Captain America: The Chosen #1
Marvel Comics
Writer: David Morrell
Artist: Mitch Breitweiser

Is Captain America really dead? Will he or won’t he be resurrected? Will Steve Rogers resume the mantle or will there be some other pretender to the throne? These and other questions are what Captain America: The Chosen is pretty dead-set on inspiring. The first issue of The Chosen follows the travels of a marine trying to survive a tour in Iraq. After a devastating explosion, the soldier imagines that he and other soldiers are rescued by Captain America. After a few moments of disbelief, the soldier and Captain America proceed to rescue other soldiers only to have Cap disappear and leave the young man wondering if it was all a dream. Finally, the issue closes with Captain America on life support, watching these events from some undisclosed location, as the image of the young soldier lingers on a television screen.

David Morrell’s managed to pull off a massive amount of mystique and uncertainty with this first issue of The Chosen. It’s impossible to get any bead on exactly when these events are happening or even if they’re really happening. The benefit for Morrell is that it’s enough of a curiosity to keep readers coming back for the next issue if only to figure out whether or not Cap is dead, dying or none of the above. Apart from being a good tease, Morrell does a fantastic job with the overall writing of the issue. The portrayal of American soldiers in Iraq is just as complex and powerful as it should be. Morrell manages to portray the soldiers and neither heroes nor villains, but rather a band of dutiful, young men performing a regrettable job in service to their oaths.

On pencils, Breitweiser has a somewhat pared down styling at times that does a good job of moving through the story and keeping the overall presentation simple yet effective. While he’s not as detail oriented as some other artists in industry, neither is he one of those artists who enjoys putting his characters in featureless voids that do nothing to establish mood, tone or further the storytelling. Breitweiser also has a terrific eye for visual layout. His panels are streamlined and easy on the eye. He’s able to establish tension without jarring the reader, a talent many, many other artists should learn to hone.

Overall: 3 out of 5. More questions than answers, but not bad.