Captain America: Two Americas
Sadly, it’s been awhile since any sort of comic thing graced this site and that’s a damn shame. I’m not sure exactly why the Comics/Manga category has been such a wasteland, as we’re reading them all the time. I suspect it has to do with the fact that we’ve been busy with other things.
It time to remedy the situation and I know of no better way than to talk about the latest storyline being crafted by the great and mighty pen of Ed Brubaker in the most recent issues of Captain America. We’ve already said a ton about our admiration and respect for Brubaker’s work. We are all big fans of what he’s brought to the table as far as Captain America goes as well. In all honesty, this may be the greatest run that Cap has ever seen and may ever see. This particular storyline does a great job of demonstrating why that is.
The greatest thrill, for me, in the current run of Captain America is the effortless way that Brubaker has taken the over-the-top aspects of Cap lore and brought them into modern times. All this without making them seem too “out-there” or cheesy. No small feat. Brubaker is once again weaving the legendary Captain America characters into the fabric of our modern day events in his latest storyline called “Two Americas”. In it, Brubaker makes the bold choice of taking on one of the most interesting and vexing stories in our news day; the Tea Party movement.
One of the more interesting characters that Brubaker has resurrected over the years is a forgotten villain simply called 1950′s Cap or Bad Cap. Years after the original Captain America (aka Steve Rodgers) was trapped in ice at the tail end of World War II, a school teacher in the 1950′s underwent plastic surgery and mimicked the Super-Soldier syrum that created the original Cap. While the procedure did create an exact likeness of Steve Rodgers, the process made the new Cap insane. Of course, when Steve Rodgers retuned, the Bad Cap was quickly put down and presumed dead. Thanks to Brubaker’s use of him during the Death of Captain America storyline, Bad Cap is alive and a fully fleshed out antagonist, ready to be used. It is indeed he who is causing all the trouble in this latest story.
Following the events of the Captain America: Reborn storyline, James “Bucky” Barnes continues to wield the costume and shield of Captain America. Word is sent that Bad Cap has resurfaced and become disenchanted with the current state of America. As a result, he has become a leader for a homegrown militia group called the Watchdogs. Rallying members of the Tea Party movement (or Marvels version of it at any rate), Bad Cap creates an army hell bent on sending a message fueled by anger. Of course the message comes attached to a series of devastating bombs that are meant to go off at key government facilities. As Bucky attempts to infiltrate the Watchdog group, he is discovered by Bad Cap and is forced to don his old Bucky costume and work as Bad Caps “sidekick”.
The story is well paced, the characters are, once again, used to great effect and the series of four comics takes what could be horribly cheesy and infuses it with a good mix of drama and action. With another round of absolutely stunning art by Luke Ross, this storyline is both relevant to current day events and another engaging use of the Captain America characters. Brubaker does it once again and I can’t recommend this book highly enough. It’s also not too late check this book out. Two Americas would be a great story to jump in on if you’ve never checked out the series.
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Tags: captain america, comics, ed brubaker, luke ross, marvel
April 30th, 2010 at 11:43 am
Thanks for the post Hilden. My guess is that with the second coming that is the IPad, we’ll see more comic reviews on the site. I just got back into reading some myself as I picked up Kick Ass for another readthrough and I’ll be sure to check this one out. THANKS!
April 30th, 2010 at 11:53 am
I’ve been flipping through a copy of Marvel Chronicle recently, and it’s been an interesting read of the early days of Marvel. Bad Cap’s a great example of this – there really was a few issue revival of Captain America in the 50s. No mention of the whole being frozen/unfrozen/whatever. Just a brief Cap run.
About a decade later, Stan Lee explained his absence as being frozen and unfroze him in Avengers #4(?), but he completely ignores his own Captain America stories from the 50s.
A decade after that, as Marvel started caring more about continuity and the shared universe, somebody asked what was up with the 1950s cap and made him into “Bad Cap”. And then, decades after that, Brubaker comes along.
It’s crazy how much this stuff gets gradually layered over the years.
It’s crazy how all this plays out over time.
April 30th, 2010 at 1:07 pm
Wow. I had no idea there was that much lineage to Bad Cap. Thanks for the info!
I actually really like what Brubaker is doing with Bad Cap. I like the whole insane guy angle and he’s been in and out of the limelight, so I don’t feel like he’s being over-used.
April 30th, 2010 at 9:23 pm
I keep trying to put up some comic reviews, but something flashy and shiny off in the distance continually distracts me.
Another person still getting enjoyment out of Marvel Chronicle? High Five!
OH! There’s that shiny thing in the distance again. Must. Resist.
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May 4th, 2010 at 9:47 am
Amazingly, the Minneapolis Public Library has a copy of Marvel Chronicle. I made an interlibrary loan request for it, which may be the nerdiest thing I’ve ever done.