Ed Brubaker // Jackson Guice
March 2013
***
A KGB superspy wipes love for Bucky from Black Widow’s memory. Brubaker erases this character’s past way too tidily (see also Agent 13’s pregnancy), and focuses on his hero’s wound. It’s the Widow who’s been attacked! That leaves a bad taste, but it’s not the first long run to end in mediocrity.
last issue: Winter Soldier #13
next issue: Winter Soldier #15
also indexed for Mar. ’13
Ed Brubaker // Jackson Guice
February 2013
***
Ed B nods to his other major Marvel run, pitting brainwashed Bucky against his kidnapped GF’s ex, Daredevil. It’s no character piece, nor is it particularly well-staged; just a rainy nighttime NYC fight with Wolverine, Hawkeye, & Cap jumping in. At least they all chew Bucky out for his stupidity.
last issue: Winter Soldier #12
next issue: Winter Soldier #14
also indexed for Feb. ’13
Ed Brubaker // Jackson Guice
January 2013
***
Bucky agrees to revert to his Soviet self and execute a mission for the superspy who’s kidnapped his GF. Our hero’s taken impulsive actions before, so at least it’s in character—but it’s astonishingly stupid. Brubaker has one foot out the door, and Guice, no longer inking himself, is looking ragged.
last issue: Winter Soldier #11
next issue: Winter Soldier #13
also indexed for Jan. ’13
Ed Brubaker // Steve Epting
late December 2012
***
Seven years after #1, Epting returns to pencil Brubaker’s final issue of Cap (tho’ the run wraps in Winter Soldier). It’s a montage/monologue of the hero’s career, focusing again on Cap’s symbolic burden. More compelling is an reprise of the action sequence v. terrorists atop an outerboro subway.
also indexed for Dec. ’12
Captain America #18
The Fantastic Four #611
FF #23
Winter Soldier #11
Ed Brubaker // Jackson Guice
December 2012
***
One drawback to Guice’s robust approach to superspy adventure is that it compunds one of Bru’s flaws. Their men have only a small range of emotion, mostly centered on machismo. It means that character dynamics are undercooked, even tho’ the point of #11 is to team Bucky up with fan fave Hawkeye.
last issue: Winter Soldier #11
next issue: Winter Soldier #13
also indexed for Dec. ’12
Captain America #18
Captain America #19
The Fantastic Four #611
FF #23
Ed Brubaker with Cullen Bunn // Scot Eaton
early December 2012
**
A 3-pronged action climax set in a space base, a rioting city, & an airborne villain’s lair. Yet it’s dense w/ clichéd plots, skipped story beats & fudged explanations—it’s barely passable as super-comics. Eaton adds to the generic quality with 4-panel pages & a style 15 years out of date.
last issue: Captain America #17
next issue: Captain America #19
also indexed for Dec. ’12
Captain America #19
The Fantastic Four #611
FF #23
Winter Soldier #11
Ed Brubaker with Cullen Bunn // Scot Eaton
November 2012
**
To attack Cap’s confidence, terrorists cause riots—the sort of cart-before-horse plotting that makes villains super-ridiculous. But Brubaker’s always cast his hero as a neurotic Atlas struggling w/ his symbolic burden. More interesting is the cover’s bout, which establishes a Zemo/Agent 13 rivalry.
last issue: Captain America #16
next issue: Captain America #18
also indexed for Nov. ’12
The Fantastic Four #610
FF #22
Winter Soldier #10
Ed Brubaker // Jackson Guice
November 2012
****
Black Widow has been kidnapped & mind-raped; regressed to her Soviet self (well, a 21C version of it); killed a longtime SHIELD agent, & had all memory of her romance with Our Hero erased. It’s all to torture Bucky emotionally, natch. But Guice’s art looks retro & contemporary all at once.
last issue: Winter Soldier #9
next issue: Winter Soldier #11
also indexed for Nov. ’12
Captain America #17
The Fantastic Four #610
FF #22
Ed Brubaker & Cullen Bunn // Scot Eaton
October 2012
***
People are rioting in DC, influenced by a brain-ray carried via right-wing cable-TV. The hypnosis pattern is groovy op-art! An old plot device gets updated with smartphone screens, & it fits Brubaker’s obsession w/ mind control well. Less convincing is this comic’s widescreen destruction.
