I remember when I was reading the ’90s X-books. I was constantly confused. There were dozens of storylines and I just couldn’t keep track of it all. Of course, there were also at least a half-dozen team- and solo-series per month, plus one-shots and minis. But also, the interconnected storylines suffered from too much complexity relying on too many different authors. On the other hand, Ed Brubaker’s Captain America story has a single author, a primary illustrator (who gets occasional help), and takes place almost entirely in a single series. It’s still very complex and takes a bit of focus to follow, but I’m not having trouble tracking it. Plus, the summary at the beginning of this arc is great…
Issue #37 starts in flashback as Captain America leads American forces and emancipates Paris in 1944. Red Skull swears that he will someday get revenge. It’s just a few pages of flavor before we get back to the present day, but there are several flashbacks to this time period. Mostly, I think, so that we actually get to see Captain America in the Captain America series.
In the present, Bucky and Hawkeye talk it out. It’s a recap conversation, but in an Ed Brubaker story, no panels are wasted.
Meanwhile, Skull’s Presidential candidate, Senator Gordon Wright, has formed his own “Third Wing” party. Skull has maneuvered it so that Wright has credit for “negotiating” an agreement with Lukin/Skull’s Kronos Corporation to avert global economic collapse. Of course, it was all faked.
While that’s happening, Arnie Zola is building a new Captain America.
On the hero side, Falcon and Bucky Cap decide to team up and see if they can find and rescue Sharon Carter. They end up storming a lab but are unable to prevent Arnim Zola from destroying the evidence.
At Zola’s main laboratory, Sharon has discovered the body of what looks like Captain America in Zola’s lab, but when she wakes the man up, he doesn’t know who she is.
He doesn’t remember her because he’s not Cap. Sharon figures this out when she sees the burns over his body.
I love how Brubaker weaves together all the past Caps in this series, all while creating new ones. I also love how Red Skull is occupying the body of a General Lukin, and Arnim Zola is a body-jumping consciousness who lives in various machines. There are so many themes of identity in this epic story.
Faustus and Lukin/Red Skull are brainwashing the man into believing he is in fact the real Steve Rogers and it is Bucky who is the imposter version of Captain America. 1950s Cap then makes a stump speech in favor of Senator Wright, claiming to be the real Steve Rogers, which leads Falcon and Bucky Cap to recognize that the Senator, Arnim Zola, Red Skull, and the Kronos Corporation are all connected.
Bucky breaks into the Senator’s hotel room to look for evidence and meets ’50s Cap.
During the battle, it becomes clear that Zola’s reborn ’50s Cap has dramatically enhanced strength.
It’s a long fight scene, but of course it’s not just a fight scene. Bucky tries to reason with the brainwashed ’50s Cap and seems to be breaking through, but when Bucky admits that he killed Jack Monroe, ’50s Cap throws him off a building.
Falcon rescues him, and says that he engineered their battle so that they could track ’50s Cap to find Red Skull and Sharon.
Bucky reveals feeling guilty about killing Jack Monroe, among his other victims. This will be an important character trait in the future.
Speaking of Sharon Carter, she isn’t content to be a hostage and tries to escape by holding Sin at knifepoint. Sin nearly kills her to save herself…
…But Skull’s not pleased. Clearly, he needs Sharon alive. We don’t know why yet.
Faustus treats Sharon’s wounds and then tell her she lost her baby, and hypnotizes her to forget she was ever pregnant.
\We’re heading to the finale of this arc. Falcon, Black Widow and SHIELD storm Red Skull’s base just as Arnim Zola has finally figured out how to use the Doctor Doom time machine they stole way back in issue #23. We don’t know how it is all connected yet, but the time machine is hooked up to Sharon and somehow will separate Red Skull from Lukin, whose body he possesses and shares consciousness within. In the chaos, ’50s Cap smashes the robot body occupied by Zola (he’s now snapped after the conflict with Bucky).
Faustus shaves his beard and slips away during the attack.
At the same time, Sin is under orders to kill Senator Wright’s challengers for the Presidency during a debate but instead decides to kill Wright himself–since her daddy was so mean to her during Sharon Carter’s attempted escape. She takes her shot, but Bucky Cap saves the Senator. Sin escapes, but in the aftermath…
Bucky is, for the first time, hailed as Captain America the hero.
There are epilogues to this arc, which really just set up the next big story.
Tony decides to care for Sharon in the aftermath, but not to tell her she was pregnant. The Senator withdraws from seeking the Presidency under threat of being exposed as a conspirator. Bucky is now the new Captain America and seems to accept the role. He also makes out with Black Widow…
…’50s Cap is on the loose in a trenchcoat disguise, and decides to change the world to fit the way he thinks it ought to be.
And Zola is in another body, apologizing the Red Skull that they were unable to complete the time travel plan but at least he managed to get Skull out of Lukin’s body (killing Lukin in the process) but…
…Skull is now, like Zola, in a robot body. And he’s not happy about it.
English (US) · 