Is Brubaker Leaving Captain America?

[Desaad]

He put a slug in a kid's head Yeah that is safe

Killing and maiming is VERY safe in this era of comic books.

Geoff Johns is considered light and safe and his opening arc of Justice Society of America had an entire extended family mowed down at their reunion by a group of nazis, children sawed through by super-speed hands.

Death, violence...these things are very easy and very simple, as I define it. They are very safe.

Grant Morrison playing with temporal order of his stories, moving backwards and forwards through time and laterally into other dimensions....Kieren Gillen grounding his work in 19th century british society and making comments on the british subconscious...Jeff Lemire making a functioning, wholesome family compelling...Mark Waid taking a typically mainstream approach on Daredevil, a character who has always gone darker...those are risks.

[Songbird/Diamondback]

He put a slug in a kid's head Yeah that is safe

I don't find shooting a kid in the face to be safe. Also, with X-Force, I'd consider 1-18 the whole story. It's compartmentalized because it has to be but each arc is just another part of an 18 part story.

That's what I meant. That the first arc wasn't safe.

[Desaad]

That's what I meant. That the first arc wasn't safe.

For what it's worth, I did get that. :) That you were saying "For example..."

[Songbird/Diamondback]

No, I have. I've read every issue of his X Force, for instance, and every issue thus far of his Secret Avengers. I read his All New Atom arc, some of his End League and some of his Fear Agent. A few scattered issues of his early Punisher stuff as well.

I've read a decent amount of his stuff.

I'd argue that killing and violence are very 'safe' things to do in comics. Geoff Johns does a lot of those things, Mark Millar does a lot of that, and both of them write very safe books as well.

When I say safe and simple, I'm referring to the kinds of narrative or thematic risks they are taking. Gillen isn't killing anywhere near as many people in the course of his work at Marvel, but I'd argue his work is much riskier and FAR more complex than Remender's more classic angsty plot driven stuff.

It's a personal opinion thing that the guys who are modeling themselves on Marv Wolfman and Chris Claremont don't really excite me. I'm not maligning anyone who prefers that kind of stuff, it's just not for me anymore. I've grown a bit tired of it.

You actually have a point. There are many writers who just rely on killing characters to keep things going. I mean, I was disappointed that the one girl in Green Lantern who turned red got killed so simply by Sinestro. It's like they were building a character and just went "NOPE! Don't get interested in them, focus on the boring male hero."

[Songbird/Diamondback]

Killing and maiming is VERY safe in this era of comic books.

Geoff Johns is considered light and safe and his opening arc of Justice Society of America had an entire extended family mowed down at their reunion by a group of nazis, children sawed through by super-speed hands.

Death, violence...these things are very easy and very simple, as I define it. They are very safe.

Grant Morrison playing with temporal order of his stories, moving backwards and forwards through time and laterally into other dimensions....Kieren Gillen grounding his work in 19th century british society and making comments on the british subconscious...Jeff Lemire making a functioning, wholesome family compelling...Mark Waid taking a typically mainstream approach on Daredevil, a character who has always gone darker...those are risks.

You know, the more I read your points, the more and more I completely agree with you.

Wow, these are EXCELLENT POINTS!

[Songbird/Diamondback]

Do you mind if I quote you and put it on my Tumblr, Desaad? Because I'm wildly impressed with the stuff you're saying!

[Songbird/Diamondback]

Killing children isn't safe in any medium. It seems like you're just being a contrarian hipster, especially considering the fact that the undertone to DD right now is arguably darker than it ever has been, unless you haven't read it.

DC tends to kill kids freely. Hell, Civil War began with kids blowing up. It kinda is a cheap drama trick for the "Wolverine is cool because he stabs people" crowd.

[Cowtools]

Well this is bittersweet news. Like many of you, Brubaker was the writer who got me interested in Cap. He redefined the character in a way that made sense for the modern world but stayed true to his roots. But the last few arc have been kinda rote, so I was expecting this news eventually. As long as he stays on Winter Soldier, I'm okay with this.

The new writer will have big shoes to feel. Waid would be a safe choice, but he already made his mark with Cap; I want to read a fresh voice with something to prove. Remender is a decent choice, but he might be too conventional.

For my money, the right man for the job is the man who writes the best spy books around (Queen & Country), who turned DC's most ideological hero into a complex political thriller (Wonder Woman), who can turn supporting cast members into headlining heroes (Gotham Central) and who is currently writing Marvel's best street-level book (Punisher). That man is Greg Rucka.

[timeismoney]

Killing and maiming is VERY safe in this era of comic books.

Geoff Johns is considered light and safe and his opening arc of Justice Society of America had an entire extended family mowed down at their reunion by a group of nazis, children sawed through by super-speed hands.

Death, violence...these things are very easy and very simple, as I define it. They are very safe.

Grant Morrison playing with temporal order of his stories, moving backwards and forwards through time and laterally into other dimensions....Kieren Gillen grounding his work in 19th century british society and making comments on the british subconscious...Jeff Lemire making a functioning, wholesome family compelling...Mark Waid taking a typically mainstream approach on Daredevil, a character who has always gone darker...those are risks.

I would say killing is safe in comics, but killing a kid is not something comic do often. But i agree with what you saying as i like what Matt is doing with Tony and Iron Man, given that he is not Iron right now. Or ED on Winter Soldier that just feel like a different book from the rest of Marvel books.

[Codah]

DC tends to kill kids freely. Hell, Civil War began with kids blowing up. It kinda is a cheap drama trick for the "Wolverine is cool because he stabs people" crowd.

Fantomex didn't bust in, guns blazing a shoot a bunch of kids. The effects of his decision lasted the entire 18 issues and eventually came to a head. It wasn't cheap at all. Plus it's not like he was just killing some kid, it was complex ethical decision given the fact that the kid is going to grow up to be one of the baddest of bads in Marvel history.

[Songbird/Diamondback]

Fantomex didn't bust in, guns blazing a shoot a bunch of kids. The effects of his decision lasted the entire 18 issues and eventually came to a head. It wasn't cheap at all. Plus it's not like he was just killing some kid, it was complex ethical decision given the fact that the kid is going to grow up to be one of the baddest of bads in Marvel history.

Which is why X-Force did it well. It was unexpected and nobody did see it coming.

But I have to agree that the over reliance on death in comics now is becoming the safe way to write.

[Codah]

Which is why X-Force did it well. It was unexpected and nobody did see it coming.

But I have to agree that the over reliance on death in comics now is becoming the safe way to write.

Totally. But only when treated as shock value. They're two different things that Desaad isn't differentiating. Based on what he said, a comic about super heroes doing nice things for each other would be edgy because they usually beat each other up. It's just inane contrarianism because most logical-thinking people would know that that comic would blow.

[satchmo the dragon]

No he clearly stated that he didn't really have much more of a story to tell of Captain America. And this most likely been coming from the interview that rastafarian42 posted.

What Marvel is doing after AVX has to be big, and he know his own books do very well.

he's classy, not burning bridges, but to me the creator owned thing is for a reason.

[Desaad]

Do you mind if I quote you and put it on my Tumblr, Desaad? Because I'm wildly impressed with the stuff you're saying!

Please feel free! Very kind of you!

[Songbird/Diamondback]

Totally. But only when treated as shock value. They're two different things that Desaad isn't differentiating. Based on what he said, a comic about super heroes doing nice things for each other would be edgy because they usually beat each other up. It's just inane contrarianism because most logical-thinking people would know that that comic would blow.

Not trying to kill each other and doing nice things aren't the only two things you can accomplish in a story.