Captain America #607

What looks to be one of my favorite Captain America story arcs continues this week with the evil Baron Zemo targeting Bucky/Cap. Last issue we saw Cap dealing with the aftermath of the Steve Rodgers resurrection and Zemo’s new interest in him. This issue continues that plot with the mechanics of Zemo’s plan swinging into action. It’s a pretty action oriented book this month and not a whole lot of plot development. But what we do get to see is one of my favorite old school Cap resurrections, the awesome Iron Hand Hauptmann, fight Captain America in a hospital. As Brubaker does so well, he once again makes this fight ring with the old while being completely modern at the same time. Seeing Iron Hand swinging into action again is one thing, having him battle Cap in a hospital makes it feel old school Marvel. I’m not sure why that is but it just seems like a plot line stolen out of the brain of Stan Lee in the 60’s.

The whole issue reveals that Zemo is planning something big and is intent on digging up as much as he can on Bucky and his days as the Winter Soldier. As I said last week, only good things can come from Brubaker writing Zemo and so far these have been some of the most solid and exciting Captain America issues we’ve had in some time. With the way this book has been going over the last five years, that’s saying something. If you’re not reading this series, you’re being foolish. Go get it.
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It’s been a good couple weeks in comics and I thought I’d talk about a few of the more interesting issues. A couple of awesome Ed Brubaker books have hit that deserve some mention so we’ll start with those.

Secret Avengers #1
First on the docket is the brand new (and much hyped) Secret Avengers #1. While I haven’t been keeping real close tabs on the whole Secret Invasion or it’s Siege-based aftermath, I have noticed that the Avengers sure have been getting some love from Marvel as of late. With a new movie in the works, the team being the centerpiece of both the Civil War and Secret Invasion story lines, and now a bunch of new books, it seems that the Avengers are once again the team of choice at Marvel.

The most interesting thing of this convoluted mess of a universe shake up is how Ed Brubaker has managed to make part of it cool by working in a few of his own storylines. When he killed off Steve Rogers in 2005, we all wondered how he was going to be brought back. While we all knew it was going to happen we can at least thank the comic gods that he held off a good 4 years before bringing him back. While the method in which Steve Rogers was returned to the Marvel Universe was typically cheesy and far-fetched, what I can’t complain about is how they’ve positioned him in the post-Siege world. Deciding to leave the shield and Captain America persona in the hands of his old parter Bucky Barnes, Steve Rogers is simply being himself and leading the charge of rebuilding the mess that has been left in the wake of recent Bendis inspired events.

Enter Secret Avengers. The premise of this book has Steve Rogers leading a team of covert heroes that only band together when needed on a mission. The idea is to stay off the grid, in the shadows and take care of business in a more clandestine and old school manner. This type of team really draws from the old days when Steve Rogers ran the Invaders and super heroes did secret government work. I’ve always thought he idea of a small team turning the tide of war in the background was always a cool idea and one that is very “Marvel-esque”. It’s also a premise that Brubaker has explored numerous times in his Captain America books and more recently in the Marvels Project mini-series. To have him create a brand new team with a covert and old school emphasis is a breath of fresh air for the Avengers canon. With pencils by Mike Deodato, this first issue is a very strong start to the series and I can’t wait to see where it goes in the future.
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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.

SPOILERS…..obviously.

Walking Dead #60

Written by: Robert Kirkman

Art by: Charlie Adlard

The BIG 6-0. 60 is most notably the time in your life when you start to lose your hearing, and your eyes start getting worse, along with your driving skills, and you go hobble your way into your huge, boat sized Cadillac and break off the odometer at 25 in a 45 mph zone while heading to your local Walgreens and buy some of those huge, wrap around glasses that look like some kind of virtual reality visor. Yeah, its those years when retirement homes scare you, along with all that new fangled technology, and don’t even talk about those young punks with their “raps” and “skateboards”. But you know what isn’t getting old? The Walking Dead.

60 issues in, Robert Kirkman hopes to bring back the original antagonist of the series: zombies. While most of the series has been about the fact that the zombies aren’t the worst thing roaming the land, issue 60 tries to convince us that they are still a contender.

Last issue, we finally caught a glimpse of the “herd” of zombies heading after our intrepid heroes. Rick & Co. could defend against a group of zombies with little to no effort, but a herd comprises of thousands of zombies. Not a walk in the park.

So in this issue, we witness our car-less heroes running from the herd, trying desperately to get back to their loved ones in time to warn them of the incoming danger. While not the most illuminating issue of the series, this issue does help emphasize the immediacy of the undead flock.

I have always said that the issues that deal with the more humanizing aspects of the story are my favorites. Issues where the characters are just sitting around trying to gather some shred of hope while being surrounded and confronted by acts of horrific violence and sanity breaking situations. This issue still brings that to the table. One character in particular gets this in spades.

So all in all, this issue doesn’t reveal a whole lot, but it does hint at the herd arc coming to an end, but not before a little preview at the end of the book. With preview pages with phrases like “”The dead do not stalk” and an accompanying picture of shadowy figures hiding in the trees right above some of the main cast.

Yeah, I don’t really need to tell you about the art and the writing because it is just so good. It’s just a given with this series.
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DGR: 02.27.2009

SPOILERS!! So, you know, be forewarned!

Final Crisis #7

Written by: Grant Morrison
Art by: Doug Mahnke and Christian Alamy

The Final Crisis is now averted. Over the course of seven issues, the main idea of Final Crisis was the resurrection of Darkseid. By using a human host, Darkseid was able to enter our world. His main goal, as always, is to enslave the human race using the Anti Life Equation. Basically, the Anti Life Equation is the negative version of a Life Equation. Life Equation is essentially the idea of free will. Upon learning this, Darkseid basically deduced that there must be an opposite, negative form of this equation, The Anti Life Equation.

