Captain America #1
Summary: This issue kicks off with a flashback to a young Steve Rogers watching his father take out his frustrations on his mother. Afterwards, his mother teaches young Steve a lesson, no matter what happens to you, always get up. From there we head to the present where Steve(as Captain America, naturally), brings down an eco-terrorist before heading off to meet with his girlfriend, Sharon Carter. Sharon gives Steve a gift(it's his 90th birthday!) and begins talking SHIELD business with him. However, Steve is only half listening since he's still contemplating Sharon's earlier marriage proposal to him. Sharon eventually tells him that a subway line under Manhattan that had been abandoned for 80 years had suddenly been having trains, and pedestrians arrive. Steve and Sharon go to investigate, but are told there was only room for one on the strange train, so Steve naturally goes. While pondering Sharon and marriage, Steve is cuffed and drugged by a bunch of weird creatures. When he wakes up, Steve finds himself strapped in a lab with a baby in a tube connected to the wires hooked up to Steve. A huge needle comes down from the ceiling and stabs Steve in the chest just as the mastermind behind this scene shows up, none other than Armin Zola(!). Before Steve's blood is drained by the Nazi scientist, Steve follows his mother's advice and manages to fight off the drugs being used to tranquilize him and gets up, much to Zola's chagrin. Steve grabs his shield and flings it through the lab, destroying pretty much everything before hopping out a window, and escaping Zola's headquarters on an airplane. With Steve gone, Zola bemoans the fact that Cap had killed his child(?!) and reveals that the baby in the tube was something he had been designing for decades to a young girl, who Zola had also cloned(!). After gathering himself, Zola demands his mutates bring him Cap, alive and unharmed. As for Cap, he crashes the plane and climbs out of the wreckage, revealing he had tucked the baby from the tube away in his shield. This issue ends with Cap looking up and quickly realizing Zola's base was in another dimension and that he, and the baby, were stranded.
Thoughts: Awesome!! That's really all I could think after putting this issue down. It ticked all of the boxes I was hoping Remender would tick. It gave us some development between Cap and Sharon, it brought back one of Cap's old foes(the HUGELY underused and under-appreciated Zola), gave us a great story, great art(sorry, I'm a huge JRJR mark), and a sweet cliffhanger. So yeah, I loved this issue and am SO looking forward to seeing where Remender goes with this storyline. Personally, I'm really hoping the baby Cap rescued grows into the new Bucky, because, why not? Um yeah, I could keep heaping praise on this issue, but instead I'll just give it the inevitable perfect score and move on.
Score: 10 out of 10.
Check me out, dropping perfect scores like candy!
I gotta say that I enjoyed this one too. I am not as big of a mark for JRJR's art, but I do enjoy it. It just tends to divide my opinion with the scenes he is depicting. I love his action shots though! As for the issue itself, I thought it was great. Remender dove in head first to the new era and there is no shadow of brubaker looming because of it. The story has a ton of potential and I am ALL for seeing young steve and his story develop as that has hardly ever been touched on.
ReplyDelete-I do wonder where this book will fit in with the scheme of things. With it being so different from most titles right now, I am curious as to whether this will be nearly all standalone stories and never cross into the rest of the marvel U, although this could only be true of the first arc.
-I also noticed that neither of you picked up the new HULK marvel now! and normally I would say WHY NOT!? I didn't pick it up because i can't afford it, but I will read, and almost ALWAYS enjoy anything that mark waid is writing. Love that guy!
Totallly. LOVED IT. Man, Remender is just amazing. I also l loved "Secret Avengers" #34 and "Uncanny Avengers" #2. What a great week!
ReplyDeleteI loved the banter between Sharon and Steve. Great stuff. I felt like, in that way, Remender really paid homage to Brubaker by keeping their relationship fun while also serious. He better say yes!