Captain America #1
Written by Ed Brubaker
Art by Steve McNiven, Mark Morales, and Justin Ponsor
So Captain America is going to probably be a big release for Marvel, due out at the end of next week, and when Marvel does a movie…they love to get as much synergy as they can. So this time around that means that there’s a new number one with Cap’s name on it just in time for it. Not unlike how Thor had one a few months ago, or when Invincible Iron Man launched to go alongside the first movie. It happens, it works, I can’t totally fault it. This is Ed’s second first issue on Cap, after he rejuvenated the character several years ago during his original (and amazing) run on the title. But does this issue feel like the second coming of the Brubaker of old? Or does it feel more like those later issues of Captain America that made us all have to pine for the days of a better book?
The answer lies somewhere in the middle, as Brubaker seems much more ‘at home’ with characters like Steve Rogers, Sharon Carter, Nick Fury, and Dum Dum Dugan than he did with Bucky Barnes and Natasha Romanoff. At the same time, he tells a story that lives in the past as Steve and company are attacked by someone that he hasn’t seen since 1944. I understand that the man out of time angle is what Cap is all about, but characters we haven’t seen before who Steve knew during World War II and now want to kill him…well, that can get kind of old. To be honest, with the other Captain America title adding “And Bucky” to the title and moving the setting to WWII, I was kind of hoping that this book wouldn’t use the war as a crutch for storytelling. It’s a personal issue, and not really an issue breaker.
The supporting cast is the first thing about this book that stands out to me as a bonus. Sharon was always nice to have around, but I’ll be damned if Nick Fury being in this title doesn’t feel like the most natural thing in the world. That’s something that’s been missing for a while now, Fury being side by side with Steve. Then we’ve got the supporting cast of 1944, which includes Peggy Carter (whom the issue opens up with a funeral for), and a guy named Codename: Bravo as well as a kid who shows up as a near catatonic old man in the present. One person who doesn’t show up, however, is James “Bucky” Barnes, who up until Fear Itself last month also went by the name Captain America. Buck get a cameo in a flashback scene, but other than that there isn’t mention of him the entire issue.
I had seen interviews of Brubaker talking about the book prior to launch, and he said it would be accessible. And he’s right, this really is an accessible first issue, you could pick this book up and enjoy it whether you’ve been reading Cap for years or if it’s your first taste, and I want to commend Bru for that. At the same time, I’m still sitting here waiting for Steve to acknowledge that Bucky is dead, and now I’m thinking it will be in the second arc of this book if it happens at all. If you bought this issue because you were expecting follow up on the last run or Fear Itself…I’m sorry, you get none of that. This is a fresh start for Steve without bogging it down with continuity.
Steve McNiven is a rock star after this issue, because it looks phenomenal. Honestly, I think the art may be what completely sells this book. After years of artists like Epting, Lark, Guice, Perkins, Ross…there have been a ton of great artists on this book, but not a one of them springs to mine when I think of superhero artists. They do great grim and gritty, but they don’t do vibrant and energetic superheroes. McNiven makes this book feel like a superhero title for the first time in a long time, and I love it. His pencils make this book so much better than it would be under anyone else.
It’s not a perfect start, but I see a lot of potential in this title. Captain America as a bright and colorful superhero title instead of a grim and gritty hero book is going to take a little getting used to, but I think that it’s a change for the better. I’ve criticized Ed Brubaker in the past for being over the hill as far as Cap goes, and I’ve gone as far as to say he’s been phoning it in. I don’t find my opinion completely changed after this issue, but he’s going to get a second issue out of me based on the strength of this issue, and considering that I dropped his Captain America a few months back? This is a step in the right direction, and hopefully it keeps going that way. If you were a fan of the tone of the previous series, you’re going to wind up disappointed here, but I think it’s a change for the better and exactly what Cap needed.
Overall?
7.5/10
