Captain America: The Winter Solider Comic Book Review Part One

Iron Man 3 has just kicked off Marvel Studios’ second phase lead up to Avengers Assemble 2 in grand, box office record-breaking style, so now is a good time to look back over the source material which inspired these films in the first place.

There is no better place is there to start than with Ed Brubaker and Steve Epting’s Captain America: Winter Soldier.

As a symbol of pure Americana during the political turmoil of a post 9/11 landscape, Captain America (Steve Rodgers) had become a difficult, perhaps even controversial character to write. 

On top of this many fans feel the death of teenage sidekick, James Buchanan Barnes is as integral to the foundation of Steve’s character as the deaths of Thomas and Martha Wayne were to Batman’s background story. 

Fortunately, the chiefs at Marvel were able to counter these concerns with the assignment of Ed Brubaker, a writer whose early breakout success, an independently produced book called Lowlife, was a raw and honest reflection on his own life as a petty criminal.

In charge of pencils, we find former graphic designer and University of South Carolina graduate, Steve Epting. Stumbling into the comic industry almost by mistake, Epting worked for both Marvel and DC before heading out into the indie realm. 

On his return to Marvel, he found himself teamed up with Brubaker on what would become a legendary run on the character, including arcs such as Death Of Captain America and the one we’re here to discuss.

The first issue of this arc hits the ground running and never lets up. It opens with a flashback to 1945, with the crew of a Russian submarine being stunned by the contents of an un-encrypted message from the Nazis. 

We then jump forward to the present day (circa 2005), where S.H.I.E.L.D. agents Nick Fury and Sharon Carter are trying to convince the good Captain that a mysterious assassin may in fact be his old friend Bucky, resurrected and brain washed by a rogue Soviet general to commit crimes against America.

And that’s before we even nip back to Steve’s encounter the night before with the MODOC Squad (Military Operative Designed Only for Combat, in case you were wondering…) and that’s just the first ten pages! 

Brubaker and Epting craft an accessible, albeit dense tale, with a cinematic approach to both the writing and art that wears its modern dramatic influences just as proudly as it does in its own multi-decade spanning history.

Moments such as Steve’s volatile reaction to the fate of his best friend, contrasted with Sharon’s cold hearted pragmatism show a more three dimensional approach to the story telling, one that reflects its era’s growing desire for increased maturity within its fiction.

While at the same time introducing enough twists and turns to set up what promises to be a story worthy of the First Avenger and the super-secret, set of spies he associates with.