Newsarama caught up with Rieber and Austen to find out why one is bowing out, and how the other is gearing up.

First, because of how he has worked on it, and how the series is currently structured, with “Ice,” a four-issue arc with art by Jae Lee running in the series after the current “The Extremists” arc, Rieber will actually be leaving the series twice, once midway through “The Extremists,” and again, midway through “Ice.”

As for why he’s leaving the book, Rieber chalked it up to approach. “I tend to write a particular kind of story, even when I’m doing something that’s pretty action-based, I’m always more interested in the characters than anything else,” Rieber said. “Probably the simplest way that I can describe what happened is that Joe Quesada has a very clear vision about what he wants Cap to be, and my Cap just wasn’t quite what he was looking for. They liked a lot of my ideas, but some of the approaches that I had to storytelling and structuring things and the weighting of the character just wasn’t meshing with his vision.

“In the end, I was doing lots and lots of rewriters of scripts, and it was slowing things down. We all reached a place where we realized that it might be better if someone else was doing the book. I guess that’s the long way of saying that we had creative differences.”

As a result, Rieber will write through issue #9, with Austen writing issues #10 and #11. Rieber will return for issues #12 and #13, with Austen writing #14 and #15, which will conclude the “Ice” arc. As far as issue #16 and up, no permanent writer has been assigned, but obviously, Austen is the frontrunner.

Austen's history with Cap dates back to his time on Elektra, when he first heard of the title's move to the Marvel Knights imprint.

"It's funny, I originally pitched to do Cap back when I was drawing Elektra," Austen said. "I had heard from my editor at the time, Stuart Moore, that they were going to be taking Cap into the Knights fold and I asked if I could pitch. He said I could but could promise nothing.

"I thought I could dazzle him. So I took the weekend and put together a proposal and a full script on spec. This was pre-War Machine, and I had turned Cap into an anti-terrorist SAS type soldier with a lot of Tom Clancy weapons and gear, and some other people in his unit. But he was always at odds with his superiors, who were intended to be a branch of SHIELD, because he refused to kill.

"He worked with Hawkeye, Falcon, and a few other new guys in a squad. They carried weapons, Mp-5's, Flashbangs, night-vision scopes, the whole nine yards, but Cap's stuff was all non-lethal. Rubber bullets. Tasers. Sticky foam. Stuart really liked it, but he thought Rieber was better suited for the book, and I went back to Elektra.

"Cut to a year and a half later, and Joe calls and says he needs help with Captain America. He had heard I put in a pitch in the early days and liked what he had heard, and wanted to move more in that direction.

"Rieber was leaving Cap with two arcs unfinished. Joe said, 'Look, I know this is a challenge, but I was hoping you could pull this all together.' I told him I could certainly try, they sent me the finished art, and the materials I needed and I proceeded to dive in. I'm not sure if I'm staying on at this point, but they seem happy with what I've turned in, so far."

A long-time Captain America fan, Austen points to Steve Englehart's run as a favorite. "I was a Cap fan back in the Romita/Sal Buscema Steve Englehart day," Austen said. "I got into them both because of the cartoons, 'When Captain America throws his mighty shieeeeld.' Cap and Spiderman were my two favorites on the planet, but Spidey soon edged Cap out because, at the time, Steve was doing his arc about Cap quitting and becoming Nomad, and then Sal, my hero, was replaced by Frank Robbins, who I didn't care for, and I bailed before too long and never really returned.”

Aside from Mark Gruenwald's extended run on the title, Captain America, not many recent writers have managed to stick with Cap for more than a year. Austen isn't nervous. "I never read any Gruenwald, although I'll be reading some soon," Austen said. "I just picked up a bunch of back issues to help round me out, though I haven't read any of it. Maybe it's better if I don't. I don't want chills.

"I have no trepidation at all, though, to be honest. Newsarama posters will bust on me as soon as this article hits, that's a given. The rest of the world will wait and see what I do, and hopefully I can convince them I was the right choice for this.

"The fact is, I'm pretty confident in my skills as a writer, at this point, and I know taste is an ambiguous thing that you can never really nail down. So if people don't like it, or prefer Rieber, or Gruenwald, there's not a lot I can do about that, more power to them. I'll just write the best stories I can and wait and see how sales do, which is the ultimate judge."

