It Came From (someone else's) Long Box! -- Captain America #445-448 Operation Rebirth

I think it’s fair to say that nearly all comics fans have had an experience where a good friend—whose taste in comics they trust—lends them a book or stack of comics, they read it, and the story falls completely flat for them. Not everybody likes everything. Not every story or style is appreciated by every fan and it’s not even about what’s good versus what’s bad. There’s just no accounting for taste. One person’s Watchmen is another’s Ravage 2099. I had recently had one such experience with Mark Waid and Ron Garney’s Captain America: Operation Rebirth.

A few weeks back, at our regular Summit City Ink drink ‘n draw, my friend, Andy, lent me his issues of Operation Rebirth. Andy’s a longtime Captain America fan (he’s very fond of this story) and we usually have pretty similar tastes when it comes to comics. Given his enthusiasm, and our history, I agreed to borrow and read the issues. While I would not say that the Watchmen versus Ravage 2099 comparison that I used above is in any way an accurate description of my reaction, Operation Rebirth just did not work for me.

Operation Rebirth was serialized in issues #445-448 of Captain America at the tail end of 1995. Just prior to this story, Steve Rogers had donned a suit of armor over his costume to help stabilize his body because the serum that had made him a super solider had gone “stale” (huh?) and as the effects wore off, Rogers had become terminally ill. While hospitalized, Steve mysteriously disappeared—leaving behind only his armor and some very befuddled Avengers—and was soon presumed dead.

Little did anyone know that Cap’s disappearance was actually orchestrated by a small group of apparent mercenaries lead by former S.H.I.E.L.D. agent—and Steve Rogers’ girlfriend—Sharon Carter. The same Sharon Carter that Captain America thought he saw die years before. 

Teleporting into his hospital room, Carter and her band of mercenaries not only absconded with the dying hero’s body, but they saved his life with a full fluid and marrow exchange. This full fluid exchange would allow him not only to live, but to retain his superhuman strength and agility. But how? How does the recently returned Sharon Carter gain the resources to not only to kidnap Cap, but to replace all of his bodily fluids in a secret high-tech lab, and control a small band of mercenaries? Intriguing questions, indeed…that is until the true mastermind of this plan is revealed. The Red Skull.

Savvy readers may recall that by this time the Red Skull’s mind was inhabiting a body that was cloned from Captain America’s, thus ensuring not just his survival, but his super strength. It also means that he was a precise match for Cap when it became necessary to replace his marrow and bodily fluids.

Ron Garney and Scott Koblish

But why? Why would the Skull try to save Captain America? What’s in it for him? We soon find out that a fringe Neo-Nazi group called the New World Reich has managed to get their hands on the Cosmic Cube, which they, and the Skull, insist stores the consciousness of Adolf Hitler. The same consciousness of Hitler that previously inhabited the body of the villain, Hate Monger, and the Red Skull trapped in the Cube years before. If Hitler is released from the Cube, not only would he use it to re-shape reality into his image, but he is going to be really pissed at the Red Skull.

With the personal threat of Hitler’s return to the Red Skull, the Red Skull feels he must save Captain America’s life and convince him to join forces to save the himself and the world. With the urging of Sharon Carter, and his desire to prevent the New World Reich from terrorizing the globe, Cap, albeit reluctantly, agrees to assist his enemy.

Will Cap succeed? Can he trust the Skull, even in these dire straits? Why has Sharon Carter suddenly re-emerged? Was she ever dead? Why would she ever look to the Red Skull for help? What about the Cosmic Cube? In an effort not to spoil the end of the story, I’ll leave those answers for readers to discover on their own.

When looking at the major plot points of Operation Rebirth, it’s got the makings of a great Captain America story. There’s superhero-sci-fi action, pulpy elements, the Red Skull and the Cosmic Cube…all of the pieces should be there. But it just fell flat for me and often left me confused, about both the story and the characters.

Before I begin the criticism, I thought Ron Garney absolutely killed on this story. He was terrific. His layouts were pretty tight and the action felt big and exciting. Artistically, it felt like a great superhero story and there were some genuinely exciting panels and pages throughout the arc.

Over the course of four issues, there were also three different inkers, all of whom embellished and complimented Garney’s work very well. Part one was inked by Scott Koblish, parts two and four were inked by Denis Rodier, and part three was handled by Mike Manley.

Although I liked all three, Rodier’s work was probably the weakest. Overall, Rodier was very good, but there were some rare moments of inconsistency that made me wince a bit and bumped him behind Koblish and Manley. It’s also entirely possible that those inconsistencies were the result of inking assistants, but I presently have no way of verifying that. Additionally, for Mike Manley’s part, Ron Garney had only done breakdowns for part three of the story with Manley doing the finishes. This was also the issue that I thought looked the best.

Garney, along with his team of inkers, really carried the weight on this one and without someone of his caliber; this story would have been pretty forgettable. Which leads me to my first major criticism of the story: who are these characters? Obviously, I know who Captain America, Sharon Carter, and the Red Skull are. Duh. But most everyone seemed out of sorts. Cap was the only one who maintained some sort of consistency from what I have come to expect from the character. Waid wrote him very well. But Agent Carter and the Red Skull? Not so much.

