Captain America #18
Summary: While Falcon and Diamondback try to keep people from going crazy due to the madbombs dropped by the Hydra Queen, Bravo and Baron Zemo(who is unfortunately evil. Again...), Sharon Carter confronts Zemo on his space station and Cap heads after the Queen and Bravo. Sharon(with some help from Dum Dum Dugan), manages to choke Zemo unconscious, before the two destroy the station, which in turn destroys the madbombs(I guess...). Cap beats up Bravo, so the Queen shoots at both of them, which is fine since Cap has a shield. Not so fine for Bravo, who doesn't. Bravo gets shot a few times, so Cap throws his shield at the Queen, which knocks her into her computer screens, and apparently puts her in a coma(?!). From there, Cap and company are happy, Bravo and Zemo get taken into custody, while the Queen is being worshiped by some lackey in her hospital bed.
Thoughts: Blah. That's my thoughts on this one. It's sad that Ed Brubaker's epic Cap run is ending with such a whimper, but that's what we're getting. But considering the fact that Brubaker's Cap run is my favorite run, by any writer, on any comic, from any company, ever, he definitely gets a pass from me on this one. I never found Bravo or the Hydra Queen interesting(which is weird since Brubaker has that special talent to make ANYBODY interesting), the storyline was another variation of the old, "Cap is disillusioned by America" story, and yes, I hate the fact that Baron Zemo is evil again. So if you take all of that, mix it up, you end up with a comic I sadly didn't really enjoy.
Score: 5 out of 10.
Too bad Bravo didn't die here...
I haven't heard much about Ed Brubaker's Cap for what feels like a really long time. Is that because it's been mediocre like this for a while, or was it always great and people just ran out of interesting ways to say nice things about it?
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I'm actually pretty excited for the new Captain America series. I saw some Romita preview art, and it's gorgeous.
Dude, seriously, ditto, ditto, ditto. I'm so effing over Bravo and the Hydra Queen. Plus, that "final battle" was remarkably anticlimatic. Hydra just, like, goes crazy and starts shooting, conveniently taking out Bravo? Then, she has some sort of shield-induced seizure and flies into the wall of television monitors? But, somehow, Bravo just shrugs off gun shots? WTF, Brubaker?
ReplyDeleteYeah, considering how long the Bravo/Hydra Queen story has been dragging on, the way it ended was SO anticlimactic! Plus the aftermath! So Bravo is shot, repeatedly, and he's simply "in custody", same as Zemo, while the Hydra Queen, who went FLYING into those monitors from a simple shield toss, is in a coma?! Gah.
DeleteI honestly loved, not liked, but LOVED, every Cap story Brubaker did from when he first took over, all the way to the end of Bucky's run(and I proudly have every single issue of his run since it pretty much coincided with my return to comic collecting), but once Steve came back to the Cap role things just kind of puttered out. If I could play the What If game, I have to wonder if things would have been better if Bucky stays Cap and Steve remains Super-Soldier(I know, the Cap movie and all was coming out, but still). I'd have brought a Super-Soldier book along with a Cap book. Another big What If would have been if Sharon hadn't lost the baby... Steve as a father and head of SHIELD/the Avengers and Bucky as Cap could have been an interesting dynamic. I know that Brubaker intended to replace Bucky after the Gulag story anyway, but I can't help but wonder if the stories would have been better with Bucky as Cap, instead of Cap being disappointed in America. Again.
Totally. I returned to comics in the middle of the Bucky run and bought every back issue involving him because I was so amazed by the story and how well Brubaker wrote it. I just don't understand why he got stuck in this Bravo/Hydra/Zemo loop. It's definitely time for a fresh set of eyes.
DeleteI feel like the great tragedy of that year was that both Bucky and Dick were denied the chance to be the big man for a longer period of time. Brubaker and Snyder were telling the best Cap and Batman stories I've ever read during that time. I know the editorial staff always intended to bring back Cap and Batman, but, when seeing the work that those authors were producing, you have to wonder why someone didn't say, "Well, maybe we can delay a year..." After reading the "Life of Reilly" blog and realizing how last minute a lot of the editorial decisions were as the marketing department sought to prolong the Clone Sage, I know someone could've done it. Lost opportunity, definitely.
You know, since I am insanely into numbers(and am trying to get my entire collection chronicled, which is no easy feat with thousands and thousands of comics to get through!), those early issues of Cap(the Winter Soldier storyline) are worth quite a bit of money. With the movie coming up soon, you've got to figure they'll increase in price even more. Not that I would EVER sell any of my books, but I do like seeing which comics bump up in price, it can tell you a lot about certain series/fan thoughts and the industry in general.
