Captain America #2 - Mobile Edition

Marvel Comics
Captain America #2
By Hervé St-Louis
September 5, 2011 - 11:52

Marvel Comics
Writer(s): Ed Brubaker
Penciller(s): Steve McNiven
Inker(s): Jay Leisten, Dexter Vines
Colourist(s): Justin Ponsor
Letterer(s): Joe Caramagna, Cowles
Cover Artist(s): Steve McNiven, Justin Ponsor
$3.99 US

Captain America and Agent 13 continue to investigate the resurgence of an old foe from the Second World War that has become an ally of H.Y.D.R.A. However, when their dreams are invaded by Bravo, the man who claims to have been betrayed by Captain America and Nick Fury during the war, our hero finds that in his dreams he is really more vulnerable.

First, I have to say that I grow tired of the secret allied operatives that used to partner with Captain America during the Second World War that we never heard of before and that come back from the dead or wherever they were to haunt him once again and exact vengeance. That plot was used in early issues of Secret Avengers just last year, and several more times with the Invaders by Roy Thomas and many more. Even at some time, Wolverine was another one of the buddies Captain America used hang out with during the Second World War. That plot has been played as much as the one about the old Nazis that didn’t die and survived the war with their youth intact and return periodically to annoy Captain America. Can we get a new threat from today for once? I mean why does every freaking threat Captain America face has to somehow have an origin on the Second World War. How about relying on new scenarios that haven’t been played out?

The rest of this story annoys me because it’s another one of those dream sequence thing where the hero – at least figures out that he’s in a dream and tries to fight back. The last year of Captain America with him being in stasis and running through time after his assassination really confused the hell out of me and practically everyone who read that dreadful story. To this day, I can’t name a single person who understood what Brubaker was up to then. So therefore why go back to muddied stories that don’t make sense when you have an opportunity to work on a flagship series with a popular character? Brubaker always works best when he’s writing a thriller and crime noir story, not one of those dreamy conjectures.

McNiven is the top artist to have work on Captain America for a while. This is a compliment as the past series was quite well drawn with solid art by Steve Epting. McNiven’s page layout stays consistent and mostly simple which helps with the storytelling. He’s shading adds a layer of grit to Captain America and make his seem slightly older, but tougher. I can grow to like this way Captain America is being portrayed. Now, if the story could only get more interesting...

Rating: 7/10