One of the most notable comic book releases this week was Captain America #600, which was so notable in fact, that it was released in many stores two days early.
We've already hear some retailer reactions to the entire situation, but what did comic book fans think about it?
The blogger at "Funnybook of the Week" found it baffling:
Marvel has promised to hype this up as a huge event, even with an odd release date of today - a Monday for heaven's sake - to emphasize the importance of the issue. So let's pretend that the general populace, who went crazy for the death of Steve Rogers and bat-$#!% crazy over Barack Obama hanging out with Spider-Man, bites on this press release and flocks to their neighborhood funnybook store to throw down five bucks for fluff and a teaser...I wonder if they'll be as likely to dive into the shops the next time Marvel points the hype machine away from the specialty web sites and out at the non-comic obsessed public.
After all, this isn't even where he comes back from the dead...this is where they announce that he might possibly be resurrected thanks to the special gun that was used to (possibly not) kill him. It all seems anti-climactic for the kind of hype that the book has been afforded.
The admin at "The Comic Book File" didn't dislike the issue but doesn't get the hype:
I know I may have a lot of you out there hating on me right now, but I am not suggesting this was not a decent tribute to Steve Rogers in all the various stages of his life, but the hype is what I can’t get over. What was it all about? Once again the Marvel marketing machine has done it’s job because a lot of fans rushed out to buy this issue, including myself and really it was not a bad read, but just not what I was expecting for all the hype surrounding it. This issue kinda reminds me of a wake. When you have a close friend or loved one who has passed away and you get a gang of his/hers buddies all together and they each recant their personal experience with this individual.
Honestly I don’t know what I was expecting so I can’t say I didn’t like it. But in the same breath I can’t say that I did. I know that’s quite the juxtapositon but I really don’t have much to say about this. The thing I feel the most passionate about in regards to this book, is the excessive cover price and the excessive publicity. Maybe if it was under hyped I would have actually enjoyed it more.
I didn't think it was possible, but Captain America without Rogers, the man who had been wearing the costume for half a century, was actually just as good. Brubaker gave Bucky a girlfriend, continued to grow the character (who for most purposes, he reinvented), and continued to weave the same type of spy-heavy stories that made the first 25 issues of the comic such a success.
Then, Marvel announced last month that #600 would change everything. It would be followed by a series called "Reborn" (see the trailer on TMR's homepage) and #600 would have "the most wicked plot twist since issue 25."
After buying the issue, I went to a coffee shop and read the much-hyped issue.
It was fantastic. Comics don't get much better than this.
