Captain America #606
Written by Ed Brubaker
Art by Butch Guice
Zemo is back! Zemo is back! Zemo is back!
Sorry, had to get that out of my system, but I’ve been a Zemo mark since Thunderbolts. One who is wary of the fact that this well crafted character, who had spent years finding his way from villain to his own brand of hero. Sure, he was rough around the edges, and had no qualms killing an opponent, or manipulating situations to his needs, but he had grown past being the masked villain with daddy issues. He saved the world. And then he got sent back in time, Quantum Leaped up the Zemo family tree, and then…..has not been seen or heard from since. Now, Ed Brubaker has promised us his return as a villain, so let’s see what kind of a start he’s off to.
The story is easily split into two different tales that run along side each other, a few pages of Zemo, a few pages of Buck, simple formula. Zemo is given a chance to harp on how Osborn screwed up something that he would have used to change the world…and Zemo would have. He also takes the opportunity to recruit several to his cause, but the real meat for Zemo is him trying to explain how the world had shifted and everything was back as it once was and….I didn’t buy it. This isn’t the same character who Fabian Nicieza was writing in Thunderbolts, and in Zemo: Born Better. Now, maybe something happened to the Baron during the three or so years that set him on this path of villainy, I don’t know, but this issue did little to sell me on his new direction.
The other story is, of course, Buck, and it traces the fallout of the previous arc. This easily saves the issue, as James Barnes has definitely grown into both the title, and the role of Captain America over the past few years, and Ed Brubaker makes his ongoing journeys into a must read event monthly. He’s a very flawed character, and Bru plays that up to perfection. I mean, he’s not the same kind of Captain America that Steve was, and he shouldn’t be. If he was just going to be like Steve, and act like Steve, and do everything like Steve, then we might as well just have Steve. Brubaker does a great job, as usual, differentiating the kind of men and heroes Steve and Buck are.
Butch Guice turns in his usual stellar job, and I do like his design of Zemo. Very subtle, despite the bright purple mask. The character on the last page, however, is creepy as all hell. I miss Steve Epting on this book, but the combo of Guice and [Luke] Ross definitely holds up strong to the bar he set.
Overall?
7/10