Austen is unfazed when the topic of 9-11, and how Cap fits in as an American symbol today arises. His work on The Call has prepared him to deal with the issue properly, Austen said. “I wrote The Call, which was one of the most controversial ideas post 9-11 there was," Austen said. "I have no concerns about nothin'.

"My ideas have remained largely the same, pre or post 9-11. US War Machine debuted September 12th, and it had soldiers in super suits fighting hi-tech terrorists. My Cap pitch had Cap fighting terrorists. It was obvious to anyone who reads the news on any regular basis where the next real threat was coming from. In Jihad, by Paul Fregosi, a book about the Islamic militant factions and his view of the coming terror, he discusses Osama Bin Laden at length in the opening chapter with clear warnings to pay attention, and this was a year or two before 9-11.

"9-11 was a wake up call for most of America, because most of America hasn't been aware of the outside world, and to a large degree still aren't. But this stuff is not anything new post 9-11."

Austen sees Captain America as a loyal follower of the American Dream, not necessarily the American government. "I see Captain America as the spokesman and soldier for the dream," Austen said. "The Steve Englehart story of Cap quitting in the 70's would never have happened, in my mind. Cap is someone who knows the world is a gray place. People died horribly in World War II, just as horribly as they do now, so he would have seen all that, and probably added to it, as the 'Ultimate Soldier'. He knows a country and its ideals are, and always have been, only as good as the people behind them. Sometimes those people are good. Sometimes they do strange things with cigars.

"But the dream remains inviolable. The ideal never changes. And Cap fights for that ideal, not the individuals who may or may not be corrupt. That means fighting against people who do wrong, period, whatever label they wear, and he recognizes that it is his label of 'American' that gives him the freedom to pursue that dream and make it a reality for everyone, freedom, peace, safety -- a dream set down by our fore-fathers, even when they weren't always aware of the complete ramifications of their declarations themselves."

Austen also has definite ideas about something that’s been brought into sharp focus as a result of Cap’s self-unmasking during Rieber’s run. Although Steve Rogers may pine for a secret identity and a normal life, for Rogers, Captain America is his life and identity, Austen said. "Oh, yeah, there's a tremendous difference between Steve and Cap, but only in Steve's mind," Austen said. "To my way of thinking, Steve figured he would go off and fight the war, and the war would end. Then he would go home and make a life for himself, marry a Mrs. Steve Rogers, have a few kids, and finally get the white picket fence dream. Captain America, decommissioned. The world would be at peace, and it wouldn't need him anymore because it would all be wonderful.

"That's been completely wrong. The war has continued, though the faces have changed, and it will never end. But Steve hasn't caught up to that, yet. He keeps trying to find a life, a home, his 'secret identity.' He lives in Red Hook? Why? Why is the Ultimate Soldier in the entire world living in Red Hook? That's like having a couple SCUDS in Brooklyn. Not that Red Hook couldn't use the support, but that's what cops are for. Captain America is a bigger gun, a national gun with another purpose. You don't use a SCUD to fight street thugs; you use it to defend a country.

“Steve is the ultimate soldier, never decommissioned, and his ideals and power won't let him ever be decommissioned. Soon, he'll realize that and become the soldier, 24-7, because that's who he really is. Steve Rogers is dead, long live Captain America.

"I think the unmasking would have had serious repercussions in this 'Hot Newsbite' era we live in, and was surprised to see it hadn't in the comic. If you have a Captain America in your world, the most famous superhero in the Marvel Universe since World War 2, I think CNN, MSNBC, NBC, ABC, FOX, CBS, the History Channel, The Learning Channel and the Food Network would be camped in his living room. But they haven't been. Why not? We'll soon see."

Taking over for another writer mid-arc is daunting, especially when the writer was well received by fans. Austen admits the situation is odd, but he's trying to make the best of it. "It's weird, obviously," Austen said. “John and I have very different styles, but it's also kind of fun trying to work within that moodier, more atmospheric tone he creates - minimalism, with bare bones verbiage and storytelling. It's an interesting and fun approach, and I like the results, though I'm sure I'll get back to my own style if I continue with the book."

Though not yet confirmed as the new regular writer, Austen is upbeat about his chances. "I haven't been asked yet, but obviously I'd be interested," Austen said. "It would be the last regular book I could take on, though. My plate would be more than full with a regular Captain America.