last issue: Captain America #15
next issue: Captain America #17
also indexed for Oct. ’12
The Fantastic Four #609
FF #21
Winter Soldier #9
Ed Brubaker // Michael Lark
October 2012
****
Visually this arc matches the best of the run. Lark stages the SHIELD shutdown of a Lincoln Center ballet with urgency and clarity. Brubaker’s plot twist, however, doubles down on the Black Widow’s psychological violation. Brainwashed, she fakes lucidity till she’s on the helicarrier, then attacks.
last issue: Winter Soldier #8
next issue: Winter Soldier #10
also indexed for Oct. ’12
Captain America #16
The Fantastic Four #609
FF #21
Ed Brubaker & Cullen Bunn // Scot Eaton
late September 2012
**
After evil supergoons devastate Times Sq, a Glenn Beck parody attacks Cap’s rep. Behind both plots is a villainous scheme to <yawn> emotionally wreck our hero. Eaton fills his page count, & Brubaker has one foot out the door, so who’s to blame for some terrible work in an opening battle scene?
last issue: Captain America #14
next issue: Captain America #16
also indexed for Sept. ’12
Captain America #14
The Fantastic Four #608
FF #20
Winter Soldier #8
Ed Brubaker // Michael Lark
September 2012
****
Brubaker has made Nat Romanov formidable in her own right, so why’s he casting her as the damsel-in-distress here? She’s made into a pawn in a duel btw Bucky & an ex-KGB sleeper agent. It’s perilously close to fridging: she’s not just another brainwashed character in the run, she’s a violated woman.
last issue: Winter Soldier #7
next issue: Winter Soldier #9
also indexed for Sept. ’12
Captain America #14
Captain America #15
The Fantastic Four #608
FF #20
Ed Brubaker // Patrick Zircher
early September 2012
***
D-Man (a sidekick from Gruenwald’s long run) gets killed after his brainwashed turn as Scourge (a Gruenwald vigilante ID). This somehow ties into HYDRA’s claim that Cap’s lost the soul of America. But that’s the Achilles Heel of Bru’s run: his Steve R. is long on self-doubt but short on specifics.
last issue: Captain America #13
next issue: Captain America #15
also indexed for Sept. ’12
Captain America #15
The Fantastic Four #608
FF #20
Winter Soldier #8
Ed Brubaker // Michael Lark
late August 2012
*****
Lark stages an exceptional action sequence—a high-octane firefight on motorcycle & camper van—but also some narrative flashbacks that are artfully quiet. Note also how realistically Brubaker directs the action as a mission op, recalling the excellent indie Queen & Country as much as, say, Bourne.
last issue: Winter Soldier #6
next issue: Winter Soldier #8
also indexed for Aug. ’12
Captain America #13
The Fantastic Four #607
FF #19
Winter Soldier #6
Ed Brubaker // Patrick Zircher
August 2012
***
More adventures in the post-9/11 era, with a firefight in LGA, a spy snagged in DC. It’s solid, but the status quo since Cap’s return lacks the apocalyptic momentum of the this run’s start. Plus I’d like to see it move from the Bush era to the Obama: drone strikes abroad, vigilante racism at home.
last issue: Captain America #12
next issue: Captain America #14
also indexed for Aug. ’12
The Fantastic Four #607
FF #19
Winter Soldier #6
Winter Soldier #7
Ed Brubaker // Michael Lark
early August 2012
****
My favorite of Brubaker’s artists takes a curtain call with this late-run arc about a KGB cryo-tube agent, an obvious foil for the title hero (he even kills an ex-Bucky!). Bru’s brought back to his hard-boiled, realistic side; take a sec to note how smoothy he shifts from last arc’s Doom & Apes!
last issue: Winter Soldier #5
next issue: Winter Soldier #7
also indexed for Aug. ’12
Captain America #13
The Fantastic Four #607
FF #19
Winter Soldier #7
Ed Brubaker // Patrick Zircher
late July 2012
***
HYDRA has added a brainwash case to this run’s long list: Henry Peter Gyrich, who’s aiming to expose SHIELD’s witness protection program while killing its beneficiaries. Cap v. 6 (?!) is what Secret Avs could’ve been: spyfi adventure, Steve Rogers & SHIELD v. terrorist cells & political superspies.
