CAPTAIN AMERICA #46
"America Lost, Part II of IV"
Not Recommended (2/10)
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Marvel Comics
Writer/Pencils: Dan Jurgens
Inks: Bob Layton
Colors: Avalon Studios
Letters: Todd Klein
Editor: Bobbie Chase
Price: $2.25 US/$3.50 CAN |
I've always enjoyed Dan Jurgens's pencilling style, and I know that every now and then, he's capable of some strong writing (just check out last year's story of a dying World War II vet in this very title for proof). Sadly, this story is not one of Jurgens's better efforts, and while his artistic collaboration with Bob Layton is crisp, it's surprisingly lacking in background detail.
HYDRA, led by the Red Skull, has salvaged a SHIELD Helicarrier lost underwater, and Cap aims to put a stop to the villain's plans. He infiltrates the submerged behemoth and comes face to face with his old enemy. Meanwhile, Nick Fury sees the fruits of the Skull's fiendish labors, as a charismatic man named Adam Hauser stirs up racial hatred in Louisiana.
There are moments in this story that just make one scratch one's head. Cap has to turn on his sonar to get a bead on the Helicarrier even though he's right on top of it, but when he finally does spot it, it's lit up like a Christmas tree. Cap goes deep-sea diving even when Iron Man is available because Shellhead's better equipped to handle the techie stuff? There's a shocking lack of logic in this script.
Jurgens is a skilled super-hero artist, as is Layton, and their styles mesh well here. I was thoroughly disappointed, though, that many pages have as their backgrounds nothing more than solid colors. Sometimes that approach works to isolate characters in the middle of a scene, but here, it comes off as lazy.
Another problem with the story is that there aren't any real characters with which to connect. Cap is bravery given form, but little else. Nick Fury is the too-tough-to-die warhorse, and little else. Jurgens isn't writing a bad Cap story here, per se, but an antiquated one. This is the Cap of the 1970s and 1980s. It lacks the maturity I expect of 21st Century storytelling.
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