In a disappointing turn of events, Captain America #2 has the series already running late. While it is running late, the good news is that it's excellent, and well worth the wait. Michael Lark joins the series to provide newsreel-esque flashbacks to Cap's World War II days, Epting gives the modern stuff a realistic yet flashy look and Brubaker has brought his noir sensibilities to Cap without turning the character into a grim and gritty cliche. I'm usually against adding too much realism to these characters, because if you go too far in that direction you get either boring or needlessly destructive, but the Brubaker does some great stuff here with more realistic forensics and gunplay that fits right in with Cap's "street level" powers. For years now, writers have been pitching their Captain America as more "Tom Clancy," but Brubaker seems to have finally gotten that approach right.
Honestly, I'm kind of surprised to be enjoying the book this much. While I love the character of Captain America, I have very specific ideas of what I want to see in the book, and very few writers have nailed that. My general feeling is also that both Brubaker and Lark would be better suited to other books rather than being "wasted" on 60-year-old superheroes. However, every one of these creators is proving to be a perfect fit for the book, and they're presenting a Cap that is undeniably new and yet still resonates with fans like me, who love the old school stuff from Gruenwald, Stern and Englehart.
This blend of traditional superheroics and a newer, espionage-flavored style is the key to the success of the books. The familiar aspects of the book are here, including flashbacks to Cap and Bucky, modern-day action alongside SHIELD Agent 13 and the Cosmic Cube, but the approach is very different. Certainly the death of the Red Skull and the way it's being handled is a fascinating story element, as Brubaker has Cap completely convinced it's another fakeout (playing nicely into reader expectations as well), even as SHIELD suspects him of being involved thanks to his erratic behavior of late. Both of these aspects of the story pay off elements introduced in issue one as well as just making for good drama, and I like that Brubaker plays Cap's reaction to Skull's death straight rather than making light of the revolving door of death the way so many writers do. It's akin to what Joss Whedon did with Colossus, acknowledging the problem of impermanent death without making the death or return meaningless.
While I really dug the character-based elements of the story, however, I'm also pleased that Brubaker and company provide some action in this issue. The firefight in the tunnels does the same job that the elevated train sequence did in the first issue, making gun-toting thugs seem like a threat without making Cap any less ineffectual against them. Epting and D'Armata really convey the claustrophobic setting and the speed and power of the gunfire, and I was reminded more than anything else of some of the cooler action sequences from first season 24. Just as Brubaker blends reality and fantasy elements in a perfect blend in the story, Epting blends realistic clothing and backdrops with a more exaggerated, active flow in his artwork. Despite liking Lark's artwork, I was a little wary of having him replace Epting on some of the pages, but he is also perfect for this book, with the graytoned pages really looking like old film reels of World War II and perfectly setting the tone for those sequences.
Brubaker also gets major points from me for using a Gruenwald-era Red Skull henchman, and for showing on the last few pages that though the Skull may be dead, his threat isn't over. Clearly the story is going to revolve to some degree about the renegade Russian spy who now has the cosmic cube, but the Skull's terrorist plot remains a threat as well. By mixing in modern-day elements (terrorist tactics instead of mad scientist tactics, forensic science rather than super-powered detective work) and superhero elements (costumes and costumed villains rather than generic soldiers), Brubaker and company have delivered the Captain America that Marvel Knights promised us, ironically right after the book left that imprint. 10/10
