|
|
Post by wundagoreborn on Jan 9, 2013 10:47:02 GMT -5
A recent podcast from my local shop said the new Cap #1 was taking the book in the direction of 70s Kirby Cap. This piqued my interest, so I've grabbed the first 2 issues.
I like it so far. WHHOOOOOOOOOSH! The pace is fantastic. The art is little more cartoony than I would like, but its JR JR so good things still come through. I've just seen a lot of other work of his that I prefer.
Anyone else reading this? Thoughts?
w
|
|
|
|
Post by Marvel Boy on Jan 13, 2013 12:28:48 GMT -5
Of the core Trinity, Cap's book is the one I always read the least. Don't really know why, maybe because the character has such obvious political overtones, sometimes Marvel felt that he should 'reflect' the social conditions of the current times, thus you have the various periods where Cap quit and took on another identity.
When he went by the Captain, back in the 80s, probably the most I read of him. Finally got around to reading the first half of Brubaker's run and found that to be extremely good. I thought bringing Bucky back would be crazy but Brubaker pulled it off with style and substance.
So, haven't checked into the NOW title, heard some positive reviews for it though. Always liked Romita Jr's art, but when I think of Cap, I think two names: Kirby and Zeck.
|
|
|
|
Post by wundagoreborn on Jan 13, 2013 13:46:39 GMT -5
Of the core Trinity, Cap's book is the one I always read the least. Funny, that's another reason I started this experiment. My Cap collection is weak compared to my Iron Man and Thor. So this is partly to create some balance. |
|
|
|
Post by wundagoreborn on Jan 22, 2013 10:28:08 GMT -5
Gutsy. The last page of #3 reveals that for the last 2 1/2 issues (over a year of Dimension Z time) Cap has been laboring without realizing that he had a Zola interface implanted under the skin of his chest.
On the one hand, I admire that Remender is willing to take risks with an iconic character. But on the other, the risk is really high stakes. Every panel that Cap is other than just plain human, some of the essence of the character rubs away. For a 3 book arc, this will be a bold experiment. If it becomes a premise of the book for a year, it will be a disaster.
|
|
|
|
Post by wundagoreborn on Feb 22, 2013 16:25:30 GMT -5
At first, it seemed like Cap NOW #4 was going to keep the roller-coaster going. #1 was totally action-packed. Then #2 amazed me by beginning "One Year Later" and was followed by 2 more issues full of struggle and tough action. A wild enough ride before #4 starts out "ELEVEN Years Later."
Holy cow! But actually this issue slows down the action and sets up things to come. We see father/son interaction between Cap and his adopted charge Ian, with more parallels shown to Steve's own upbringing in the 1930s. Along the way they find a map of Dimension Z (suddenly called Zolandia), pointing toward a resolution of this arc. We're also introduced to Zola's daughter, Jet Black. She now knows Cap is alive, so he is hunting the exit, she is hunting him and they both have leads to find their marks. A slower issue, but it promises good things next.
The cover of this one is a tease. It have a full figure of Jet Black, poised to fight with her 2 staves. But that doesn't happen inside, which was a let down. The bigger let down continues to be the art. I'm more disappointed with JRJR's unfinished, scratchy art all the time. This could be a great book with some intense, eye-pleasing art. Instead, it's just a good book that you wish someone else was drawing (or that JRJR was drawing like his old self from Demon in a Bottle days).
|
|
|
|
Post by spiderman1984 on Mar 2, 2013 1:53:32 GMT -5
this sounds' like a great issue' i can't wait to get it.
|
|
|
|
Post by wundagoreborn on Mar 2, 2013 12:11:23 GMT -5
I'll be curious to know what you think.
|
|
|
|
Post by wundagoreborn on Apr 22, 2013 9:59:56 GMT -5
On the one hand, I admire that Remender is willing to take risks with an iconic character. But on the other, the risk is really high stakes. Every panel that Cap is other than just plain human, some of the essence of the character rubs away. For a 3 book arc, this will be a bold experiment. If it becomes a premise of the book for a year, it will be a disaster. Without spoiling how, I'm glad to report Remender resolved this satisfactorily in #5 - 3 books. Glad he took my advice. I was so close to dumping this title because of the art, but I'm very glad I've stayed after #6. I can't leave the great writing. Without giving up the fast paced, crazy sci fi feel, Remender is getting into so many interesting questions: What makes someone really your father? What would your reaction be if exposed to mercy for the first time, having been raised without it as a value? Can the idea of superiority of race/species be unlearned if you're raised on it? Cool stuff. |
|
|
|
Post by Marvel Boy on Jul 11, 2013 0:23:26 GMT -5
So how is Cap NOW! doing? With all the hoopla over Remender's work on Uncanny Avengers, his work on Cap may have been lost in the shuffle for I hear very little about it.
