It’s war! And every man stands up to do his duty to serve his country.
What They Say:
As Captain America, Steve Rogers is the inspiration for millions during the dark days of World War Two — but where did he get his inspiration from? How did he meet his best friend, Bucky Barnes? And what set him on the path to becoming the First Avenger?
The Review:
The parallel stories running through this series is an angle that’s tried and true and it works fairly well here to show the two sides to Steve Rogers. The first issue gave us a good look at his youth, seeing the issues with his mother and how he met Bucky and made a lifelong friend that would stand by him. Running that with the story in the Danish Straits gave us a look at who the child would become and to see the things that he was taught as a child having taken firm root in him later on. It’s the basic but sold kind of inspirational material that works and highlights just how much influence a parent has a child, even years after they’ve died and been subjected to many other influences.
The five pages of this eleven page issue are given over to continuing the story in 1944 with Captain America fighting his way through the enemy forces and obstacles. It’s light on dialogue overall and pretty minimal with what it wants to do, but it shows us a mature and capable Cap doing what he does best while leading us to a good tease at the end about where it’ll go next. Where the bulk of the issue goes with dialogue and exposition though is back to December 7th, 1941, where the country learns about the bombing of Pearl Harbor. The call out that the country is at war is quick and fast and men are getting their lives in order if they need to before they enlist. The full knowledge that this is just the start is definitely there as they know that it won’t end with just the Japanese as they’ll have to take down Hitler and Mussolini as well.
In the classic versions of this story, where it really only goes for a few panels, we get an expanded look at what Steve Rogers goes through here. He wants to serve, he feels the need and it’s in his blood with what his own father had gone through. But he’s also aware that he needs help before he can stand up and serve. That help comes from Bucky who spends the next two weeks with him going through some training, which we see paralleled in his fight in 1944 as Cap, but we know how this part of the story plays out. No matter what Steve does, he still can’t serve on the front lines for the military because of his overall weak nature and medical issues that he has. It’s a crushing blow to a young man that wants to do the right thing as he sees all his friends doing it.
Digital Notes:
This issue runs 13 pages, including cover pieces, and has no extras to it. The last page is a rather nice thing to include though, tying to the movie version, as it shows us Hugo Weaving as the Red Skull (in human face form) holding out the Cosmic Cube.
In Summary:
Reading through the second part of this eight part series, I can’t help but wonder just how much this is going to touch on what’s in the movie itself. If these are pieces that aren’t in the movie, which I suspect most of it isn’t, it’s a nice addition to the overall lore but it makes me wonder how much overlap there will be. And it worries me a touch since I don’t want to spoil the movie too much. Which seems somewhat silly considering it’s like saying you don’t want to spoil the origin of Superman or something. Captain America, at least for a comic fan, is simply known. Outside of the comics world, yeah, it’ll be new. Fred Van Lente does a good job here of exploring the time before Steve signed up and various things that were influencing him. It adds a touch more of the human element to him prior to his getting the serum. The pacing of this issue is solid as it moves through the key lead-up times and runs it well with the fighting in ’44. It has me enthused for more but with a touch of wariness to it.
Grade: B
Pubilshed By: Marvel Comics
Pages: 11
MSRP: $0.99
Distribution: ComiXology via iPad
Writer: Fred Van Lente
Artist: Neil Edwards
