Winter Soldier #5

Ed Brubaker // Jackson Guice
July 2012
*****

A two-fisted showdown in a rocket silo! Dr. Doom vs. Super-Apes! Not only does this arc give great spyfi action, it turns the villainess into the kind of super-terrorist Latveria would spawn, & a foe worthy of Doom. Guice draws great hand-to-hand, w/ surprising angles & distances adding kineticism.

last issue: Winter Soldier #4
next issue: Winter Soldier #6

also indexed for Jul. ’12
Captain America #11
Captain America #12
The Fantastic Four #605.1
The Fantastic Four #606
FF #18

Winter Soldier #4

Ed Brubaker // Jackson Guice
June 2012
****

An odd team-up of Kirby creations: Bucky Barnes & Dr. Doom prevent a terrorist bombing at the UN! Effectively Bucky Barnes, Agent of SHIELD, this mag is as good as Brubaker has been since Cap Reborn. It looks great too, as Guice has added Steranko layouts & Adams figures to his arsenal.

last issue: Winter Soldier #3
next issue: Winter Soldier #5

also indexed for Jun. ’12
Captain America #10
The Fantastic Four #605
FF #17

Winter Soldier #3

Ed Brubaker // Jackson Guice
May 2012
****

A great match-up: Widow & the Winter Soldier vs. Dr. Doom! Doom wins on his home turf, the Latverian Embassy in NYC. It’s all a sequel to Bendis’ misfire Secret War, a mini that helped pioneer the Marvel vogue for post-9/11 superheroic espionage, a subgenre that this run epitomizes.

last issue: Winter Soldier #2
next issue: Winter Soldier #4

also indexed for May ’12
Avengers: The Children’s Crusade #9 of 9
Captain America #9
Captain America & Bucky #628
The Fantastic Four #604
FF #16

Winter Soldier #2

Ed Brubaker // Jackson Guice
late April 2012
****

Not content to continue the run’s Bourne-like action, this first arc pits our hero against a Commie gorilla with a jetpack & AK-47! It’s a ’60s Soviet hench-ape! But #2’s real story is Guice, adding maturity of layout to the Maleev photoref style. It’s gorgeous (except for his rubber-limbed Widow).

last issue: Winter Soldier #1
next issue: Winter Soldier #3

also indexed for Apr. ’12
Captain America #8
Captain America & Bucky #627
The Fantastic Four #603
FF #15
Winter Soldier #1

Winter Soldier #1

Ed Brubaker // Jackson Guice
early April 2012
****

Bucky finally gets his solo mag, hunting Soviet cryotube killers w/ GF Black Widow. I wouldn’t want to delete Buck’s tenure as Cap but this is what the character’s meant for: a throwback to Cold War superspy stuff rather than the watered-down War on Terror espionage of the concurrent Cap run.

continued from Fear Itself: Captain America #7.1
next issue: Winter Soldier #2

also indexed for Apr. ’12
Captain America #8
Captain America & Bucky #627
The Fantastic Four #604
FF #15
Winter Soldier #2

The Avengers #12

Stan Lee // Don Heck
January 1965
**
A standard superteam adventure, as the Avengers take on a megalomaniac & his doomsday device. The villain’s not even new, he’s on loan from the Fantastic Four: a subterranean tyrant & his pale yellow horde. The underground setting, at least, allows Ant-Man to prove he’s not the team’s fifth wheel.
[last issue: The Avengers #11]
[next issue: The Avengers #13]

The Fantastic Four #29

Stan Lee // Jack Kirby
August 1964
****

A snappy reprise of FF‘s lunar face-off against a Soviet scientist & his superpowered apes. Like a lot of FF issues over the last year, #29 consolidates rather than innovates. But Kirby’s catching fire: here, inspired by the cosmic vistas of the Watcher, he dabbles in photo-collage & op art.

last issue: The Fantastic Four #28
next issue: The Fantastic Four #30

also indexed for Aug. ’64
The Amazing Spider-Man #15
The Avengers #7
Daredevil #3
Journey into Mystery #107
Strange Tales #123: Dr. Strange

The Fantastic Four #13

Stan Lee // Jack Kirby
April 1963
*****

The quartet rocket to the moon to face a Red scientist & his super-apes! Lee’s banter is fizzy fun, while Kirby (inked by Ditko!) takes the first steps in the ‘cosmic’ sub-genre with the Watcher, an ageless being beyond human ken. He also dreams up his first fantastic Kirbytech cityscape!

last issue: The Fantastic Four #12
next issue: The Fantastic Four #14

also indexed for Apr. ’63
Journey into Mystery #91: Thor
Tales of Suspense #40: Iron Man