last issue: Captain America #11
next issue: Captain America #13
also indexed for Jul. ’12
Captain America #11
The Fantastic Four #605.1
The Fantastic Four #606
FF #18
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
Ed Brubaker // Patrick Zircher
early July 2012
***
Someone’s hunting informants and exposing terrorist agents. It’s an ’80s vigilante, nicknamed Scourge, getting a ’10s update from Ed B! The violent spyfi art marks a return to form after slicksters McNiven & Davis. The bullpen’s sent out Zircher, a journeyman drawing in the Bat-mode of Michael Lark.
last issue: Captain America #11
next issue: Captain America #13
also indexed for Jul. ’12
Captain America #12
The Fantastic Four #605.1
The Fantastic Four #606
FF #18
Winter Soldier #5
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
Ed Brubaker // Alan Davis
June 2012
**
Riots in Harlem, stoked by terrorists & led by a mind-zapped Falcon. Is Brubaker taking up the old (white) American fear of race war? It’s an allusion to Kirby but still smells dodgy. Best to set that aside; enjoy Davis’ skill with facial expressions & the way Agent 13 outwits Machinesmith.
last issue: Captain America #9
next issue: Captain America #11
also indexed for Jun. ’12
The Fantastic Four #605
FF #17
Winter Soldier #4
Ed Brubaker with James Asmus // Francisco Francavilla
May 2012
***
Androids amuck! #628 reads like a fill-in, a waste of Francavilla’s manifest talents. Moody, rough art & three-tone color lends #625-9 a pulpy atmosphere—imagine if he’d done Marvels Project! He does the glowing-ember physique of the Human Torch better than anyone since its inventor, C. Burgos.
last issue: Captain America & Bucky #627
next issue: Captain America & Hawkeye #629
also indexed for May ’12
Avengers: The Children’s Crusade #9 of 9
Captain America #9
The Fantastic Four #604
FF #16
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
Ed Brubaker // Alan Davis
May 2012
***
Agent 13 negotiates with Machinesmith, a devious AI w/ intel on her BF’s power loss, & she proves how badass she is. Davis pencils an acrobatic laser battle, tho’ SF isn’t his best mode. In fact, great as he is, tonally he’s a huge deviation from this 100+ issue run of hard, cinematic spy-fi.
last issue: Captain America #8
next issue: Captain America #10
also indexed for May ’12
Avengers: The Children’s Crusade #9 of 9
Captain America & Bucky #628
The Fantastic Four #604
FF #16
Winter Soldier #3
Ed Brubaker with James Asmus // Francisco Francavilla
April 2012
****
An old trope of this Cap run resurfaces: the Manchurian Candidate, here a sleeper cell of unwitting androids in the DoD itself! The puppeteer is an Ultron knockoff who killed a post-war double of Cap. It’s frightfully generic but Francav draws a great face-off btw the robot & its ‘brother’, the WW2 Torch.
last issue: Captain America & Bucky #626
next issue: Captain America & Bucky #628
also indexed for Apr. ’12
Captain America #8
The Fantastic Four #603
FF #15
Winter Soldier #1
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
Ed Brubaker // Alan Davis
April 2012
***
Cap’s super-physique keeps reverting to 98-lb. weakling. Behind the change is a murderer’s row of enemies: a HYDRA Queen of Dreams & her WW2 supersoldier flame (Bru’s recent creations), archenemy Baron Zemo, a late-Kirby WMD, Gruenwald’s Serpent Squad, even an AI created by Byrne/Stern!
last issue: Captain America #7
next issue: Captain America #9
also indexed for Apr. ’12
Captain America & Bucky #627
The Fantastic Four #603
FF #15
Winter Soldier #1
Winter Soldier #2
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
Ed Brubaker with James Asmus // Francisco Francavilla
March 2012
***
A killer android, ‘brother’ to the 1940s Torch, reactivates to attack Cap. It reiterates this run’s theme of the living past & legacy, but the writing (Asmus gets co-credit) is formulaic. And oh, Francavilla! Shaky, hand-drawn lines & a unique aesthetic make him unlike any other artist on the run.
