This book is a good read. What Mark Waid does in this trade is similar to what Alan Moore did for Swamp Thing. He managed to change the direction of the book without altering the core character (it's true that Waid lacks some of the finesse that Moore has but if we compared everyone to Alan Moore than our selection would look pretty drab).
Captain America before this point was sucking. He was feeble, living in an Iron Man style suit, everytime he used his power he was slowly killing himself. In several pages, Waid turns this all around and brings back the Cap we all know and love, the super soldier with the can do spirit.
We also get the Red Skull and the mysterious return of Sharon Carter, yet another time when Waid's extensive knowledge of a character's history has managed to bring back long forgotten story elements to weave back into modern continuity.
Waid was born to write Captain America just as Garney was born to draw him. His Captain is athletic and fit without being too muscle-bound. He looks like a man at the peak of physical perfection without any hint of over-exaggeration. His only real flaw seems to be the nailing of the Red Skull whose physical apperance seems inconsistent throughout the book. However, his art flows nicely, giving it a good movie action feel.
Leave a comment