DeleteYup, agreed times 100%. I loved the Dick Grayson as Batman run, it mixed up the entire Batman and Robin dynamic, which was fun to read, and Dick had definitely earned that spot. Plus, you know, my sidekick obsession. :D Same with Bucky. There seemed to be SO many more stories that could have been told with Bucky as Cap. Just Bucky dealing with Steve's old foes and allies. I would have loved Bucky interacting with D-Man and Diamondback in this past storyline! I hate when a company feels the need to switch characters around to coincide with a movie... So Steve Rogers isn't Cap at the time of the movie. He's Super-Soldier. So what? Hell, if anything that should give new fans reason to try to pick up more back issues to try to figure out when/why this happened(that's what I did after I stopped collecting those 5 years or so). Oh well... What could have been and all...
I'm in the middle of a similar project. It's actually trying to integrate all my comics, given that I've stored them at a variety of places over the years. They're all now under one roof, so I'm trying to put them in order, weed out the second prints, etc. It's a long project, but I'm committed! Have we discussed software? (I feel like we did a while ago.) I'm just using Google Documents' spreadsheet program, but if you have something you really like, let me know!
DeleteAh, I hear you. I was using a spreadsheet too, but it just became too monotonous. I got to like 3800 books and I just couldn't do anymore. I was using http://comicbookrealm.com/ which is a free, online database, but that's better for somebody with a smaller collection, or who is just starting. In the end I brought myself a bar code scanner from Amazon for a few bucks and subscribed to http://www.collectorz.com/comic/ for $50. I was leery of the price at first, but after trying out the free trail, I knew this was the right choice for me. For example, I can just bring over a crate of comics, scan the bar code of one book(I was doing the "R"'s from DC yesterday), let's say "Robin", and it'll bring the title associated with that bar code up. Since I have over 150 Robin singles, and the rest of the series collected in trades, I can basically have the entire Robin series cataloged with a few clicks, without a mess of typing, both offline and online. For somebody like me, who has a massive comic collection, the Collectorz program was just what I needed. I also love that it stores your collection on your computer AND online, so you can give the web address to people who may buy you books(my sister usually buys me comics for my birthday, and this should prevent duplicates), or check it over your phone to make sure you don't already have a comic while at a comic shop. You could give it a shot, since they have a free download. If not, check out comicbookrealm. They're free, but only online, which is a bit of a pain. That's what I like about collectorz, the fact that it's online and off. Wow, that was way wordier than I anticipated!
DeleteThat was awesome, thanks. I actually downloaded Collectorz a few months ago, but didn't pull the trigger because I was in the middle of moving and didn't feel like carting around a barcode scanner I had never used. I've got a similar collection, so it would be a big help. Can it tell the difference between second prints, variant covers, etc.? Also, if you wouldn't mind telling me which scanner you used, that'd be cool, since, if I remember correctly, the one they were selling was a little pricey. Thanks again for the info! Exactly what I needed!
DeleteCool, no problem! The barcode scanner I have is this one, http://www.amazon.com/handheld-Barcode-Scanner-Reader-reader/dp/B003VR6L48/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1350362523&sr=8-1&keywords=ccd+barcode+scanner
DeleteIt's a simple plug and go scanner too(via the usb port), no programs to install or anything like that. At the collectorz site, they sell scanners, but the prices are crazy! You could easily get the same thing from a place like Amazon or eBay for way less. Just punch in "CCD Barcode Scanner" and you'll get a few hits.
The way the scanner works is when you scan the barcode, it'll bring up the comic series associated with it. For simplicity's sake, let's go with the pre-52 Superboy comic, which had 11 issues. However, when you add variants, there were 16 issues all together. So the collectorz database has it listed as 1A(regular cover), 1B(variant cover), 2A(regular cover), 2B(variant cover), etc. Let's say you don't know if you have the regular or the variant, just click the number(1A for example), and it'll bring up the cover image of the comic(as well as the back cover if you want). The fact that it has images of the covers is really helpful too, since there was a time in the mid-2000's where Marvel was putting out variants like crazy, but they were priced the same as the regular covers, so I have a few variants thrown in my collection without even realizing it! The same with second prints. It'll say, 1B(second print), just click the link and check the cover to see if it matches the one you have. I've put over 8000 books in there so far, and I'd say that it had the barcodes for like 95% of them. For the barcodes it couldn't identify, you can type in the name of the series and add it that way. I was actually scanning books before I responded to this post. If you do go with collectorz, I'd definitely recommend just buying one of the compatible scanners they have listed on their site from a different site for way less, and you're pretty much good to go.
OK, I downloaded Collectorz and I am now officially obsessed. Amazing. I also dowloaded the CLZ Barry app that lets you use your iPhone as a barcode scanner. It's pretty amazing.
ReplyDeleteHere's an initial question, though I'm sure I'll have more: how do you organize with the program? Do you have folders for every series? Or do you just go with the long line of alphabetized issues and then search?