Captain America 1 review

Ed Brubacker recently finished his epic Captain America run. He brought the Winter Soldier aka Bucky Barnes back, along with so many other memorable storylines. His run was very well received, although I haven’t read much of it myself … yet. Rick Remender is taking over Marvel’s most patriotic character for Marvel Now. Remender is among my favourite comic writers and he did a great job with re-inventing Venom. Let’s see how well he handles Captain America.

While I like the character, I don’t care about the Captain as much as some people would. As a Canadian, I don’t get the same patriotic sense that most Captain America fans do. I still like him, but there are other characters I’d rather read if their books are good enough. In terms of what he stands for, he is probably the closest thing Marvel has to Superman.

This issue is good. There are three basic acts in this issue. There’s a flashback from Steve Rogers’s childhood where he’s inspired by his mother. The first is an amusing introduction where the Captain is fighting against Green Skull, an environmental extremist who is basically ripping off Red Skull’s gimmicks. The action is good, and the Skull’s dialogue is hilarious. That’s not to say it’s brilliant – you’ll enjoy it, but you’ll also forget about it once it’s over.

The second act is about where Rogers is in life, and it shows how well Remender understands the character. This is where the comic truly shines. He realizes that it’s the captain’s morals, and not his powers that make him special. There’s also the hint that Remender might explore whether Rogers can turn off the soldier within or not. The third act kicks off the first story arc as Rogers is captured and brought into “Dimension Z”. The last page reveal is somewhat surprising, and could bring some very interesting results soon. This is the largest part of the comic – it takes up the second half.

The art is alright, but nothing special. Most of the backgrounds appear muddy and bland. There’s barely any fine detail anywhere. The buildings in modern New York look a bit short for a city that has some of the highest buildings in the world. Sharon Carter’s earrings disappear in a couple panels after the couple dress up, and they change colour at one point. What is it with this week’s number one issues and disappearing earrings that change colour? Besides those problems, the art’s not bad.

This is a great start for Captain America’s new series. If you like the character, or want to check him out, this is an easy recommendation. It’s too early to tell whether I’ll stick with this series after the next issue or not – it depends on how many other Marvel Now books I end up sticking with.