After the shocking events of Captain America #25, Steve Rogers, better known to the world as the star-spangled Captain America, lies dead, having been assassinated on the steps of a federal courthouse. Being led to trial for violating the Superhuman Registration Act and engaging in the
Civil War that pitted super hero against super hero, Rogers was senselessly taken from a world that he had helped save countless times before.
The ramifications of a loss this huge could only be told in a five part event: Fallen Son: The Death of Captain America. Each chapter will follow different Marvel heroes and chronicle their reactions to this loss, the first two spotlighting
Wolverine and the
Avengers, both New and Mighty.
Tapped to write all five one-shots of the Fallen Son event is superstar writer Jeph Loeb who will be working with a different all-star artist on each including Leinil Yu, Ed McGuinness, John Romita Jr., David Finch, and John Cassaday.
Loeb recounts the genesis of this event, saying, "When we first started talking about The Death of Captain America and decided to do the Fallen Son story, it was J. Michael Straczynski who had the brilliant idea of breaking the issues into the five stages of grief: Denial, Anger, Bargaining,
Depression, and Acceptance."
"Because I unfortunately have had recent experience with this concept (NOTE: In June of 2005 Jeph lost his 17 year old son, Sam, a fledgling comic book writer himself, to cancer), it all fell into place in my head. I'm hoping to tell a compelling story about what happens after someone close to you dies and still have some grand adventure that will also celebrate the LIFE of Captain America. Each of these books tries to match that goal."
For the first chapter of Denial in Fallen Son: The Death of Captain America – Wolverine,
Loeb chose the ornery canuck citing, "He was the best character in the Marvel U to ask the hard question -- Is it true? And in order
to tell that story, I wanted the most
exciting penciler to work on the character in the last ten years -- Leinil Yu. And having seen the pages, it's thrilling. It also guest-stars
Daredevil who is a fantastic match on Wolverine's quest."
For the next chapter Fallen Son: The Death of Captain America – Avengers, Loeb says, "The
second chapter, Anger, deals with the enormous frustration over the unfairness of death. It can eat you alive if you let it. And to best tell that story, I wanted the characters Cap was most associated with -- the Avengers."
"In the aftermath of Civil War, Brian Michael Bendis had the inspired idea of splitting the team into two factions – The New Avengers and The Mighty Avengers. By doing this, Anger could be told from two different perspectives. The Mighty Avengers are off on a huge mission, tackling a
problem that arises from the ocean depths that may or may not have to do with Namor, the
Sub-Mariner.
And you know how The
X-Men have their
annual softball games? Well, the New Avengers
have a similar way of putting the world on hold -- they play poker! Guest-starring the ever loving Blue Eyed Thing."
As for his artistic partner on this second chapter, Loeb says, "To tell a story this huge, I knew I
needed my old SUPERMAN/BATMAN pal who drew stories like this one all the time. In what is
really his first show case project for Marvel since his return, Ed McGuinness just tears the doors off and has illustrated both teams with a kind of gigantic
scale that is matched with small human pathos. He's so good, it's startling!"
FALLEN SON: THE DEATH OF
CAPTAIN AMERICA – WOLVERINE
Written by JEPH LOEB
Pencils and 50/50 Cover by LEINIL YU
50/50 Cover by MICHAEL TURNER
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$2.99
FALLEN SON: THE DEATH OF
CAPTAIN AMERICA – AVENGERS
Written by JEPH LOEB
Pencils and 50/50 Cover by
ED MCGUINNESS
50/50 Cover by MICHAEL TURNER
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$2.99
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