Volume 51: Fallen Son: The Death of Captain America

Fallen Son: The Death of Captain America

Capt America #25: Author: Ed Brubaker / Illustrator: Steven Epting
Fallen Son Miniseries: Author: Jeph Loeb (from a premise by J. Michael Straczynski) / Illustrators: Leinil Yu (#1) / Ed McGuinness (#2) / John Romita Jr. (#3) / David Finch (#4) / John Cassaday (#5)

"...[A]nd one day, it'll be different. The load won't feel as heavy. 'Course, then you'll hear a song or somebody will laugh or the wind will blow the wrong way...and the hole will tear wide open again."

A number of heroes died during the Civil War arc (Volume 50), and while every human life should be equal in value, it's a fact that those closest to us leave the biggest vacuum in the world, an absence that's immeasurable in size. For many of the superhero community the death of Captain America cuts deeper than any of the others because of how inspirational he was. He's the reason so many of those able to protect the innocent were moved to do so in the first place. Steve Rogers was a man, but his costumed self was an almighty symbol that had the power to speak in place of the person beneath it.

The stories of how the death affected those closest to Steve is structured like the Kübler-Ross model (aka The Five Stages of Grief, as observed by Swiss psychiatrist Elisabeth Kübler-Ross), with each issue exploring one of the stages: Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, and Acceptance. The particular hero chosen to lead each issue isn't random, there's a method at play whereby the emotion will have a special resonance with that particular character.

Before we get to the Fallen Son issues, we're given the issue of Captain America in which the hero was killed (#25). It's a great issue, with the focus split between Steve's situation and the world around him, but favouring the latter, surprisingly.

Stage 1: Denial: Wolverine. No stranger to loss as one of the X-Men, Wolverine needs confirmation of the death before he can begin to heal. The sketchy lines and dark colours suit the tone.

Stage 2: Anger: the Avengers. The team who lost a friend and leader. While some grieve openly, some choose distraction. Choosing not to vent anger doesn't necessarily make it go away; it still affects but quietly, and can do even more damage in the long term.

Stage 3: Bargaining: Capt. America. It's named for Cap, for reasons that will be obvious upon reading, but it's mostly about Iron Man and one specific other. Without going into detail it was the best issue so far, by quite a margin. I loved how the chill of the rainy night adds to the cold reception.

Stage 4: Depression: Spider-Man. Another good issue. Peter carries the weight of the world on an ordinary day, but when his failures (real and imagined) gang up on him as one, past and present blur and the web-slinger aches like only he can.

Stage 5: Acceptance: Ironman. The acceptance doesn't mean an end to the grief, but allows reflection. The future is changed, but for the superhero community it must go on.

The book collects together Captain America #25; and Fallen Son #1-5 (i.e. Fallen Son: Wolverine; Fallen Son: Avengers; Fallen Son: Captain America; Fallen Son: Spider-Man; Fallen Son: Iron Man).

Verdict:

Volume 42: New Avengers: Break Out

New Avengers: Break Out

Author: Brian Michael Bendis  |  Illustrator: David Finch

"No more politics. Just us. No U.N. No governments. Just us helping people that need help. The big problems."

The events in Break Out take place six months after Volume 34: Avengers: Disassembled. The team as they existed at the end of that book is no more, disbanded, the dead are still dead, Stark isn't as filthy rich as he used to be, etc. When the Ryker's Island maximum-maximum security installation (yes, double maximums) has an Arkham Asylum-esque security failure a huge number of crackpots and supervillains are let loose upon the world, necessitating a dedicated team of heroes to do what heroes do: yadda, yadda, assemble.

It makes a kind of sense that the arc be included in the Collection, in part because it continues the Disassembled story line, telling of the evolution and change that's inherent in such teams, and it's really not a bad story, per se, but I don't feel that it's an essential read unless you're a devoted Avengers fan. On the plus side, it spends an admirable amount of time setting up the new team, as opposed to throwing them together without rhyme or reason and asking that we accept it without question, like good sheeple.