"If I get the series, I'd want to go that route I mentioned earlier. I'd bring in new villains, bigger than life villains; make Cap more of a James Bond with a Tom Clancy twist for the new millennium. I'd tie him closer to Nick Fury and SHIELD, in a sense doing what Jim Steranko was doing for his time, back in the sixties. Hardware, tools, and the occasional femme fatale with the world as a stage. Bad guys, explosions, world-threatening violence and hidden government conspiracies with Cap punching his way through to victory. I think it would be a blast. At least for me."

Tom Clancy gear, the "Cap Squad", James Bond-like...

While I like the take on Steve Rogers and reprecussions of the unmasking, I'm not too sure about the other stuff.

Personally, I think that moving Cap to Marvel Knights was a mistake. He's a bigger than life character that tackles bigger than life enemies. Not the usual gritty, street-level, grey-morality stuff that MK is known for.

I'll keep reading but I'm hoping for a return to the Cap of yesteryear.

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Originally posted by John:
I'm there!

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Here you have this guy who is recognized world-wide in his Red, White, & Blue long johns hanging out with a bunch of spy types. These are people who strive not to be noticed.

...of course, they do fly around in (basically) a air-born aircraft carrier.

Which brings up an interesting question...How many UFO sightings has this thing been responsible for? And how many nights have been spent discussing it on Art Bell?

Chuck...I hope you're reading this but bring back Diamondback!

This was one of the best parts of Gru's run on Cap was Cap's romance with (a former villain) Diamondback. And with Sharon alive now it would make for an interesting "love triangle".

I like his take on Cap. Always loved the Steranko stuff. SHIELD in its hey day. It might be the right time for this type of story again.

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Originally posted by Rorschach:
I don't like his "non-lethal" Cap take. Cap is a solider, born in the trenches of World War II, and soliders, unfortunately, sometimes need to kill.

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Personally, this is the reason i'll be picking up Austen's Cap...i'm not very fond of the ruthless killer Cap a la "Ultimate" Cap...just because Cap would be non-lethal doesn't make him less of a soldier or less of an interesting character...

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Wasn't it Baron Blood that he decapitated? Didn't he just kill in Rieber's story to prevent a disaster?

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Yup, in the Roger Stern/John Byrne run...but you leave out the detail that Baron Blood was a vampire...in this day and age of the sympathetic Lestat-like vamipre i can see where this could be considered killing the sameway as snapping the neck of a terrorist or shooting a U.N.I.T.E. agent...however, snapping the neck or shooting a living breathing person could also be seen as a bit different than destroying an undead monster...

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I like to believe Cap is a noble man, and would never kill unless given no choice, but he wouldn't outright refuse.

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that's the point...Cap would never kill unless given no other choice...that would be why Austen would have Cap non-lethal weaponry...just like many police and government agencies would love to be able to do in the real world...why kill if rubber bullets, tasers and sticky foam would do the trick?

dan

As someone who doesn't read Cap anymore, having a "Cap Squad" with Hawkeye in it would make me pick the book up again instantly. Especially with Chuck writing. As long as he doesn't leave Uncanny X-Men (which is my favorite X-Title right now)

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Originally posted by Matt Brady:
As for why he’s leaving the book, Rieber chalked it up to approach. “I tend to write a particular kind of story, even when I’m doing something that’s pretty action-based, I’m always more interested in the characters than anything else,” Rieber said. “Probably the simplest way that I can describe what happened is that Joe Quesada has a very clear vision about what he wants Cap to be, and my Cap just wasn’t quite what he was looking for. They liked a lot of my ideas, but some of the approaches that I had to storytelling and structuring things and the weighting of the character just wasn’t meshing with his vision.

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This is such a load of shite! You'de think that any capable editor would realize right off the bat that a writer's vision of the character didn't 'mesh' with his own.

Didn't you read the guy's pitch Joe? Didin't you give your icon character the respect it deserves by weighing heavily the merits of a potential writer's vision? How about respecting your audience? Or the writer you hired?

The only way a problem like this happens is if someone buggered it up right from the start. And since Rieber is writing Cap how he thinks it should be written, and i'll bet dollars to doughnuts he's doing exactly what his pitch said he would, then the blame for this lies with you Joe.

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Originally posted by swol:
[QB]Personally, I think that moving Cap to Marvel Knights was a mistake. He's a bigger than life character that tackles bigger than life enemies. Not the usual gritty, street-level, grey-morality stuff that MK is known for.

[QB]

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