last issue: Captain America & Bucky #625
next issue: Captain America & Bucky #627
also indexed for Mar. ’12
Captain America #7
The Fantastic Four #602
FF #14
Ed Brubaker // Alan Davis
March 2012
***
Brubaker has fashioned a new ongoing arc for his A-title, scotching the conspiracy plot of Secret Avs. Fans of Gruenwald’s era will love it; I’m happy to see a classic bit of Kirbytech that causes riots. But it’s all super-plot, less compelling than the political spy-fi of 7 (!) years ago.
last issue: Captain America #6
next issue: Captain America #8
also indexed for Mar. ’12
Captain America & Bucky #626
The Fantastic Four #602
FF #14
Ed Brubaker // Alan Davis
late February 2012
***
Editorial trades up on artists, ditching McNiven for master Davis. His cartoon-like variation on Neal Adams fits the mag’s mission, which is to take a neo-classical (hackneyed?) approach. The continuing plot—a new HYDRA cell wants to depower Cap—develops as background to some costumed superheroics.
last issue: Captain America #5
next issue: Captain America #7
also indexed for Feb. ’12
Annihilators: Earthfall #4 of 4
Avengers: The Children’s Crusade #8 of 9
Captain America #5
Captain America & Bucky #625
The Fantastic Four #601
FF #13
Ed Brubaker with James Asmus // Francisco Francavilla
February 2012
***
Cap visits the ‘second’ Bucky, which reopens an old case from the Truman era. Brubaker seems to be emptying his notebook, here revisiting a (very) minor set of Roy Thomas retcons. It’d be perfectly forgettable except for Francavilla—who may steal ‘best artist of the run’ from last arc’s Samnee.
last issue: Captain America & Bucky #624
next issue: Captain America & Bucky #626
also indexed for Feb. ’12
Annihilators: Earthfall #4 of 4
Avengers: The Children’s Crusade #8 of 9
Captain America #5
Captain America #6
The Fantastic Four #601
FF #13
Ed Brubaker // Steve McNiven & Guiseppe Camuncoli
early February 2012
***
There’s a good concept here (a revived New Dealer accuses Cap of failing their ideals) but the point gets obscured. Partly that’s McN’s fault—he turns the foe into a ranter. He can’t even go 5 issues without a delay & assist! But frankly this arc’s longer on 4-color action than ideas or craft.
last issue: Captain America #4
next issue: Captain America #6
also indexed for Feb. ’12
Annihilators: Earthfall #4 of 4
Avengers: The Children’s Crusade #8 of 9
Captain America #6
Captain America & Bucky #625
The Fantastic Four #601
FF #13
Ed Brubaker // Steve McNiven
January 2012
***
Cap’s trapped in a dreamscape while his pals fight the terrorists who put him there. I do like the idealistic scheme of a fellow man-out-of-time to replace 21C America with the ’38 World’s Fair. Otherwise it’s standard stuff for both the run & the title generally, & McN’s art is pretty but plastic.
last issue: Captain America #3
next issue: Captain America #5
also indexed for Jan. ’12
Annihilators: Earthfall #3 of 4
Captain America & Bucky #624
The Fantastic Four #600
Fear Itself: Captain America #7.1
FF #12
Ed Brubaker with Marc Andreyko // Chris Samnee
January 2012
***
Cold War espionage rounds out The Secret Origin of Bucky Barnes. Plus a bit of sentiment as he visits his elderly sister in a nursing home. So let’s applaud this creative crew! Andr. has nailed the period’s idiom (he’s better than Bru), & Samnee does it all: A+ layout, acting, drama, pacing, & atmo.
last issue: Captain America & Bucky #623
next issue: Captain America & Bucky #625
also indexed for Jan. ’12
Annihilators: Earthfall #3 of 4
Captain America #4
The Fantastic Four #600
Fear Itself: Captain America #7.1
FF #12
Ed Brubaker // Jackson Guice
January 2012
****
EB got to conclude Civil War in his mag, & here’s the trade-off: another event mini, Fear Itself, hosts the fatal confrontation btw his creations Bucky & Sin. Fair? Maybe, but it’s bad storytelling. So Bru plays a trump: a dose of SHIELD’s secret serum revives Buck (again).
