Customer Reviews

Captain America: The Man with No Face

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Ed Brubaker's prolific run on Captain America continues with The Man With No Face storyarc, which finds good 'ol Bucky getting more comfortable in his new role as Captain America. Keeping his rekindled relationship with Black Widow together while he fights crime and gains some acceptance from the superhero community in this post-Secret Invasion world, Cap learns that some old enemies from his checkered past as the Winter Soldier are lining him up in their sights. This leads to some dynamite action developments, as well as an entertaining team-up with Namor as they scramble to save the legacy of their old World War II comrade, the original Human Torch. While The Man With No Face doesn't reach the same kind of brilliance that Brubaker's Death of Captain America trilogy did, he still manages to weave a thoroughly entertaining and enjoyable ride that is loaded with equal parts action, intelligence, intrigue, and espionage. I really didn't like the idea of a non-Steve Rogers Captain America, but the more that Brubaker fleshes out Bucky, the more I dig it. The artwork from Steve Epting, Luke Ross, and Butch Guice is impressive as well, as all parties involved continue to be what may go down in comic history as being the definitive Captain America team. All in all, if you've been reading Brubaker's run on Captain America, there isn't any reason to stop, and if you haven't read any of his run yet, you are doing yourself quite the disservice. Mainstream superhero comics rarely get better than this.

Ed Brubaker continues his amazing run on Captain America. He makes old villains relevant - Batroc the Leaper is a bad ass. The Man with No Face is a real threat and Professor Chin becomes an important player in the development of the Captain America legend. The story of Bucky / Winter Soldier coming to terms with his transition to Captain America flows without effort and it all seems appropriate. Not an easy feat in the world of comics. Ed has made Bucky so interesting that I don't care if Steve Rogers ever returns from "the dead".

Wow! Who thought that I would have ever typed that. I've said before that Ed Brubaker did the impossible. Not only did he kill off Captain America, but he replaced him with the recently returned from the dead (or so everyone believed) James "Bucky" Barnes. It sounds crazy and it shouldn't work but this trade proves how good it can be. Bucky has so much hidden history since World War I up to the present that there is so much potential. I love it! The art by Steve Epting, Luke Ross, and Butch Guice all complemented the story so well. Overall a really great read with the only drawback being be the less than stellar villains.

Even a mediocre Brubaker Captain America story is better than most other comic books out there, but that doesn't change the fact that these stories are decidedly mediocre. The art suffers from only a brief appearance by Steve Epting, who is the best artist at presenting Brubaker's ideas with the beauty and intensity with which they are written, and a fairly run-of-the-mill superhero story. Bucky spends six issues breaking in his new Captain America costume by fighting someone he once saved as a member of the Invaders and wronged as the Winter Soldier - which is a fine idea, really, but it doesn't work well in execution. The new characters Brubaker creates for the tale are not compelling, although there is a nice moment when the mad scientist dramatically reveals his master plan. And in this arc, the Black Widow is relegated to a role of existing only to keep calling Bucky back to bed unless she's following along two steps behind whatever plan he's working, which is a waste of a character whose schemes and strengths have come through well in earlier volumes of this series. A Brubaker Cap misstep isn't nearly as bad as most other writer-character pairings, but this is certainly a misstep.

Ed Brubaker does a fantastic Job with Captain America. This book is wonderfully drawn and the story is fantastic!

I can say I've really followed Captain America much, but I liked civil war and picked this one up by chance. I found it to be pretty well done. The main story was fair enough, but what I really liked was the characterization of Bucky and his internal conflict. Art was also really nicely done.

Here we have a mad Chinese scientist trying to reduce human population through man- made plagues(and thats the bad guy?)we have The Black Widow when she's by herself and discovers some secret "Caps" hiding from her saying at least three times "dammit Bucky"(I'll stick to "Dammit Jim", thank you very much), seconds clicking off til the explosion of a bomb and then one of those by luck deactivations. By the end its just all too dumb. Good characters, Batrok and Namor especially,decent but not great art, ultimately not worth the bother.