Captain America #48

Overall- Now that I've finally finished reading that Superman tpb, I can begin reading a few new books again, and what better book to read then Ed Brubaker's Captain America? Here's the review.

This was a good comic. It wrapped up a little too neatly for my taste, but overall, I really enjoyed the story. We open with Bucky tied to a chair and Namor held captive by Prof. Chin and the Man With No Face. Namor is exposed to a virus that causes flesh to burst into flames, ala the Human Torch, while Bucky is stuck watching helplessly. While Namor burns in a tube, Chin explains to Bucky that if the virus works as planned, it should wipe out 35-50% of Earth's population. With a few billion less people around, Chin figures that the Earth should last much longer. Aww, what a nice mad scientist!

Chin and No Face are disappointed when the virus doesn't kill Namor, but are even more disappointed when Bucky's girlfriend, the Black Widow arrives, complete with Bucky's shield. Widow breaks Namor out and manages to knock out No Face. While this is going on, Chin runs away to launch the virus into the atmosphere. Widow frees Bucky, who tells her they have to find Chin before he releases the virus. Before they get too far though, Bucky, Widow and Namor, who has recovered, are attacked by Chin's personal army. Namor takes care of the army, which leaves Widow and Bucky to catch and stop Chin.

However, before Bucky and Widow manage to catch Chin, Chin manages to start the countdown to launch the missile that would send the virus into orbit. Bucky manages to reach the missile, but with only a few seconds to spare. Since Bucky isn't a rocket scientist, and can't figure out how to stop the missile from launching, he proceeds to hit it with his shield. When all else fails, right? Striking the missile actually dislodges something and prevents the missile from launching. By this time, No Face and Namor have joined Bucky and Widow in the lab and have begun to brawl with each other. Chin tries to help No Face by striking Namor with a pipe(?!?)and gets pounded by Namor as a result. No Face rushes to his fallen master's aid, but can do nothing to save Chin's life. While No Face is mourning Chin, Namor walks up behind No Face and snaps his neck! Is there anything better then some swift Atlantian justice? With the two main villains dead, the 3 heroes finish mopping up the rest of Chin's army and burn his lab to the ground to make sure none of his viruses wind up falling into the wrong hands. From there, Bucky makes sure that the original Human Torch is given a proper burial and that's pretty much that.

While this wasn't as spectacular as some of Ed's work on Cap has been, this concluded what turned out to be a pretty good storyline. I'm not sure I would have killed Chin off here, I thought he had the potential to be a good reoccurring villain, but I'm sure Ed did what he did for a reason. For a score, I'll give this comic a 8 1/2 out of 10, and state that I am eagerly anticipating Cap #50. I can't wait to find out what Ed has in store for that issue!