continued from Fear Itself #7 of 7
continued in Winter Soldier #1
also indexed for Jan. ’12
Annihilators: Earthfall #3 of 4
Captain America #4
Captain America & Bucky #624
Fantastic Four #600
FF #12
Ed Brubaker with Marc Andreyko // Chris Samnee
December 2011
*****
Sidekicks Bucky & Toro discover the awful fact of the Nazi death camps. The creators produce a bona fide war comic for mainstream Marvel. Nothing profound, just bearing witness to the human horror of war. But it’s a problem beyond the superheroes’ range, so #624 ends w/ Cap & Buck’s exit from WW2.
last issue: Captain America & Bucky #622
next issue: Captain America & Bucky #624
also indexed for Dec. ’11
Annihilators: Earthfall #2 of 4
FF #10
FF #11
Ed Brubaker with Marc Andreyko // Chris Samnee
November 2011
****
The monthly flashback to WW2 continues with an Invaders mission. But what’s clever is how it doubles as Brubaker’s Bucky: Year One. The parallel is esp acute due to Samnee’s aesthetic: a post-Mazzucchelli one, like M. Lark’s but with more elan, perfect for what’s effectively an all-ages comic (shh!).
last issue: Captain America & Bucky #621
next issue: Captain America & Bucky #623
also indexed for Nov. ’11
Annihilators: Earthfall #1 of 4
Avengers: The Children’s Crusade #7 of 9
Captain America #3
FF #9
Ed Brubaker // Steve McNiven
November 2011
***
One of my favorite facets of Brubaker’s run has been Cap & co Cap & co sparring with giant robots. Here he fights a house-sized double (AKA Ameridroid)! McNiven never quite gives readers the payoff shot (Steve Rogers as Fay Wray) but he’s adopted a cartoony note since CW, paralleling Marvel’s house style.
last issue: Captain America #2
next issue: Captain America #4
also indexed for Nov. ’11
Annihilators: Earthfall #1 of 4
Avengers: The Children’s Crusade #7 of 9
Captain America & Bucky #622
FF #9
Ed Brubaker with Marc Andreyko // Chris Samnee
October 2011
****
Eager to enter the war, Bucky helps Cap fight a circus train of Nazi terrorists! The creators have ample precedent for WW2 adventures, but Cap/Buck is more Kirby/Simon than Kirby/Lee. The circus is a classic Golden Age setting, & a WMD threat updates ’40s evildoers for post-9/11 readers.
last issue: Captain America & Bucky #620
next issue: Captain America & Bucky #622
also indexed for Oct. ’11
Captain America #2
FF #8
Ed Brubaker // Steve McNiven
October 2011
****
A WW2 platoon, long MIA in dreamspace, resurfaces as a HYDRA terrorist cell! As a variation on Cap‘s man-out-of-time archetype it’s fairly mind-blowing. And it has the bonus of Bru’s theme of mind & neurosis. Unexpectedly, McNiv integrates the surrealism with his cinematic realism quite well.
last issue: Captain America #1
next issue: Captain America #3
also indexed for Oct. ’11
Captain America & Bucky #621
FF #8
Ed Brubaker with Marc Andreyko // Chris Samnee
September 2011
****
As Disney revises its IP to match its hit movie, it re-assigns Bucky for team-up assignment back in WW2. The first ish is Brubaker’s chance to lay out his creation’s retconned origin as a GI orphan & roustabout who’s combat-trained as Cap’s sidekick. Worth it for Samnee’s evocation of the era.
last issue: Captain America #619
next issue: Captain America & Bucky #621
Ed Brubaker // Steve McNiven
September 2011
****
Marvel gives Cap a new #1 for his red-carpet rollout, & snaps his status quo back 5 years—pre-Civil War! Brubaker doesn’t break stride, writing an ish that could’ve been v. 5 #22. The funeral of Cap’s WW2 flame produces yet another retconned superspy from the Nazi era: Peggy Carter’s jilted lover.
continued from Captain America #619
next issue: Captain America #2
also indexed for Sept. ’11
Captain America & Bucky #620
FF #6
FF #7
Ed Brubaker // Mitch Breitweiser, Jackson Guice, & Chris Samnee
August 2011
***
Proving a worse spymaster than Nick Fury, Cap edges back towards status quo ante. Bucky, however, gets a new mission, going rogue to catch KGB sleeper agents. And Black Widow brazenly rescues him from a gulag—behavior that finally proves (to me) that she’s a romantically plausible partner for Bucky.