So in Final Crisis, Darkseid’s plan is to be born again on Earth and unleash his spoken version of the Anti Life Equation. In earlier issues, Darkseid unleashed the Anti Life Equation through the media, via emails, TV, internet, whatever people were sure to use. So sure enough, it works and he gains control of the world. Enter the heroes. They aren’t too happy with Darkseid’s plan, but are crippled by his might due to the fact that Darkseid created an army using the world’s population and even some of the heroes themselves. So not only are the DCU fighting Darkseid, they are also fighting amongst themselves. Last issue, Batman confronted Darkseid and went against his “no gun” code and shot Darkseid, killing him, but not before Darkseid hit Batman with the Omega Sanction. The Omega Sanction is a weapon that forces the target to live in alternate lives, with each life progressively getting worse. This helps explain the ending to Final Crisis 7. Cut to this issue. Everything has come together. The heroes have regrouped, and they plan to recreate the Multiverse using the Miracle Machine shown in earlier Final Crisis issues.

You know what? Fuck it. I don’t have enough energy to type out this huge explanation, but most likely, if you have read Final Crisis, you are confused. So I’m gonna help you out. It’ll cost you money, but what do you care? You read comics, so obviously you have a disposable income, so what is another $20? Ok, so go out and buy Final Crisis Revelations and Final Crisis Superman Beyond 3D. Revelations is good, Superman Beyond 3D is half good. I reviewed Issue 1 a few months ago. It sucked hardcore, but it at least explains where the fuck Superman was during the first 6 issues of Final Crisis. Issue 2 is actually alot better. It also helps explain the last issue of Final Crisis. So yeah, if you really want to know, you can go get those issues, or hell, just wikipedia it.

So, in conclusion, NO MORE BIG EVENTS THAT NEED WIKIPEDIA AS A REFERENCE GUIDE!

And Grant Morrison shouldn’t be allowed to write all this twisted shit in a mainstream book. Save it for the niche titles, Grant.

And lay off the fucking acid, too. Jerk.
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Last week I mentioned that I received an extra comic or two in my bag after a weekly run to my local comic shop. One of those extra comics was Captain America #42 and I commented on how much the series had changed for the better under Ed Brubakers writing hand. In the comment section below the post, our good friend Tyler Durden mentioned that I should really read the earlier stories and that an Omnibus had been put out that cataloged the first 25 issues of the Brubaker Captain America run. While I’m a big comic book fan, the idea of an omnibus seemed like a pricey endeavor and a difficult one to justify. Perusal of Amazon.com confirmed my suspicions with a rather hefty $75.00 price tag.

This last weekend John, Moe and I attended FallCon 2008, a local comic book convention held here in St. Paul, MN. While checking out the various booths, my good friends happened to find the Captain America Omnibus hanging out under a 30% off sign. And you just can’t pass up a deal like that, can you? What I found was one of the greatest collections of comics I’ve read in a long, long time. In one night, I had consumed the entire book and I am simply floored by what Brubaker has done with one of Marvel’s most iconic characters.
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Once more into the comic shop! Once more, I bring you news of the random comics I picked up simply because they look cool, along with a few of my regular reads for the month. Due to a store clerk accident and the mechanisms of fate, I came away with a couple of random comics that I don’t normally read and we’ll start with those.

Captain America #42
Writer: Ed Brubaker
Pencils: Steve Epting, Lou Ross

I haven’t read a Captain America book since Jae Lee had a small run on it about seven or so years ago. I liked it but felt, as I often do when reading Captain America, that they’ve never really been able to make much out of the character. I’ve always been a fan, especially in the Jack Kirby days but over the last ten years the book felt like it had one foot in a spy novel and the other in some angsty drama about a guy not being able to handle the weight of living as a national symbol. I get it but the horse is long beaten and years dead.

I’m looking for someone to shed the history for a bit and spin Captain America into something new and exciting, which is no small task considering the history of Marvel and Captain America. I had heard that Brubaker’s run on the recent books was exceptional and that he was dealing with the death of Steve Rodgers and taking the line in a whole new direction. But every time I picked an issue up to peruse it, the same trappings of the old still met me. I still see the Red Skull, I still see Sharon Carter and I’m still leery.

When I opened up my comic bag, I found this issue inside. It must have been in a pile that got mixed up with my own. Fate, it seemed, had deemed it necessary that I at least give this book a fair shake. And Fate was correct. This book is exceptional and my love for current Daredevil author, Ed Brubaker, grows ever stronger.

The story is far too convoluted for me to give an adequate synopsis here. Issue 42 seems to be the ending issue of a long story arc dealing with events in the wake of Steve Rogers death and I’m missing a lot of the pieces. Suffice it to say that Captain America’s 1940′s era sidekick, Bucky, has taken on the mantle of Captain America and he’s trying to pick up the pieces. How the hell Bucky is still alive I have no idea. Guess some back issues are in order. Be that as it may, the issue deals with the final battle between the new Captain America and the classic villains that killed the original.

What makes this issue so awesome is how it manages to do everything I want with a new Captain America story while keeping the very things that usually drag the book down. It still has the Red Skull in it and it still has Sharon Carter. It still references all the weighty history of Captain America but somehow makes it feel cool and new. These references to history feel more akin to a mythology now, instead of a lockstep born from a fear of insulting the memory of Kirby and Simon. As such, the Captain America books feel like they’ve finally got their own, modern world. And that’s a breath of fresh air for a character that really deserved a reboot.

Mention must also be made of the fantastic pencils of Steve Epting. They really do a lot to bring this gritty new Captain America story to life. I can see why this team won an Eisner Award and I highly recommend folks go check out this series. I’m sure you can find a trade or two. I know I’ll be on the hunt. (more…)