Here we have another issue with Captain America's name on it appearing before the final issue of the Captain America: Reborn mini-series.Ordinarily I'd set this aside and wait to read this in order, but I figure I should take a look so I can warn everyone about any possible spoilers. The good news is, other than the fact that Steve Rogers is back (something that's already been spoiled by at least five other issues within the past few weeks), you're safe to read this issue - Steve doesn't appear in it at all, and is only mentioned in passing.
Instead the issue focuses on a storyline that's been hanging for a while - the Cap from the 1950s is active again. He's gone crazy and has joined up with a home-grown terrorist group in Idaho called The Watchdogs.
Bucky is still wearing the Cap uniform, so he sets out to capture the '50s Cap with the Falcon. They arrive in Idaho in time to observe an event that seems to have nothing to do with the story - it's an anti-tax protest, with hundreds of people marching in the streets.
The Falcon says, "I guess the whole 'hate the government' vibe around here isn't limited to the Watchdogs."
You know, I certainly don't want to bring politics into this blog (we'll leave that stuff to the MSNBC and Fox channels - neither one of which I watch), but does taking part in a tax protest equal hating the government? The comment (and some of the protest signs) would lead one to think that writer Ed Brubaker is taking a few ill-disguised shots against the Tea Party crowd. That's his right, of course, but it seems like he's laying it on thick. Is he really saying that everyone in rural America is a right-wing nut? Maybe I'm just reading too much into it.
The art by Luke Ross and Butch Guice is excellent as always (though the panel where the "bad" Cap throws his shield at a police car and it explodes seems a bit much).
This issue also features a backup story with Nomad teaming up with Arana, and it's pretty forgettable. Better to lose the backup and keep the comic at $2.99.
Grade: B
4 comments:
Chuck-
I, too, bought this issue, and started to read it before realizing it appeared BEFORE the late issues of CAP that wraps the storylines this issue comments on! Sheesh!
Al Bigley
Al, Isn't it aggravating? Stan and Jack could crank out several monthly comic books and throw an annual on top of it without breaking a sweat! So why can't these guys turn out 5 or 6 issues on time?
Oops, there I go turning into a cranky old man again...
Chuck-
I just came from my comic shop, where I laid the last 4 issues of CAP and the new mini out on his counter and asked him to explain the chronology.
My eyes rolled back in my head as he explained the fine print on the mini to NOT read it until the last CAP ish came out (I THINK it finally eeked out), and why they messed with the numbering on the CAP book "read "53" first, then read "603," which is really the NEXT issue, and...", and why the mini was extended, so now #5 is # 6, and...
And I READ this book regularly and am lost.
Al
Al,
Yeah, it's bad when those of us who've been reading for so long struggle to figure out which order to read these things. I had the same problem a couple of months back with "Blackest Night" and "Green Lantern."
As best as I remember it, the regular "Captain America" comic recently hit issue #50, and then a month later reverted to its "correct" numbering with issue #600. I think there was one more issue after that (a Gene Colan-drawn flashback), and then the comic went into suspended animation for about 6 months while "Cap: Reborn" came out. It picks up with #602, which doesn't really spoil much that the Avengers didn't already give away. Oh yeah, and the "Who Will Wield the Shield" special falls in the middle somewhere.
Of course, I may be misremembering. Wouldn't it be nice if they could just put these things out in order? Or at least go to the old "triangle" system Superman used, where each issue was numbered. Oh well.
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