Post by goldenfist on May 22, 2008 7:46:56 GMT -5
ign.com reviews Captain America #38.
Hopefully you've kept up to date on your Captain America history. There's another new Cap in town, only this one resembles the original in just about every way. Is he a clone? The resurrected body of Steve Rogers? A robotic duplicate whose lack of morals and hideous sunglasses drive him to villainy? I know what you're thinking by now – when does Electric Blue Cap show up to save the day?
Luckily, this is Ed Brubaker we're talking about. This is the writer who killed Cap and made us applaud him. If you suspected he had something more interesting up his sleeve than a quick and dirty resurrection, you were correct. The only problem with this new revelation is that it requires knowledge of a fairly obscure section of Cap history that I'm sure many readers don't have. Brubaker does a respectable job of getting everyone up to date, but some small part of me still feels like this development came out of left field. On the other hand, this development manages to tie back to certain events from the first year of the book. Not bad, Mr. Brubaker.
Whatever the case, this is still primarily Bucky's book. This month he gets to share some more fun-filled bonding time with The Falcon. The two have only partnered up for a brief time, but I'm only dreaming of an all-new, all-different Captain America and The Falcon. The two share a great dynamic that pays perfect homage to the original pairing without aping it in any way.
I should also point out that Red Skull and Dr. Faustus share a nice dynamic as well. These two already terrific villains only get better when they're thrown in a room together and forced to interact. I only wish I could say the same for the third wheel of their team-up, Arnim Zola. Zola has been pretty quiet in this book so far, and I'm starting to wish he'd stay that way. Cap and Falcon cross paths with the mad scientist, and suddenly all the realistic drama and political intrigue is throw out the window. Zola prances about like any two-bit villain with delusions of grandeur. Since Brubaker has such a great handle of Lukin/Skull and Faustus, it surprises me he can't extract something more from Zola.
Naturally, the art continues to be a huge selling point of this series, particularly now that Steve Epting is fully back in the saddle. As closely as Butch Guice and Mike Perkins are able to replicate his work, nothing beats the having Epting in charge. I do have a few quibbles. For instance, I didn't even realize the impostor Cap was sporting burns over half his body until this issue's recap page told me as much. At times the finer details of Epting's work are obscured by some overly eager inking.
If recent covers of Captain America had you feeling ill at ease, cast those feelings aside. Brubaker once again proves he's not a man to take the obvious routes, and his story continues to thrive because of it.
Review Score: 9.1 Outstanding
Hopefully you've kept up to date on your Captain America history. There's another new Cap in town, only this one resembles the original in just about every way. Is he a clone? The resurrected body of Steve Rogers? A robotic duplicate whose lack of morals and hideous sunglasses drive him to villainy? I know what you're thinking by now – when does Electric Blue Cap show up to save the day?
Luckily, this is Ed Brubaker we're talking about. This is the writer who killed Cap and made us applaud him. If you suspected he had something more interesting up his sleeve than a quick and dirty resurrection, you were correct. The only problem with this new revelation is that it requires knowledge of a fairly obscure section of Cap history that I'm sure many readers don't have. Brubaker does a respectable job of getting everyone up to date, but some small part of me still feels like this development came out of left field. On the other hand, this development manages to tie back to certain events from the first year of the book. Not bad, Mr. Brubaker.
Whatever the case, this is still primarily Bucky's book. This month he gets to share some more fun-filled bonding time with The Falcon. The two have only partnered up for a brief time, but I'm only dreaming of an all-new, all-different Captain America and The Falcon. The two share a great dynamic that pays perfect homage to the original pairing without aping it in any way.
I should also point out that Red Skull and Dr. Faustus share a nice dynamic as well. These two already terrific villains only get better when they're thrown in a room together and forced to interact. I only wish I could say the same for the third wheel of their team-up, Arnim Zola. Zola has been pretty quiet in this book so far, and I'm starting to wish he'd stay that way. Cap and Falcon cross paths with the mad scientist, and suddenly all the realistic drama and political intrigue is throw out the window. Zola prances about like any two-bit villain with delusions of grandeur. Since Brubaker has such a great handle of Lukin/Skull and Faustus, it surprises me he can't extract something more from Zola.
Naturally, the art continues to be a huge selling point of this series, particularly now that Steve Epting is fully back in the saddle. As closely as Butch Guice and Mike Perkins are able to replicate his work, nothing beats the having Epting in charge. I do have a few quibbles. For instance, I didn't even realize the impostor Cap was sporting burns over half his body until this issue's recap page told me as much. At times the finer details of Epting's work are obscured by some overly eager inking.
If recent covers of Captain America had you feeling ill at ease, cast those feelings aside. Brubaker once again proves he's not a man to take the obvious routes, and his story continues to thrive because of it.
Review Score: 9.1 Outstanding
