Confessions of a Comic Book Guy is a weekly column by Steve Bennett of Super-Fly Comics and Games in Yellow Springs, Ohio.  This week, Bennett looks at three big comics that came out last week.

(*SPOILER WARNING*) Regardless of whatever else you might have thought about last week’s issue of Captain America: Steve Rogers #1, you've got to give Marvel at least this much credit; they managed to keep it a secret.  There weren’t any leaks, spoilers, or even one opaque hint to suggest something "major" was going to happen in this issue.  I was actually at Super-Fly Comics & Games for a couple of hours the day it came out and while I was there no one happened upon the final page twist.  I even had a copy of the comic waiting for me in my pull file but didn't even look at it until I got home.  While I was at the store the conversation was primarily focused on the presumptive "big" comic of the week, and given the amount of promotion it received you've got to admire the way Marvel managed to effortlessly upstage DC's Rebirth.

And as a Times of India headline put it with massively understated reserve, "Fans didn't take 'Captain America' twist well."  It would be far more accurate to say the majority of fans had a mutual meltdown on social media; for twenty-four hours, my own Facebook page was positively frothing at the mouth with outrage.  Which to a degree was understandable, given just how important Captain America is both to his comic book base and the many new fans he's made thanks to the appeal of the recent Marvel movies.  The day the news broke I got an email from a female friend, someone more familiar with actor Chris Evans than Steve Rogers, and her response to it was, in all caps, "I DEMAND THIS STOP."

When people get this kind of angry the almost automatic thing to do these days is to accuse them of "feigning" offense, of "ginning up" a problem where none exists, creating controversy just to get attention.  But I don’t believe that’s so.  I believe most of the response to this was absolutely sincere.  I also believe both Marvel and the writer responsible, Nick Spencer, didn't fully appreciate just how protective fans could be one of their characters, one who for 75 years has served as a symbol of our country.  Either that or they were absolutely counting on this level of outrage to get free publicity and increase sales.

None of which mitigates the hysterical overreaction of some, which culminated with death threats being made against Spencer and Marvel editor Tom Brevoort.  Like America as a whole, it's become obvious that fandom has a serious anger management problem.  This week a number of thoughtful pieces on the subject have appeared on the web.  For an overview of the problem I recommend, "Fandom Is Broken" by Devin Faraci which appeared on the birth.movies.death website.  But for one specifically about the Captain America: Steve Rogers #1 situation there's a piece from Forbes, "Why Fans Are Wrong About Captain America" by Mark Hughes.  Not only does it do a great job of breaking down every previous time Captain America was "fundamentally changed forever" over the years (without ever resorting to referring to "CapWolf" or, even worse, the time Steve Rogers got turned into a teenager).   It also explores the ways the "worst thing ever" mentality has made so much of Internet commentary relentlessly negative.

And as if Captain America wasn't having a bad enough week, there was a story on the Bloomberg News site, "Disney Vows to Defend Rights as Snow White Appears at Wanda Park."  Apparently the Walt Disney Co. is about to take action against the Dalian Wanda Group Co.'s new theme park in China which has been featuring performers dressed as Snow White… and Captain America.  And not a particularly accurate one; that guy wouldn't even make it bothering tourists in Times Square, let alone cosplaying at a Comic Book Convention.

As for DC Universe: Rebirth #1, well, I liked it.  Enough that I felt no impulse to take advantage of the money back guarantee writer Geoff Johns has been offering.  I also like what Johns has been saying in various interviews about "bringing back hope and optimism to the DC Universe, as well as the importance of the emotional connection between the characters and the audience which was lost during the "New 52."  And as for its "big twist" (*SPOILER WARNING*) that it’s been Dr. Manhattan from Watchmen who’s been responsible for fundamentally changing the nature of the DC Universe… I'm OK with it.  Just so long as there's a Mr. Mxyzptlk vs. Dr. Manhattan special where the missing-in-action five-dimensional imp finds that he’s been locked out of the DCU by Manhattan and while he’s been away someone else has been playing with his toys.

And, finally, one more item that made the Internet scream "You're retroactively ruining my childhood!" finally came out last week: Scooby Apocalypse.  People seemed particularly perturbed by the existence of Neckbeard Shaggy, but the reviews are in and for the most part they were surprisingly positive.  I was surprised to find that I even kind of liked it myself.

The opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the writer, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial staff of ICv2.com.