that plays out on Thursday…

A possible ending for Civil War is suggested by this solicit…so beware!!!

Click here if you’re unafraid…

It kind of ties in with my original thinking..but kind of not.

Intriguing isn’t the word…