The Death of Captain America Omnibus

This a an excellent, lovely collection of some wonderful "Captain America" stories between issues 25-42 of the current Captain America series being published by Marvel comics. Although not a perfect collection, it comes pretty close, and is presented in a sturdy, wonderful and high quality format that will look great on any shelf and stand up to several readings.The collection starts with the issue in which Steve Rogers apparently "dies," and is perhaps one of the best "death" of a superhero stories in that genre, and continues onward until the assumption of the Captain America identity by Bucky and beyond. It is an uncompromising issue in which Brubaker hits all the right notes, and in which the tragedy of Steve's death is enriched by the wider "civil war" conflict which leads to the circumstances he finds himself in. Thankfully, detailed knowledge of that event is not a pre-requisite, as I did not read it, but was aware of the basic conflict between Captain America and Iron Man on the issue of registration of costumed heroes.Although issue 25 was printed in the first Captain America Omnibus published by Marvel, it's appropriate to be reprinted here, since all the stories that follow are set off by the events in that issue. Brubaker's approach here is well in keeping with his approach since starting his run, which is to ground the stories in a sense of realism and avoid navel gazing and spending too much time on faux reflection on Steve's passing by the supporting cast. Characters mourn and the loss of Steve Rogers permeates and is the catalyst of all the events that follow, but life does go on and Brubaker commits himself to continuing the story. Essentially, as Sharon, Sam (the Falcon), Tony Stark (Iron Man) and Nick Fury are forced to come to terms with Steve's demise, unexpected events take place which put Bucky in the position of having to assume the identity of Captain America. At the same time, the Red Skull's plot barrels along with the assistance of a plant in Shield itself and Sharon is captured. Although the Skull's plans are anything but transparent, an insidious plot to destroy America by taking over it's government comes frighteningly close to fruition and the new Captain America does an admirable if not flawless job at putting a spoke in the Skull's wheel. The stories here are lyrical, the characters are well drawn and the stakes are high in the right kind of way (without being silly). If anything, it is in this volume that the Cap series finally picks up some real momentum, with events unfolding organically, and with an immediacy and urgency which the previous 25 issues of Captain America sometimes lacked. In fact, while the first Captain America Omnibus is a great read, I preferred this second volume, as that volume occasionally got a little bogged down and could be slow at times.Brubaker isn't quite the genius some make him out to be, but is instead, a solid storyteller with a talent for creating realistic sounding characters and for creating grand, organic plots that satisfy thoroughly when read in bulk. It will rarely be a case where one particular chapter of Brubaker's run will really stand out as exceptional in and of itself, or even be very memorable, (issue 25 being the exception.) Issue to issue, the stories are hardly full of single events, or lines of dialogue or example, that will resonate with you afterward. Events seem to blur and intertwine, but as part of a larger whole, each chapter advances the plot substantially and provides a satisfying reading experience that comes together to make an even more satisfying whole. In fact, on reflection, it occured to me that actually, Brubaker has been telling the very same story since his Cap run began in 2005; namely a story about the confrontation between the extreme, fascist philosophies embodied by the Red Skull and perhaps, the idea of Captain America more than an individual wearer of the suit or bearer of that name, and all those things that go along with that. While all of Brubaker's other characters seems well drawn, his Steve is ironically a little removed, even slightly aloof, which isn't necessarily a bad thing and often helps promote the necessary mystique around the character that makes him likeable. At one point, Brubaker has Bucky, the character with whom we as readers probably most sympathize, describe Steve as that cooler, popular older brother the rest of us never want to let down, and it's a wonderful encapsulation of that mythical element Stever Rogers is supposed to represent. Structurally though, it's the overarching story that is the compelling element here, rather than individual issues, and for that reason, reading these stories in this volume in one or two sittings is therefore probably the best way to experience them. If Brubaker has any obvious weaknesses, it's that he's clearly not as comfortable with traditional comic science fiction as he is with crime or military fare, as the more slightly fantastic elements of his story, most swirling around the possibility of Steve's resurrection, seem a little clumsy and out of place. But this is early days yet for that particular tree to bear fruit. It is however, a weakness I noticed with some of the scripts.The art on this volume is by most of the same team from the previous volume. Epting and Perkins do a serviceable job of providing a consistent, realistic vision to the stories that perfectly compliment Brubaker's grounded, humanized run. The characters feel like real people and generally move like real people, and the team demonstrate an exemplary record of clear storytelling and page layout; I've never been confused by the action in a Captain America comic drawn by these two and that's rare these days, but I would expect nothing less than that from Epting who's an old pro. If there's a minor complaint here, it's that while clearly technically competent and excellent artists in their own right, there's also nothing particularly spectacular or any images, sequences or pages that wow or arrest your attention, and maybe that's not a bad thing. The art should service the story after all and not the other way around. It's perhaps just slightly unfortunate that this team hasn't produced any defining single images that will resonate with readers in and of itself beyond Brubaker's stories. They do however have an admirable work ethic, as the need for fill in artists is infrequent, ensuring a generally unified artistic vision to this run of stories.My only major complaint about the volume is that as the previous voilume was 25 issues plus, the 18 or so issues presented here seems a little short. While some might counter that the later issues after 42 relate more to Steve's eventual return and therefore don't meet the theme of the "death of Captain America," one still leaves the volume feeling like there's so much story which hasn't been included. However, that's more a compliment to the creative team than anything else, and only the unreasonable would refuse to accept that the story "ends" at a natural break. My other complaint is minor and about the format, namely the extra, DVD like material, articles and interviews etc presented in the first Omnibus is pretty light here, which I think is unfortunate. There are some bits and pieces about the media coverage of the death issue and Brubaker's intentions when starting the series some years back, but given the importance of the stories collected here and the volume of material produced about them by other media and by the industry at large, the few pieces presented here seem a little on the lean side to me. But that's a minor quibble and does not in any way diminish the excellent work the team accomplishes here.Captain America under Brubaker and Epting and Perkins is a great property and I can't wait for the next Omnibus in this series, as I don't buy the monthly installments and never have. Highly recommended.

