By Ed Brubaker, Steve Epting & Mike Perkins
Colors by Frank D’Armata, Letters by VC’s Joe Caramagna
Published by Marvel Comics, June 2007. $2.99
I’m not really a Captain America guy, and I don’t know what it means that this issue is part of “The Initiative,” which seems to be a post-Marvel Civil War non-crossover event, but what I do know is this: two issues ago Captain America died, and the result seems to be the best CAPTAIN AMERICA comics since the last time they got rid of the guy, when Ronald Reagan was revealed as…
…“The Deadliest Snake of All!”
Okay, so that was an imposter posing as Ronald Reagan. But it was still a pretty awesome comic book to nine-year-old-me.
These days CAPTAIN AMERICA is an ensemble piece, following Cap’s old partners the Falcon, Sharon Carter, and the Winter Soldier (a newly alive and bionic Bucky, Cap’s WWII-era teen sidekick) as they deal with his death. Also part of the supporting cast is Tony Stark, a.k.a. Iron Man, who many feel is directly responsible for Cap’s death following said Civil War. Oh, and Sharon Carter sees Dr. Faustus (the Marvel one, not the German one) in the mirror, taunting her over the post-hypnotic suggestion that a) caused her to murder her boyfriend Captain America, and b) keeps her from telling anyone about it, even though she’s tortured over what she’s done. Also Arnim Zola is in it. Arnim Zola’s head is in his chest:
If it sounds like superheroic soap operatics, it certainly is. And the Brubaker/Epting/Perkins team are doing a great job of it, too. Issue 27 also features the Black Widow, former Soviet spy and former lover of the Winter Soldier, who, for reasons unclear to me but probably clear to folks who read THE AVENGERS, the Winter Soldier thinks should be “an old woman by now.” But she’s young, hot, and dressed in leather instead! It’s actually a pretty neat moment when the Widow and the Soldier fight in the street over the possession of Captain America’s shield (the Widow is working for that dastardly Tony Stark, you see), and the ex-Bucky wishes that he could go back to the old days where his memory would be wiped after every mission. I don’t really know what that means, but if you’re used to having your memory wiped, and now all of a sudden it won’t be, and you’re fighting your ex-girlfriend over your dead best friend’s favorite shield ... well, I can understand a little pining for the good old days.
In summary: the current run of CAPTAIN AMERICA? Future superhero classic. Get it while it’s hot!
Tell me more: Marvel Comics, Captain America.
2 comments:
I'm not a regular Cap reader, either, but you've certainly inspired me to check this arc out. (How weird is it to read a Cap-titled book that does not actually have Cap himself in it, as he is recently deceased? How long can that go on for? ... $10 says he's not really dead.)
They keep showing his body ... ! All shot up and gross. But I think in one of the spin-off mini-series they gave him a funeral at sea, in the Arctic waters he was recovered in back in AVENGERS #4. So I'll add my own $10 and say that's how he comes back.
But in the meantime, this will be one of those perennial bestselling TPBs for Marvel -- like the Death of Superman books for DC.
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