Going 4th with Cap

CAPTAIN AMERICA REBORN Marvel Limited Series #1 of 5:

I thought it would be wise to wait this out and pick up the collected edition after it ends. But the last several issues of the regular CAPTAIN AMERICA title that lead up to this event were so damn good, and helped to build the anticipation for this series that I broke down and picked up Issue #1. And I'm not going to stop there. I'll be there every month until it wraps up. And afer reading the first issue, I don't recommend that you wait any longer either. Go out and pick up this book - - it deserves your support.

I also realized that it was going to be impossible to screen out all the conversation and web and media content sure to center around this series. So I was going to overhear or come across the key plot points and details anyway - - so why not jump in right now? And I'm not going to worry about giving any key details away in my comments - - so this is your warning to stop reading now if you feel you'll be able to avoid all the spoilers and maintain the element of surprise.

This story begins with a flashback to D-Day in 1944 and seems appropriate since Captain America rose to fame due to his exploits during WWII. And the first thing I noticed was that the wartime Cap uniform as shown here looks identical to the uniform he wore as depicted by Bryan Hitch in THE ULTIMATES. This outfit features high boots, utility belt with pouches, a shell-like upper body armor and a wing-less helmet with chin guard.

Art is credited to Bryan Hitch and Butch Guice - - and while I love Butch's work --when it's combined with Hitch it seems to take the edge off of his style. In fact, this doesn't look like Bryan Hitch art - - the Hitch/Guice combination looks like the style of Steve Epting (which I'll gladly accept).

Ed Brubaker keeps the story moving despite cutting back and forth from past to present and switching from scenes of Cap to follow other events with Bucky and also Sharon Carter, all of which will play an important part in this series. The scenes with Sharon revealing her secrets to the Mighty Avengers (led by Hank Pym) are very emotional as she almost breaks down again trying to go over all the details one more time. As I look back over my CAPTAIN AMERICA issues from the pivotal #25 onward I can see where Brubaker was leaving things open or vague enough to make the actuality of what happened that fateful day (and after) seem plausible now. (I've also decided to try to write this review without giving it away - - who says I have no heart? They're just wrong about me, so wrong.) And, as we get deeper into this issue we realize that some of the WWII flashback scenes may not really be flashbacks! It's a clever plot twist by Brubaker. (And I can't say anymore - - except that you'll like it when you read it.)

The story kept my attention and moved so fast that I didn't realize it was 30 pages long until I came to the "to be continued' caption. Wow! There's also a neat but short 6-page preview of THE MARVELS PROJECT, also written by Brubaker. It covers a lot of ground by using another plot device. A hospital patient shares stories of the past with a friendly doctor who feels he is accomodating the needs of an elderly man suffering from senile dementia to tell tall tales - - until he realizes at the end just who the patient is. The art here is by none other than Steve Epting - - and sure enough, the Hitch/Guice work on the Cap story looks exactly like this.
Don't miss this book!!!

Comments

  1. There's a short prologue to the series available for free on Marvel's Cap Reborn page.

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  2. There's a six-page preview of "The Marvels Project" on Newsarama.com. I read it and was hooked.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I just reread "Fallen Son" over the weekend (because a new oversize hardcover collection just came out), and there's definitely stuff in there that needs to be explained like Wolverine positively identifying Steve's body and exactly whose body the Sub-Mariner buried in the arctic. But these weren't Brubaker's stories so I wonder if he'll address them or if he figures they're not his problem.

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