I was blown away by the fist Captain America Omnibus, especially after a number of years away from regular comic collecting. I've always loved Cap, but this was high action and excitement! After Cap was killed at the end of the first Omnibus, I was concerned if this team could keep up the entertainment value. Why did I worry? The Winter Soldier (Bucky) eventually takes up the mantle of Captain America, with grudging assent from some of Steve Rogers oldest friends like Tony Stark and Clint Barton. The Red Skull's plot continues, with many twists and turns. The only problem with this volume is I'm not sure I can wait for the next Omnibus!

This is not as good as the groundbreaking volume that precedes it, but it's still great and worth a read. There is a bit of an overlap with the first volume, as Captain America 25 is reprinted in each, but that makes sense, and the issue is so pivotal that it's necessary to set the tone for what follows. And what follows is a cast of fascinating supporting characters who mourn in various ways and deal with the huge void left by the death of a larger-than-life hero. The Red Skull moves forward with various sinister machinations that seem, honestly, a little tame for him, like maybe Brubaker has been watching Fox News to get the pulse of America and is really interested in supervillainy being behind oil price hikes and foreclosures. I love the Red Skull and how he worked in the previous volume, and it's disappointing to see him so overshadowed by the powerful work, packed with emotion and action, that Brubaker is able to do with characters like the Winter Soldier, Agent 13, the Falcon, the Black Widow, and Iron Man. I hear other people say that the book actually improved when the title character died because the supporting cast is so good, and I'm not willing to go that far, but I can certainly recommend this book as a worthy continuation of the superb story that Brubaker and Epting told in the first omnibus.

Exceptionally well-written by Ed Brubaker, this story rolls out beautifully over a couple of years worth of issues. The characters -- and Sharon Carter and Bucky Barnes in particular -- are well-developed, and all grow throughout the story, with the usual exception of the psychotic bad guys (Crossbones and Sin). The art is frequently spectacular. One gets the sense that this creative team really understand not just what Captain America was intended to mean, but what he had to become. The book is big and well-crafted, and the supplementary material is nice bonus. Just a great comic book series at its zenith!

My son selected the gift for his fifteen year old son. I bought it as a Christmas present. I wish I had know how popular it would be. I regretted not buying two. I spent the day reinforcing how important it was to share.

Great storyline by a guy who is writing the best Cap I have read.Also the binding on this book is great, Marvel is doing nice job on them.

An amazing continuation of Brubakers run. Cap is dead but his book looks at the mantle and legacy of a true great seeing how his death affects the whole marvel U

I have found this omnibus a more action filled and interesting story line than the first omnibus.The first one seems quite a lot bigger, but had less textual storyline. It also had a lots of uninteresting interview with the writer, whereas this one has much less, so you just get the story which I find is better. I am not personally interested in the writers Q&A section.This omnibus has the same great artwork of the first one and a more rounded complete story from start to end. Some interesting twists and turns. I also find the new Captain America (Bucky) much better as he carrys a firearm. I did get quite annoyed in the first one seeing the bad guys killing of people, then the good guys just not wanting to kill there enemies, but in this comic omnibus it gets a bit grittier, which is nice.I would recommend this more than the first one.