continued in Captain America #1
continued in Fear Itself #1 of 7
last issue: Captain America #618
next issue: Captain America & Bucky #620
also indexed for Aug. ’11
Annihilators #4 of 4
Avengers: The Children’s Crusade #6 of 9
FF #5
Ed Brubaker // Jackson Guice & Chris Samnee
July 2011
****
Bucky continues to dominate this run, even as he’s shifted back to sidekick. Guilt-soaked dream montages delve into his Winter Soldier psyche & hint at KGB backstory. Samnee pencil-&-inks a dynamic spies-in-catsuits subplot. He’s in the retro school, w/ simple lines & expressive faces.
last issue: Captain America #617
next issue: Captain America #619
also indexed for Jul. ’11
Annihilators #3 of 4
FF #3
FF #4
Ed Brubaker // Mike Deodato, Jackson Guice, & Chris Samnee
June 2011
***
A triptych of plots to spring Bucky from a gulag, where he’s pitted against ex-Soviet super-agents in death matches. Guice gives his plot a superb sense of place & atmo, while Samnee’s pages look snazzy. In that, Steve Rogers works w/ DC pols in a realistic cloak’n’dagger plot—till robots attack!
also indexed for Jun. ’11
Annihilators #2 of 4
Avengers: The Children’s Crusade #5 of 9
FF #2
Secret Avengers #12
Ed Brubaker // Will Conrad with Mike Deodato
June 2011
**
Bru, foreshadowing his Fatale in 2012, unmasks the mag’s villains as a Lovecraft cult. He also links them to John Steele, a creation in the same pulp mode as his Iron Fist. But #12 will be his Secret Av swansong. No great loss, but it’s notable how he abandons it mid-plot. Editorial conflicts?
last issue: Secret Avengers #11
next issue: Secret Avengers #13
also indexed for Jun. ’11
Annihilators #2 of 4
Avengers: The Children’s Crusade #5 of 9
Captain America #617
FF #2
A-story: Ed Brubaker // Ed McGuinness
B-story: Ed Brubaker // Mike Deodato
C-story: Howard Chaykin
D-story: Cullen Bunn // Jason Latour
E-story: Mike Benson // Paul Grist
F-story: Frank Tieri // Paul Azaceta
G-Story: Kyle Higgins & Alec Siegel // Pepe Larraz
May 2011
A-story: ***
B-story: ***
C-story: ****
D-story: ****
E-story: **
F-story: ***
G-Story: ***
Double-sized to celebrate Cap’s debut in May ’41. True Cap gets the A-plot, New Cap gets the B. Narrative gravity starts to pull Rogers back into action, Bru’s chance to indulge a Batman brood. The tone clashes w/ McGuinness’ helium style. Deodato’s noirish shadows fit Bucky’s tale better, tho’ his he-man physiques grate. The non-Brubaker back-ups are good too, esp. a Chaykin period piece!
last issue: Captain America #615.1
next issue: Captain America #617
also indexed for May ’11
Annihilators #1 of 4
Avengers: The Children’s Crusade: Young Avengers #1 of 1
Captain America #615.1
FF #1
Secret Avengers #10
Ed Brubaker // Mitch Breitweiser
May 2011
****
The strongest single issue of Steve Rogers, Director of SHIELD, delivering superspy adventure w/ high SF concepts. A rookie nearly dies trying to be Captain America; the twist is, he & the real Cap have been set up by Nick Fury. The plot echoes Englehart’s classic run, but its soul is ’60s cool.
last issue: Captain America #615
next issue: Captain America #616
also indexed for May ’11
Annihilators #1 of 4
Avengers: The Children’s Crusade: Young Avengers #1 of 1
Captain America #616
FF #1
Secret Avengers #10
Ed Brubaker // Will Conrad
May 2011
**
It’s not the first time Steve Rogers has gone spelunking in minds & memories, even in this run. But here the psychic terrain’s too literal—not warped, surprising, or surreal. An influence, perhaps of Inception‘s dull dreamscapes? The target is John Steele, a pulp character with a Lovecraft secret.
last issue: Secret Avengers #10
next issue: Secret Avengers #12
also indexed for May ’11
Annihilators #1 of 4
Avengers: The Children’s Crusade: Young Avengers #1 of 1
Captain America #615.1
Captain America #616
FF #1
Index Indigo 