Captain America #37

Can Brubaker and colleagues do no wrong? It appears so.

This issue features everything I love about the Brubaker Captain America. Storytelling flips back and forth between Bucky's adventures (a bit tame this time) and Sharon's travails as a captive of the Red Skull's minions. Even without a single real action scene, there is not a boring moment. But maybe the highlight of this issue is the return of both The Falcon and Clint Barton. Both are concerned that Bucky is not up to the job of upholding Cap's ideals. Clint reacts by physically attacking Bucky (bad idea); Sam reacts by challenging Tony Stark. Both scene are superb, with a requisite mix of drama and humor.

As predicted by last month's cliffhanger, Sharon has found the Steve Rogers lookalike she discovered in the prior issue. We still don't know whether this is a clone or some other synthetic version of Steve, but we do know that it figures in the Red Skull's nefarious plans. And nefarious they are! The Skull plans no more than the destruction of America from within. He is running a candidate in the presidential election, using his private security forces to seemingly defend America's cities, and manipulating her economy. That son of a bitch! As a paean to the Skull's evil, the first few pages of this issue show a flashback to the liberation of France. The Skull is present, watching intently as he broods. As he states to an unknown woman, "I am studying my enemy in their glory...and I never want to forget this sight.". The Skull is full of hatred, and it is carrying him through this story arc. This is scary, because it could very well be the way they get us. (And yes, I do get the analogy to the Star Wars Republic to Empire transition. I just get more creeped out when the bad guys are attacking the U.S. rather than Coruscant).

So it's great, right? Yes, it's great. Better yet, I didn't even mention the best part until now. The art is awesome. It is almost impossible to imagine better comic art. Not every artist can pull off the painted realism technique, especially for a superhero book. Here, Steve Epting hits this style squarely on the head. The Red Skull's scary visage is rivaled only by the Cap and Bucky dream sequence. And Epting gets each character he draws. Maybe Sharon's ass is a little too perfect, and maybe the Falcon is a bit too linebacker-like, but who cares? It is incredibly easy to tell who's who, who's happy, who's sad, who's creepy, and who's really creepy. And who would have thought that I would kvell over the colors? Not I, but Frank D'Armata's choices are dead on. The subtle difference between the slight drab with decreased saturation for the WWII flashback and the subsequent modern day panels is great. Better still is the way Tony Stark looks with the corny Japanese motif in his office - witness his shaded face with the red Rising Sun behind him, only to fall back to Bucky's training at what must be Cap's Brooklyn flat. Neato.

In summary, this is a great book. It may not win a book of the week once again, but only because it's graded on such a steep curve. It is hard to find a standout book when the consistency is this high. Yet, this is the superstar - an issue with almost no physical action, merging plot lines, flashbacks, and dream sequences. Who knew?