Bill Janzen:
Alexandru Lupp:

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Bill Janzen:

The highly anticipated Captain America #600 is here, which brings us to the important question: Does it live up to the hype?

Brubaker's run on Captain America has been nothing short of phenomenal. Not only is he helming the most successful Captain America run perhaps ever, but he has even done the unthinkable and brought Bucky back, but even more surprisingly he's done it in a way that was almost universally enjoyed by all readers. The art that has accompanied Brubaker's writing has been equally exemplary. With all this taken into consideration, it was a pretty safe bet that the main story of the issue would be a great buy, but what had me worried was what "extras" would inevitably be included.

I have never understood on these "milestone" issues that are extra thick (and of course extra expensive) why we aren't simply given a longer issue of the main story by the regular creative team that readers have actually been buying the book for. Sure, on the odd occasion the extras are actually interesting, but more often then not they're second rate compared to the main story that the book is picked up for in the first place.

The main story in this issue by Brubaker and Guice involves the one year anniversary of Steve Rogers' death, and the vigil held by masses of the public, and what is done by members of both the New and Dark Avengers on the occasion. Also included is a plot involving Sharon Carter recovering further mysterious memories about the day Cap died. The issue also has a number of sub-stories by different creative teams added in as "bonuses" to offer supplemental information on Captain America related characters and story. One of them is a brief tale of a female Bucky that's come to the main Marvel universe from an alternate dimension (the Onslaught universe) and her first meeting with the Young Avengers' Patriot. It also happens to take place on the anniversary of Cap's death and focuses mostly on her trying to figure out where she belongs in the world.

Other bonuses include things such as a mini tale about the "other Steve Rogers" (the evil lookalike), another mini tale on an auction of Captain America memorabilia that's taking place and what it all means to various people, a reprint of an old Captain America comic from the '40s, and an essay tribute to the character written by Joe Simon.

I can't review the writing and art from each separate story here without this review taking on the length of a novella, but I will summarize my thoughts on it. First, the main story by Brubaker and Guice is excellent, as all of their issues thus far have been. Is it a titanic milestone worthy of the big number 600? Hard to say. They're almost a victim of their own talents in that all of their issues are so good that this kind of seems like just another issue in that sense. Nonetheless, it's a great issue, and I think I'm pretty happy to have it as the 600th.

Second, there's the extras. For a little more on the price tag, we get quite a bit more content here. But to be honest, it's content that I couldn't care less about, which wouldn't be so bad except it was crammed into the same cover as an issue that I really did want. So I ended up paying extra for a whole lot of pages that I'd really rather just rip out if it weren't for the fact that that would be comic collector blasphemy. Do I really want to read a 60+ year old comic? Not a chance. What about a story about a female Bucky from the Onslaught universe? Even less so. Much better for me would have been if Marvel had just put all this extra content into a separate issue of some kind so I wouldn't be forced to get it, but my guess is that they knew as well as anybody that that wouldn't sell well at all, and that they'd make more money by using it to justify jacking up the price by a few extra bucks.

Overall, the main story is great, but the "extras" that I don't want that were used to justify a price tag that I don't like will equal me selling this issue just a week after buying it for probably half the price I paid for it. Ain't life grand.

In the end, I'm looking more forward to owning this issue's main story as part of a trade paperback, sans "extras."

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Alexandru Lupp:

Captain America reaches #600, and Marvel gets to celebrate another milestone. So we, the lucky readers, get a behemoth issue at a whopping $4.99, and a big hullaballoo involving a Monday release. Was this issue in-and-of-itself worthy of such a special release? No, not really. The story it tells is not that of Steve Rogers's return; instead, it celebrates the man – and celebrates it well at that.

There are three new stories in this issue. The rest are all reprints, which has become a regular occurrence in these celebratory issues. It's a habit that has become rather annoying. It's a cheap way of justifying the increased cost of these issues. Now, while there is plenty new here for the reader to sink his teeth into, the $5 price is rather steep nonetheless, and the reprint of a classic Stan Lee story by no means justifies the additional dollar.

On the other hand, the Alex Ross reprint is a good one to include. As much as anything this issue is meant as a good jumping on point for new readers, and thus including an origin story is a good idea. The only problem is that the Brubaker story that immediately follows it covers some of the same points. The overlap is not incredibly distracting, but one can imagine that the planning could have been just a tad better, especially since Brubaker's story is such a treat for anyone who has been keeping up with his run on this book.

He touches on so many of the threads that he has woven, while bringing in new threads (read Bucky from the "Heroes Reborn" universe). There is definitely a sense that it's all building up to something big, and it's certainly nice to see the tapestry being woven. Ironically enough, the Cross-Bones and Sin story was probably my favorite. They are awful human beings; there should probably be no doubt about that. However, through the strength of their love for each other, Brubaker humanizes these monsters. What should be black and white becomes quite gray; such a pure and powerful emotion--in something that is otherwise corrupt and wicked--is certainly a nice twist.

More important to the general plot, however, is the Sharon Carter segment – and while the reveal about the gun seems perhaps a little forced, it does make sense given the amount of mind control and deception that has been involved in this story. In any event, the real problem here is that this story will be continued in Captain America: Reborn #1, while the regular series will go into filler mode. The next issue focuses on Bucky and Nick Fury uncovering a lost tale from Cap and Bucky's days in World War Two. So my question is, why do we need a separate mini-series to tell this story? Aside from the fact that this will make more money for Marvel, there really is no reason. But such petty detractors aside, these should all be interesting stories, and this issue certainly whets my appetite for whatever Brubaker and Hitch are cooking up.

Moving along, the Roger Stern story is a bit more of a mixed bag. It focuses on Bernie Rosenthal, ex-girlfriend to Steve Rogers. I never followed that particular period in Captain America's life, and the fact that it references past stories so heavily made it hard for me to have the proper emotional response to the story. Despite that, it was still enjoyable, and it certainly did make sense despite my lack of knowledge.

Finally, Mark Waid and Dale Eaglesham outdo themselves with a story about memorabilia, but more importantly about how much Cap has impacted the people around him. It's clever, brief and to the point. It shows just why Steve Rogers was undoubtedly such a great man. In fact, that is the goal of each of these stories, and one that is accomplished – which given the celebratory nature of this issue makes this an effective #600.

What wasn't effective was the manner in which this book was advertised and released. It was poorly done, and probably confused more than generated interest. Fortunately, the stories included in the issue are good, and there is more than enough here for everyone. While not great, it definitely captures the essence of what made Steve Rogers a great individual. And that is all one could ever ask of such a book.

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