Image Source: Marvel Digital Comics
Ed Brubaker’s Captain America run is a great place for new readers.
Writer: Ed Brubaker
Artists: Steve Epting, Michael Lark, Mike Perkins, Butch Guice, Luke Ross
The biggest misconception about Captain America is that he and his stories are boring. For a while, I believed the same thing. That was until a friend recommended Ed Brubaker’s Captain America run. Reading this run gave me a new appreciation for Captain America. Everything people say about him is wrong. He’s tough, one of the greatest strategists in comic books, and he can kick ten kinds of crap out of anyone who threatens him or the people he loves. There are also layers to who he is. It isn’t always about the American Flag and the Avengers. He has a personal life, and he’s a lot more passionate than you’d think.
This series breaks everything you thought you knew about Captain America and thensome. There are also cameos from Sharon Carter, Falcon, and Nick Fury, who all play crucial roles in this series from start to finish. The villains were devious and their leaders’ plans were so good they barely had to lift a finger. Here are the stories that you should check out if you want to really get into Steve Rogers.
Image Source: Marvel Digital Comics
Winter Soldier
Issues: Captain America vol. 5, 1-9 & 11-14
More from Comics
- X-Men: 6 reasons why Marvel’s mutants are the best superhero team
- Harley Quinn renewed for a fifth season on Max (and it’s well-deserved)
- Marvel Comics announces seven important X-Men comic books
- The X-Men were betrayed by Captain America in Uncanny Avengers
- Spider-Man: Miles and Peter team-up for their first ongoing series
For decades, Bucky was one of maybe three people (Uncle Ben and Gwen Stacy being the other two) to be thought as too sacred to come back to life. Come to find out, he was actually alive this entire time. Bucky was found, after the explosion that was thought to have killed him, revived, had his memory wiped and was in suspended animation until he was needed for a mission. He was a premier assassin for hire and was viewed as an urban legend. When Captain America saw him for the first time, he couldn’t believe it. Despite seeing multiple people come back from the dead, this was still unbelievable.
The story of Bucky coming back was well told. Brubaker spent time getting into what Bucky was doing before he regained his memory and how Steve Rogers found out. Even after Cap used the Cosmic Cube to give Bucky his memories back, there was still more to be told. Bucky isn’t going to be fine with being used. It took awhile for him to come to grips with everything he did while he was brainwashed. However, Bucky did get back to work, trying to redeem himself. The story of redemption was a major part of this run, and it lasted throughout the remainder of series.
Image Source: Marvel Digital Comics
Death and Return of Captain America
Issues: Captain America vol. 5, 25-42
It was a sad day when Steve Rogers was killed. What everyone assumed was a shot from an assassin was really a bullet from Sharon Carter. She was brainwashed and used as the shooter. While all the commotion was going on, she got the kill. Here’s the weird part — Steve Rogers wasn’t really dead. He was trapped in the time stream.
Red Skull’s plan was to come back in the body of Steve Rogers. Everything would have worked out if it wasn’t for Rogers’ will being too strong to take over. Rogers was willing to kill himself if it meant that Red Skull would die too. Red Skull quickly evacuated Rogers’ mind, and Steve Rogers was back. While Steve was gone, Bucky became Captain America. After Rogers came back, he left the mantle with Bucky. This world needed a new Captain America, and he was it.
This entire series flowed perfectly. Brubaker took a character in Steve Rogers that people thought was bland and made him into the force. He broke him down only to build him back up again. When Bucky was the New Captain America, he made the transition look the way it should. Bucky had some bumps in the road, but he had Black WIdow and Falcon to help out.
If you want to know more about Captain America, this is the series to check out, especially since Bucky could and should be the new Captain America in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. This series shows how it happened in depth. Some of the moments won’t happen in a Winter Soldier project, like the fight between Iron Man and Bucky on the S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarrier. Still, it would be cool to see what was changed and what was left in.