|
|
|
|
Post by wundagoreborn on Jul 12, 2013 9:42:27 GMT -5
|
|
|
|
Post by Marvel Boy on Jul 21, 2013 11:02:26 GMT -5
Hm, interesting. Is he still trapped in Dimension Z? I wonder how that relates to his current appearances in the Avengers books. Probably the same way Tony can be in space with the Guardians and back on Earth for the Avengers.
|
|
|
|
Post by wundagoreborn on Aug 13, 2013 13:55:03 GMT -5
Hm, interesting. Is he still trapped in Dimension Z? I wonder how that relates to his current appearances in the Avengers books. Probably the same way Tony can be in space with the Guardians and back on Earth for the Avengers. Time passes differently in Dimension Z, apparently. They've started to reveal that but haven't fleshed it out yet. Word is that #10 is the end of Dimension Z and also the end of JRJR art. It's time for the former, past time for the latter. I can't wait for Carlos Pacheco pages instead. |
|
|
|
Post by wundagoreborn on Sept 4, 2013 8:49:08 GMT -5
OK, Jet Black and Cap have staggered out of the subway station that Cap and Sharon entered in issue 1, so the Dimension Z experience is over (for now).
It was a wild trip, but the storytelling went from fast & furious to fast & loose over the course of the arc. Like the vacation that went a little too long - glad we went, glad we're back.
New story and Pacheco art start next month, so a good jump in spot if you've been thinking about it.
|
|
|
|
Post by wundagoreborn on Jan 8, 2014 14:07:03 GMT -5
New story and Pacheco art are both delivering so far. We've had a great 'pause between acts and develop the character' breather, a fun return of the Falcon and a conflict that is not only interesting for itself but for the issues it raises about freedom of the press.
Has anybody jumped on?
|
|
|
|
Post by Crimson Cowl on May 10, 2015 5:40:00 GMT -5
Instead, it's just a good book that you wish someone else was drawing (or that JRJR was drawing like his old self from Demon in a Bottle days). Seriously? I haven't seen these comics you're talking about so I assumed you were comparing the art unfavourably with JRjr's mature work so I was pretty shocked when you then state that his 'Demon in a Bottle'stuff is the thing to aim for. I can only say that you must have extremely conservative taste in comic book art. JRjr is my favourite comics artist but quite frankly he doesn't stop being a knock off of his father until his last few issues of Stern's Amazing Spider Man when his own style blossoms and would be seen to great effect in his subsequent work on the X-Men and Daredevil and made him one of comics leading artists for the last 30 years. Perhaps I'm getting the wrong end of the stick, but are you actually arguing that only his very early work on Amazing and Iron man is any good -because I'd take the view that, whilst enjoyable enough, those are his weakest work. Also, you think that mid-70's Kirby Cap is something to emulate? It's a strange world. Marvel Boy wrote:Yeah that's amazing isn't it -Brubaker's run on Cap is the best ever in my view (rivalled only by the relatively brief Stern/Byrne era). A modern classic. When reading it I really got the sense of what it was like reading comics when I was a kid again which is something that just doesn't happen for me with pretty much all other modern comics. Obviously bringing back Buck is heresy and it will almost certainly cause genuine problems for writers of Captain America in the future, and the character's legacy, as Bucky will inevitably endure the comic book cycle of dying and coming back to life repeatedly now. Nonetheless, it's done so well here and the story is so great that it's worth it in a comic that has frankly had too few great moments in its history. Brubaker's run is also huge. Having read it I was concerned that it wouldn't translate to the big screen and the lack of it's role for comics fans as the holy grail of comic deaths, with the many false resurrections we've been teased with over the years, would leave the story as nothing more than a dramatic cliche. I was delighted to find that my fears were totally unjustified and upon asking non-comics fans about the movie and the impact of the resurrection the feedback has also been overwhelmingly favourable. |
|
|
|
Post by Marvel Boy on May 10, 2015 10:49:32 GMT -5
Instead, it's just a good book that you wish someone else was drawing (or that JRJR was drawing like his old self from Demon in a Bottle days). Seriously? I haven't seen these comics you're talking about so I assumed you were comparing the art unfavourably with JRjr's mature work so I was pretty shocked when you then state that his 'Demon in a Bottle'stuff is the thing to aim for. I can only say that you must have extremely conservative taste in comic book art. JRjr is my favourite comics artist but quite frankly he doesn't stop being a knock off of his father until his last few issues of Stern's Amazing Spider Man when his own style blossoms and would be seen to great effect in his subsequent work on the X-Men and Daredevil and made him one of comics leading artists for the last 30 years. Perhaps I'm getting the wrong end of the stick, but are you actually arguing that only his very early work on Amazing and Iron man is any good -because I'd take the view