Bendis engineers a scenario wherein the heroes see the benefits of teaming up, but he leaves a window open through which tragedy may later creep, bringing with it bags filled with vicissitude and hubris.

The addition of Spider-Man (the loner) and Wolverine (the loose cannon) allows for their more series-specific villains to possibly feature in future, if the need should arise. I get the feeling that it will because neither of the two men are what I'd call team-players, so it seems natural to assume that they'll feature heavily in the works to come, creating conflict on multiple levels. Otherwise, why add them?

The book collects together New Avengers # 1-6.

Verdict:

Volume 34: Avengers: Disassembled

Avengers: Disassembled

Author: Brian Michael Bendis | Illustrators: David Finch / Jim Cheung / Steve Epting / Gary Frank / Michael Gaydos / David Mack / Alex Maleev / Mike Mayhew / Steve McNiven / Mike Oeming / George Pérez / Eric Powell / Darick Robertson / Lee Weeks

"[W]e, as a group, have failed..."

It's become customary to do something special for a landmark issue, something memorable or celebratory. With Avengers issue #500, Brian Michael Bendis took over as regular author on the series and set about destroying everything – in a good way. In order to remake the team into something new he had to first tear down what was old.

In just four issues he puts them through hell in the hope that they'll emerge from the other side as better heroes, more aware of the consequences of their actions and more appreciative of what they have. Not everyone survives the Bendis assault.

The threat comes without warning, as something known but unknown, an unfamiliar thing in a familiar form, and death follows.

The team's feelings are thrown into turmoil as they try to make sense of something the human mind can't easily make sense of. The most common response is to lay blame, find a target for the anger and pain, but the target isn't in plain sight. The true enemy this time isn't one that can be easily punched into oblivion.

There's still plenty of action, if that's your main concern, but it's balanced out with plenty of text and a fair amount of standing around talking deductively; somehow it all works.

Many different artists worked on the miniseries, so the quality varies, but mostly it's very good. There's a superb page in #501 made up of just four horizontal panels, dialogue-free, that puts into perspective the emotions that the remaining team members have to deal with. Much later, near the book's end, there's an astonishingly good double splash page that evoked an audible "Wow!" from me while reading.

The final chapter (Avengers Finale) is a kind of coda in a form that many people will recognise, a post-tragedy event for which there are no hard and fast rules, but which everyone in attendance understands, nevertheless.

The book collects together Avengers #500-503 + Avengers Finale.

Verdict:

Volume 14+15: Avengers: Forever

Avengers: Forever

Author: Kurt Busiek  |  Illustrator: Carlos Pacheco

"I'm sick of all this mumbo-jumbo!"

While it's not technically a 'crossover' story, it sure as hell feels like one. The Avengers assembled are pulled from different timelines, past, present, and future, different versions of the same team with different members, to stop a threat that (of course) only they can.

One of the most prominent threats is a powerful time-travelling villain who's at war with all of the good guys and a future version of himself. Time-hopping, cameo-filled shenanigans quickly get under way, because it's a Marvel team-based story and keeping things rational and simple would make too much sense.

To Kurt Busiek's credit, what could've been a convoluted clusterfuck of timelines and plot threads shitting the bed left, right, and centre actually isn't; it's merely a woefully dull epic that I struggled to finish.

Things looked promising when the team was divided in order to investigate happenings that I won't go into, but instead of becoming three focused narratives unfolding concurrently it turned into three more opportunities to have people fighting and occasionally being dicks to each other. Actually, that last part was one of the more entertaining things. The team don't always get along, having brought their era-specific baggage with them when they were dragged through time. The personal relationships are the saving grace in what is otherwise a clever but ultimately soulless tread through some specific parts of Marvel history and continuity.

The text boxes are coloured blue for some weird reason, making it more difficult to read than it ought to be. But the artwork is excellent; Carlos Pacheco you have nothing to be ashamed of, sir.

Volume 14 collects together Avengers: Forever #1-6; Volume 15 collects #7-12.

Verdict: