Broken Frontier

One of the first comic books I remember picking up when I was a kid was Captain America. If Superman is the standard for the DCU, Cap was undoubtedly the Marvel Universe’s flagship. There was just something so noble about the character that easily attracted me to it. Back then, the Falcon was a co-star on the book and drawn by Jack Kirby.

Over the years, Cap has gone through a lot of changes and creative teams which included John Byrne, Mike Zeck, Mark Waid, John Cassaday and a host of other writers and artists. But through it all, one thing remained the constant – Cap was America embodied. Alright, maybe the last couple of years haven’t been so good to Cap as an inspirational character, but I still believe that the character continues to be a reflection of America’s mood.

However, as much a fan of Cap as I am, the last series was a disappointment for me despite having John Cassaday and John Ney Reiber kick it off. The character had undergone a 360 degree change in terms of behavior and I found him to be a shell of what he used to be. For lack of better words, the new Cap was a whiner and someone who was basically unappealing. Even during his earlier periods of self-doubt which forced him to adapt the Nomad character, he was not this unreadable. Mercifully, that series was cancelled with a new ongoing planned.

While I’ve been familiar with Ed Brubaker’s work with the Bat-books, I had my doubts since the Dark Knight is a darker character than Cap and much different in terms of behavior. With that in mind, I decided to pick up the first issue just to see what Brubaker had in mind. I was pleasantly surprised with what I found.

Perhaps as a nod to Cap being one of the ultimate fighters in the Marvel U, Brubaker has infused him with a reckless and brutal side which we only saw glimpses of in the previous series. Whereas body counts were a foreign concept in previous series, we’re told in the first issue that two terrorists have died as a result of his actions. Furthermore, his attack on an AIM craft in the third issue also smacks of carelessness.

I’m still reconciling myself to this new aspect of Cap taking lives, but on the other hand, it is not wholly unrealistic for something like this not to happen. I just hope that he’s not converted into a Wolverine-type killer who seems to have no compunction about these things. Whether Cap is doing these things on his own or if he’s being manipulated by an unseen hand remains to be seen.

The most noticeable change Brubaker has implemented has been the humanization of Cap. Throughout the first four issues of the book, situations have been shown where the hero is depicted as quite vulnerable and not so immune to normal emotions. During a briefing in the S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarrier for example, Cap is shown to be distracted and not all there after a long day. The various scenes of bickering between Cap and Sharon Carter also show a testy side to the once-unflappable Avenger. I like this change and I hope Brubaker continues to portray him this way.

Part of the success of this new volume is the art of longtime Avengers artist and recent CrossGen castaway Steve Epting. Admittedly, his early work on Avengers in the late 90s didn’t do much for me then. It was only after he took on Crux at CrossGen that I started to notice the evolution of his work. He had smoothed out the rough edges of his work and now has become one of my favorite artists.

His work here is very dynamic and shows his mastery of the action genre. Epting has adapted a cinematic approach to his panels, which makes the visuals on the book quite stunning. But lest he be categorized as just an action-oriented artist, Epting also demonstrates great sensitivity for the more “quiet” scenes in the book, such as Steve and Sharon’s walk along the Seine River in Paris. The creator has developed into one of the best all-around artists in comics.

Furthermore, by inking his own work, Epting controls the atmosphere he wants to set for the various panels and enhances the overall feel of the book.

On a side note, Michael Lark lends some assists in the black and white sequences in the book and is his usually excellent self. It would definitely be interesting to see him work on this book sometime in the future.

Guiding Line: After some time, Captain America has again assumed his role as one of the top characters in the Marvel Universe thanks to Ed Brubaker and Steve Epting. This relaunch has started off with a very compelling storyline which has sustained my interest in the first four issues. Brubaker is on top of his game and Epting is definitely on a roll. Yes, Captain America is back and better than ever.