that, whilst enjoyable enough, those are his weakest work. Also, you think that mid-70's Kirby Cap is something to emulate? It's a strange world. Marvel Boy wrote:Yeah that's amazing isn't it -Brubaker's run on Cap is the best ever in my view (rivalled only by the relatively brief Stern/Byrne era). A modern classic. When reading it I really got the sense of what it was like reading comics when I was a kid again which is something that just doesn't happen for me with pretty much all other modern comics. Obviously bringing back Buck is heresy and it will almost certainly cause genuine problems for writers of Captain America in the future, and the character's legacy, as Bucky will inevitably endure the comic book cycle of dying and coming back to life repeatedly now. Nonetheless, it's done so well here and the story is so great that it's worth it in a comic that has frankly had too few great moments in its history. Brubaker's run is also huge. Having read it I was concerned that it wouldn't translate to the big screen and the lack of it's role for comics fans as the holy grail of comic deaths, with the many false resurrections we've been teased with over the years, would leave the story as nothing more than a dramatic cliche. I was delighted to find that my fears were totally unjustified and upon asking non-comics fans about the movie and the impact of the resurrection the feedback has also been overwhelmingly favourable. JRJR is also one of my favorite artists though I enjoy most, if not, all of his work that I've seen. As pointed out by others here, artists first starting out at Marvel invariably imitate those that came before them or emulate the stylings and framework of the art they grew up with and read themselves, which is only naturally. So if JRJR emulated his father's famous style, I can't fault him for it for I find his Iron Man work to be rather good and dynamic. But having developed his own signature style now, his work is definitely more mature. His collaboration with Miller on Daredevil Man Without Fear is a classic, I would rank the quality of his run with Claremont on X-Men right up there with my other favorite X-artist, Paul Smith, his work with Nocenti on DD matched her unusual storylines (No else can draw Typhoid Mary like JRJR) and he imbued Thor with power and grace when he teamed up with Jurgens on the Thor relaunch after Heroes Reborn. He's currently working with Geoff Johns on Superman and his art and work is as exciting and dynamic as ever. Bucky's resurrection is certainly a huge caveat in Brubaker's hat. You're almost treading on Uncle Ben territory here but Brubaker handles it so deftly that you begin to wonder why he wasn't revived before now. And the cinematic portrayal is equally good as well, I thought Stan's portrayal of Bucky was a highlight amongst so many for that film. But I think you may also be right about too few crowning moments of Cap's run over the years. Stern/Byrne's limited output seems more like a blip on the radar, I have a smattering of issues where Zeck was the artist and I still love his powerful renderings of Cap. I was surprised to see awhile back that Marvel had indeed reprinted some of Gruenwald's iconic run, especially the issues leading up to Steve retaking the Cap America identity after being simply the Captain for awhile (#350, I believe it was, an issue that I recall loving upon first reading it all those moons ago) But as I mentioned before, sometimes Marvel felt the need to try and reflect the social mores of the times in Cap and that made it somewhat hard to get into. I've even read some of the early issues of Lee/Kirby after they brought Cap back and while the Red Skull storylines were interesting and fun, the first half of those issues were always Steve whining about being a man out of time. Which, of course, is an interesting character development but there is only so many ways to expound upon that for the umpteenth time before it gets old (even if it is Stan doing the expounding). |
|
|
|
Post by Crimson Cowl on May 11, 2015 6:10:02 GMT -5
Marvel Boy wrote:
No argument. Actually, in my mind the JR/Layton combination is the definitive Iron Man art. I just think that it pales by comparison to his mature work.
Yeah, I like the DeMatteis/Zeck Caps as well. Its interesting that he seems to have become more an embodiment of post-Watergate, post-Vietnam, guilt and self doubt in that run than a superhero. It contrasts strongly with the gung-ho action man who's intolerant of 'pantywaists' under Lee/Kirby. Cap had become the nation's conscience rather than an expression of its virility.
Sadly I truly despise the interminable Gruenwald run on Cap. It would be difficult to encompass the depths of my contempt for it. I've read plenty of comics that poor but the fact that it just goes on forever (and after that keeps on going a bit longer) makes it truly unforgiveable (some low points include Capwolf (!) or the Red Skull and Viper getting it on in the tub in a truly excruciating scene). Who can forget the tedium of the Serpent Society, the pointlessness of MODAM, or the ham fisted symbolism of the Flag Smasher. Hard to believe that the same guy wrote the Squadron Supreme mini. There were at least a few amusing episodes with Batroc.
|
|
