Dex's Comic Awareness

Captain America #9
written by Ed Brubaker
pencils by Michael Lark
cover by Steve Epting & Frank D’Armata

Now that we finally have a focus for the comic things move rather quickly. Or so we are lead to believe. The whole issue is the preparation for and execution of a covert strike against Lukin’s small empire. But it was really all a waste of time as they arrive to find UN and US officials all sitting around doing an oil deal with him. So the mission is a big bust as they can’t torture Lukin in front of their bosses. They are forced to leave in a rather anti climatic fashion. All the flashbacks about Steve not wanting Agent 13 to go on the mission now seem stupid because the mission wasn’t worth that much time. Yeah it was some good fighting but it leaves us at square one.

The one thing that did actually remind me of classic Brubaker was the return of Death Head. He breaks out Red Skull’s daughter to help add a third party to the whole affair. Red Skull's troops are obviously not going to be happy about his murder and it makes sense for them to try and get back at Lukin. But Lukin is a dangerous foe now that he has a fully charged Cosmic Cube that I learned can alter reality. Good old reality altering devices always putting into question whether or not the weird things that happen really did or not. Makes sense, no?

This issue could have been better if it wasn't a buildup to nothing. And Lark seems to draw Captain America's head too big. Makes it look like a big watermelon or something. I bet next issue will see them go after Jack Monroe now that their hands are a little tied concerning Lukin himself.

Rating - Mediocre

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Captain America #8
written by Ed Brubaker
pencils and cover by Steve Epting

You just got to love Brubaker's dark crime tales. His stories are always best served with a heavy lined artist and an inker who likes a lot of shadows it seems. But maybe I'm just used to Sleeper's Sean Phillips drawing Ed's scripts. Whatever the case may be, Epting does a great job with the moody talking heads and dark themes in the book. His hand to hand panels could use a little sprucing up. I've definitely seen better panel selections, John Cassidy.

The big twisty plot is starting to become clear as Lukin, an ex-KGB general, has obtained a fully charged Cosmic Cube (I remember these from my old days of comic reading but I can't really remember what exactly they do other than allow the user some form of mental powers). The plot has been moving fairly quickly as Lukin's plans and the dead Red Skull's plans have all come to fruition. Despite the Red Skulls true death at the hands of an assassin, his plans went on. Lukin used the Red Skulls plans as a screen for his own actions so that he could use a WMD to recharge his Cosmic Cube. So we find Philly in ruins after said WMD went off there.

We find that the man who killed Red Skull and Jack Monroe are one in the same, Bucky. It is the original Bucky that supposedly died in WW2. Spliced into the issue is the flashback story of how the Russians found him. Add that to the explanation of the myth of the Winter Soldier and we see the picture fairly clearly now. The winter soldier was thus named because he would be put on ice between missions to keep him from aging. Pretty cool idea if you ask me. The flashback explains why he's got a metal arm: he lost it in the blast that put him and Cap in the icy waters of the sea.

The plot is actually moving a little too fast for the characters to handle. There isn't time for them to weep over the loss of loved ones, Jack Monroe, Neal Tapper (Agent 13's ex), and the destruction of an entire city. But they struggle on as the soldiers they are. We also have a more defined goal for our heroes: find Lukin and Bucky and get the cosmic cube. Each little side quest up to this point has all been a goose chase. Hopefully the ramifications of the WMD in Philly will be explored later because something of that magnitude shouldn't just be ignored entirely, although it's understandable why they did here.

This is finally shaping up into classic Brubaker. I will admit that I was afraid that the early arc of the series was a prelude to a lesser overall story. I shouldn't have lost faith, everything has been done for a reason and it really makes all the stories better upon hindsight. But like I said, some kind of reflection is going to be needed for the overwhelming amount of events that have transpired. A lot is changing for Cap and it's happening really quickly.

Rating - Great