How could this have been better? This is a great issue in a fantastic limited series retelling the origins of the Marvel Universe in the buildup to WWII. Quite frankly, it ranks with the best of Steve Epting’s work. Those who have read my prior reviews know that I think the world of Epting – I feel that he is the best Captain America artist in decades, and perhaps to date. Somehow, Epting has learned from Brubaker’s other collaborators (largely Shawn Phillips) about how to ramp up the noirish aspects of his work, but has maintained the semi-hopeful realism of his Cap work that owes more to Edward Hopper than to comic artists. In this issue, the night scenes evoked an old New York that I wish I had experienced first hand.

The narrative of this book was equally terrific. This issue focused more on the Super-Soldier project than previous issues. However, it is not, as some have alleged, another re-telling of the Captain America origin story. Rather, the story weaves familiar characters like Namor, less familiar characters like the Angel, who serves as a narrator for much of the issue, and unfamiliar but interesting characters like the Ferret. The language is terrific, but it doesn’t fall into the hokey ’40’s conventions, like “look at the gams on that tall drink of water” or “you’re all aces, baby”. Just great dialogue.