Customer Reviews

Captain America Vol. 2: Winter Soldier, Book Two (v. 2)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Ed Brubaker and Steve Epting's WINTER SOLDIER arc for Captain America is as defining for the character of Cap as it is for the agents of SHIELD and for those who believed that certain characters shouldn't come back from the dead. It's a great story with great development and it truly is a great arc.

I just got this in the mail yesterday and I have to say I enjoyed the book. It was equal if not better than Vol. 1. I was curious to finally see the Cap and The Winter Soldier face off and the built the suspense very well. Cap has an excellent cast of characters to surround him in this story. Nick Fury is excellent as usual as is Agent 13 Sharon Carter. Lukin, The Red Skull and The Winter Soldier round out the case as the villians or in the case of The Winter Soldier maybe and maybe not a villian. They tell the origion of The Winter Soldier and I enjoyed that very much. I have no idea why they felt the need to throw The Falcon in there or Iron Man for that matter. They were pretty much throw away characters in this book and I thought thrown in there just to fill pages.

Good book! Check it out!

All Marvel writers were given one simple edict concerning bringing characters back from the dead. That was that only 2 characters were off limits, uncle Ben Parker and Bucky. They had to stay dead. Somehow, Ed Brubaker pulled off a coup by not only bringing back Bucky but making it ultra cool and believable for the medium. Great stuff!

Winter Soldier is some of the best comic book material I have ever read. Volume 1 and 2 of Winter Soldier will make you crave for what's next which is Red Menace vol 1 and 2!! Great stuff people, GREAT stuff!! After those you will have the pleasure of moving on to Captain America Civil War and then the clinchers, The Death of Captain America Vol 1 and Vol 2!!!!! To finish that series off for now it's a must to get "Fallen Son" the Death of Captain America. Trust me, if you get these books in the order that I gave you, you will be in awe of the great writing and art work. It's great for all ages as well. Comic books have come a long way. Instant classic reading!!
JC

The second collected storyarc in Ed Brubaker's relaunched Captain America series is pretty much on par with the first volume. That means, if you enjoyed Brubaker's first collection, you'll dig this as well. However, that also means that if you didn't like Brubaker's first collection, this one won't win you over. Continuing where the first Winter Soldier collection left off, Cap learns that the Winter Soldier is indeed his old, thought long dead partner Bucky; resulting in a face off between the two. Throughout this TPB, there are also appearances from the Falcon, Nick Fury, and a hint in regards to the "death" of the Red Skull. The book is well paced and full of espionage and action, while Steve Epting's artwork is pretty solid as well. All that being said, there's nothing really special about the second volume of Brubaker's run on Captain America, but it's not as bad as some reviewers are making it out to be. Yes, no one in comics stays dead forever (ironic considering Cap himself recently bit the big one), but at least it gets to be moderately entertaining from time to time.

It is not unusual to kill off a comic book character. What is rare is to have the departed one stay dead. DC was successful in killing and reviving Superman and has recently brought both Green Lantern and Green Arrow back from the land of the almost dead. Marvel is giving us a look at their first Captain Marvel again.

One of the few characters who managed to stay dead was Captain America's original partner: James Buchanan Barnes. Aside from a pseudo return in the fifties, Bucky has remained safely frozen in the past. According to artist Mike Perkins, Marvel editors were skeptical about the pitch by writers to revive Bucky, but were convinced by the strength of the proposed storyline.

Winter Soldier is fun to read with the usual Cap elements: Nick Fury, Sharon Carter, WW2 flashbacks, Red Skull with the Falcon thrown in for good measure. The artwork is dark or sepia-toned and blends well with flashback pages. There is the usual Cap soul-searching and shield-slinging. I did find his black ops work a little disturbing as I can remember Cap changing his identity to Nomad when disillusioned over Watergate revelations. In the pages of Winter Soldier, however, he mentions disappointment in the current administration because they are too committed to the rule of law.

However, it is just a comic book and not an editorial. So, regardless of the reader's ideology, if you are a Cap fan, you will enjoy Winter Soldier. If not, this arc is a good way to reconnect with the character and to read the background to Cap's own shuffling off of this mortal coil (at least for a while.)

A fitting end to a great story arc. I was very pleased with the well rounded characterizations and the explanation of the re-emergence of Bucky. After reading Batman "Under The Hood" and being left with a sense of confusion, it was nice to see a nice tight Lazarus story that didn't leave me incredulous. The odd dreamlike quality of the fist novel is somewhat tempered here and to good effect. Cap maintains his ruggedness and avoids the pitfall of becoming overly preachy. The appearance of the Falcon was a nice blast from the past which helped to ground a Steve Rogers who was feeling lost and confused. Iron Man makes an appearance as well that was believable and revealing about the nature of his "real world" limitations. The only part that left me confused was the piece about Crossbones and the duaghter of the Red Skull. I am guessing, or hoping at least, that it becomes resolved in the next installment. Kudos on making me want to read Captain America again!

Without doubt, the writing and artwork on this Cap America is on par with Bendis/Maleev Daredevil. The look and feel is similar, film noir experience with gritty realistic art. So far, Brubaker's storyline is more world oriented, with Cap backed by Shield going all over the globe to combat Lukin's Kronas Corp and the cosmic cube. The best hook is of course the revival of Bucky as the Winter Soldier, the plot being very well-conceived.
The part where the Skull has somehow managed to penetrate Lukin's mind is, of course, due to the cosmic cube. The delicious setup in part two switches focus from Bucky to the Red Skull's daughter and heir, who is brutally "revived" by Crossbones. Very clever cliff-hanger tales.

A fantastic read, I couldn't put the book down.

Finishing up the Winter Soldier story, Cap tries to get to the bottom of this mystery. Another great Ed Brubaker story.