Captain America #49

One more issue and we reach the milestone 50th issue of this series. Marvel seems to be teasing that issue #50 might herald the return of Steve Rogers, but as much as I like Steve, I think it's too soon to bring him back. Whatever Ed Brubaker decides to do though is fine by me, because that guy can write! Anywho, here's the review for the most recent issue of Cap.

-This is going to be one of the easiest reviews I've ever posted, because nothing really happened! But in that nothingness there was a lot of brilliance! No, I'm not insane, allow me to explain.

-This issue basically revolves solely around Sharon Carter, Steve Rogers long-time girlfriend and the woman who wound up firing the fatal shot into Cap(for the record, she was under the mind control of the Red Skull at the time).

-Sharon has returned home to Virginia, where she basically spends her days rattling around her dead parents mansion. She occasionally has nightmares about what she was forced to do to Cap, plus there are large portions of her memory that are still blocked off thanks to the mental conditioning of Dr. Faustus.

-Falcon is still hunting for the evil Captain America, the one who looks just like Steve Rogers. Unfortunately for Sam, all of his leads keep coming up empty.

-Sharon discovers the scar from losing Steve's baby on her abdomen for the first time and freaks out a bit. Falcon arrives at her home and tells her the full story about how the Red Skull and his lackeys caused Sharon to lose the baby and Sharon remembers the whole awful ordeal for the first time.

-The evil Cap goes and visits Peggy Carter, Sharon's elderly aunt and tricks her into believing that he is really Steve Rogers. The evil Cap then asks Peggy to tell him everything about the time she spent with Steve during WW II.

-We end this issue with Sharon having a nightmare from her time in Red Skull's captivity. In the dream, Skull uses one of Dr. Doom's time platforms to bring someone from the time stream to him, but Sharon can't quite make out who that someone is. Sharon wakes up from the nightmare wondering if it was possible that the figure she saw was Steve Rogers.

Woooo-boy, this was one hell of a good comic! This issue really showcases the talent of Ed Brubaker. Ed did a masterful job detailing just the kind of hell poor Sharon has been living through since Steve's death. This comic book had absolutely NO action at all, but it really didn't need any. The only gripe I had with this issue(and it's really a minor complaint)was the fact that Bucky didn't show up at all. He is Captain America now, you'd think he'd show up somewhere inside!

After reading this comic book, I have to say, I CAN NOT wait for the next issue! Common sense tells me that there is NO way the figure Sharon sees in her dream emerging from the time platform was Steve Rogers, but if it wasn't Cap, then who was it? Who would the Red Skull have decided to pull out of the time stream? What evil, nefarious plot was the Red Skull cooking up? The wait for issue #50 is going to be a LONG one! For a score, I'll give this issue a 9 1/2 out of 10. I enjoyed this issue as much as I have enjoyed anything I've read this month. Kudos to Ed Brubaker for continuing to pump out awesome Captain America stories month after month.