I’m all for new takes on characters and I certainly understand that sometimes writers need characters to behave in certain ways to further along the plot—after all this is fiction. But my perpetual befuddlement at the actions of Agent Carter and the Red Skull pulled me right out of the story on several occasions. To make matters worse, every attempt to explain the bizarre behavior of these individuals seemed contrived.

Let’s start with Sharon Carter. First, she’s a total bitch and the reader has no reason why. After saving Captain America’s life, she proceeds to treat him like dirt and frequently sympathizes with the evil and murderous Red Skull. So much so that, when Cap tries to speak to her in confidence and express his concern over the Red Skull’s involvement, she goes out of her way to screw him over and betrays his confidence to the Red Skull…right in front of him! She’s a perpetual ball buster and apparently will do anything to hurt Captain America’s feelings, regardless of the consequences. Given the era that this was written in and her behavior, I thought this may have been an attempt to bring Agent Carter back into Steve’s life—except now she would be more than a sexy spy. She’d be a tough, renegade, morally suspect spy who plays by her own rules and will do anything to complete her mission, no matter who she hurts or who she has to sleep with. For evidence of that, I point to the back story she gives about her absence and return. If the attempt here was truly to bring her back as one of the many “bad girls” that populated superhero comics in the ‘90s, it was a misstep. It made her wholly unlikable and made her actions feel unnatural.

Ron Garney and Mike Manley

Speaking of unnatural behavior, why on earth would the Red Skull ever devise any plan to save Captain America for any reason? In this particular story, the Skull says, and I’m paraphrasing, it’s because Cap was created to defeat Hitler. Therefore he’s the only one who can steal the Cosmic Cube from some Neo-Nazis and destroy it. Huh?

First of all, this mission seems to be one that the Red Skull was entirely capable of performing himself. He’s one of the most authoritative, dangerous, and charismatic villains in the Marvel Universe; if he wanted to steal the Cosmic Cube back in order to keep Hitler’s consciousness trapped in therein, he almost certainly has the resources to do that. It’s not as though he was trying to steal the Cube from Dr. Doom. He was trying to steal it from a previously unheard of cult of mercenaries—the type of people who make Paste Pot Pete look like a threat. There’s really no reason at all for him to involve Captain America. So why would he go out of his way to save Cap’s life? The answer is: we have no idea. The Skull’s motivations for this are never made clear throughout the story.

Seriously, he could have just let Steve Rogers die, defeated this ragtag New World Reich cult, and gotten the Cosmic Cube back all by himself. Even if he were not able to regain the Cosmic Cube by himself, no plausible reason is given for him to have saved Captain America with a fluid and marrow transfusion (and you know that bone marrow transfusion was physically painful for the Skull). Furthermore, the Skull must know that if he is to be defeated it will surely be at the hands of Captain America…. Now, to be fair, Mark Waid does have the Skull offer up several reasons for him to involve Steve Rogers. But, to be frank, none of them are convincing from a character or general writing standpoint. None of them offer any sense of clarity for the character’s motivations. It just felt forced.

Beyond the characters, there was another question that continually nagged at me: If Steve Rogers was dying because the super soldier serum had gone “stale” and the Red Skull’s body was a clone of Steve Rogers’, how would that actually save his life? It just seems that it would perpetuate the problem and that, really, the Skull should also be dying. If the serum in Rogers’ body had gone stale, then surely the serum in the Skull’s body was stale as well. The Red Skull didn’t get a new dose of the stuff, it was the same old stuff that Captain America had. Really, both should be dying or dead and the transfusion should have had no effect, or so brief an effect as to be negligible. Something just doesn’t jive here.

Regarding that last criticism, I am probably being a bit harsh because that scenario is not entirely Mark Waid’s fault. I think it was likely more just the product of him playing with the hand he was dealt when he came on the book in issue #444. It was not Waid who put Cap on his deathbed, but it was up to him to get the character back in action. So while I do think there are some significant flaws with the way he went about that, I absolutely understand that he was trying to do the best he could, given the circumstances he was in.

Ron Garney and Denis Rodier

I get that this story was primarily supposed to be about Steve Rogers’ will to do the right thing and his ability to triumph in the face of all odds. I also understand that it was supposed to be an ironic rebirth for the character—he’s given new life by his greatest enemy. In the sense that those were the two major points of the story, it was a success. But overall, there were just too many inconsistencies with the characters and some poor character development for me to really enjoy it. I generally do not get too bothered by such things, but in this case I just was not able to get past it.

With all of that being said, readers could find much, much worse Captain America stories. Despite my displeasure with the supporting cast, and some significant plot holes, Mark Waid really has a great grasp of who Captain America is. Waid’s Cap is sturdy, heroic, tough, honest, smart and has a great deal of integrity—just as he should be. Additionally, Ron Garney really shines in this story and makes it exciting to read by bringing to life all of those traits that Waid expertly emphasizes, even when the story is starting to falter. Moreover, Waid’s take on Cap and Garney’s art has made me want to read the next arc in the run (which Andy also lent to me).

When considering some of the all time great Captain America stories, this one falls somewhere near the lower section of the middle. It’s lifted up by Mark Waid’s grasp of Steve Rogers and Ron Garney’s artwork, but it is significantly damaged by serious plot holes and the seemingly bizarre behavior of the supporting cast.

Captain America #445-448

Marvel Comics

SRP: $1.50 (per issue)

Also available:

Captain America: Operation Rebirth hardcover

Marvel Comics

SRP: $24.99