Comic News And Reviews

By Mark Waid (writer), Jorge Molina (pencils), Frank D’Armata (colors), VC’s Joe Sabino (letters)

The Story: En route to their new assignment, Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes discover a prototype bomber drone that has been hijacked by the Nazis. In a daring feat befitting their heroic alter-egos, the pair leap onto the drone, which they discover is set to self-destruct. Rogers manages to let go and drop off just in time to save himself, while the rest—quite literally—is history.

What’s Good: I’ve been looking forward to this book since it was first announced, and was not disappointed by this first issue. It encapsulates everything I love about Cap—his humility, heroism, determination—and also hits on what is, to me, one of the most fascinating and most often overlooked aspects of his character: the fact that is displaced from everything he once considered reality. The character has been around long enough now that it is not brought up much (aside from the occasional reference or throwaway line.) We take for granted that yeah, he served in World War II, was frozen, defrosted by the Avengers, and so on. We rarely stop to consider what experiencing something like that would really do to a person. Cap may be stronger than us by several hundred degrees, but the super soldier serum didn’t take away his essential humanity. Anyone put in a situation like his would be more than a little shocked and confused (quite understandably so). Cap is usually portrayed as so calm, stoic and in control that it’s nice to see him have to deal with this critical and emotional event in his history.

I could go on for pages with specifics—how awesome the two splash pages that transition between past and present are (not only do they look great, they perfectly establish just how sudden and immediate the change was from Rogers’ perspective), how excellent and well characterized Rogers’ reaction upon waking is (he reaches for his costume—the only safe and familiar thing—and, despite his confusion and fear, responds instantly to cries for help), and how effective little details (like the empty word bubbles that gradually fill in as Rogers’ hearing returns) are. But that would cause this review to take up far, far more space than I’m allotted . A large part of this success is due to Mark Waid’s excellent writing. While Ed Brubaker is and will always be the definitive voice of Cap for me, Waid’s credentials are not to be ignored, and he proves here that he knows Cap—and the craft of writing—a well as anyone.

What’s Not So Good: I could complain about the overuse of computer generated blur effects in the artwork (I really, really hate it), but I enjoyed the book so much that it seems petty and persnickety to do so.

Conclusion: Despite Marvel’s instance on maintaining the $3.99 price tag, if you have any interest in Captain America, this is one series that it might be worth gritting your teeth and bearing the extra cost for. This part of Cap’s history isn’t often dealt with, and I have a feeling the ride is going to be a fun and fascinating one.

Grade: B

-SoldierHawk

Filed under: Marvel Comics Tagged: | Captain America, Mark Waid, Frank D'Armata, Comic Book Reviews, Weekly Comic Book Review, VC's Joe Sabino, Captain America: Man Out Time #1 review, George Molina, Captain America: Man Out Of Time #1, Captain America: Man Out Of Time #1 review, Captain America: Man Out Of Time

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