I thought they typical civilian reaction was "They still make comics?"

Actually I'm seeing comics more and more lately, I was surprised to see an actual rack of comics next to the super hero figures at Toys R Us.

And, apparently, the issue after the death of a member of The Fantastic Four is the last issue of FANTASTIC FOUR, to be replaced by a new title - "FF" #1.

You know, just in time for the 50th anniversary of the Fantastic Four. I suppose they'll run "FF" until November and then come back with FANTASTIC FOUR #600. Ugh.

Oh, and for what it's worth - my money's on Ben buying the farm. There is a collection of THE THING (1983) series coming out at the same time as "FF." Coincidence?

Bwahahahahahahahaha!

You'd be hard pressed to pick a month where one of the Marvel titles DOESN'T kill off a character. I've often wondered what the body count for the Joe Q era is. And that's not just counting actual characters, I remember a few years ago, Marvel was making a big deal out of the innocents that die during super hero fights and Hulk rampages. Sad that they want to use the "It would happen in the real world" line.

Regarding what Gene just said, can somebody explain how Steve Rogers came back? Just curious. The last thing I knew, he'd been shot dead, but I have no desire to read any of Marvel's current output.

You don't want to know. Trust me. But here goes anyway:

INVISO TEXT (Click or highlight to reveal): He wasn't really dead. The gun he was shot with was apparently made using Doctor Doom's technology and used tech to `freeze him in time'. Steve was basically reliving his life (in his mind) from WW2 and beyond. Sharon was captured and hooked up to a device alongside the Red Skull (who was in robot body - long story I don't feel like explaining) that brought Captain America back - but with the Red Skull's mind in his body. Eventually Steve was able to beat the Red Skull in mental combat (ie, struggling inside his mind) and forced him to flee back into the robot body, giving Steve back control of his body. Later on in the same story the Red Skull was killed off again. The Red Skull's mind was in one of Zola's robot bodies, wearing the Red Skull mask over that box thing on top and with the Red Skull's face appearing on his chest. He tried to escape during a fight, but somehow Sharon Carter got hold of some Pym Particles and used them to make the Red Skull a giant so he couldn't escape, and the robot was blown up. But the burning robot body fell on top of Sin, and she's pretty much the new Red Skull because she was horribly burned. The story had an awful retcon that had Cap wearing a blue helmet that had the wings and A painted on it. And the A was a stencil, so it looked like a military lettering A. Basically, Sharon Carter was brainwashed/mind controlled and is the one who actually shot Steve, but she more than redeemed herself in Captain America #600 and the Reborn mini.

I read the actual mini-series, and it was okay. But I only recommend picking it up if you can get a good deal on it, instead of paying full price. (I think its been released in a trade paperback) Spend your money on something else, instead.