Captain America Omnibus, Vol. 1

Brubaker manages to capture the rhythm and nuance of conversation without losing an of the velocity necessary to keep an action-oriented comic moving swiftly forward. His plotting and pacing are excellent, and his plots and characters are intricately designed and tightly interwoven - much of this stands up very well to rereading. Steve Rogers and Sharon Carter have never been better. The layout of each page is dynamic and balanced and the high quality paper beautifully captures the gorgeous details of Epting's artwork, especially his moody backgrounds. And, of course, the entire Winter Soldier plotline is one of the best stories to ever appear in Marvel Comics.The weaknesses are minor. Because the stories intersect with other Marvel mega-crossover events it's occasionally difficult to understand some of the underlying plots. House of M doesn't intrude at all, but the Civil War story line involved Captain America in a big way, and large chunks of that are missing here; that means that the volume ends on a disjointed note. Also, the bad-guy-as- bloodthirsty-psycho concept gets old very fast. It works with the Red Skull but becomes repetitive and tiresome with Crossbones and Sin.A great book, and a wonderful read!

Granted, Ed Brubaker doesn't do much wrong when it comes to scribing comic books, and that's not even counting his Marvel work. Sleeper and Gotham Central are some of the best crime/police procedural stories told in sequential art. When it comes to an espionage book like Cap however, Ed does pretty much what he does best: create a high quality story, while creating a voice that is fresh and decidedly Marvel's. That is if Marvel had a voice.Because this book feels as high level Marvel as the hype suggests it is, and on the first page and the first seven pages for that matter, we see how overt an intrigue-filled slant Ed takes, bringing the Red Skull into the picture. It builds and builds, and a plot surrounding the Skull's collaboration with a modern Russian general starts to surface. And then the focus switches uncannily to Captain America himself.If there's any modern comic book representing storytelling at its pure, suspenseful best, this is it. Ed does a flawless job on every issue, bringing to the table straight suspense with a foreboding idea that nothing would be coincidental in this series. It's obvious Ed loves the characters in Cap's `universe' in the manner he writes them. The heroism of Cap he nails perfectly as are the twisted motivations of the Red Skull and the more-than-a-handful number of villains featured here, including Crossbones, the muscle, villain-wise, for much of this volume.Every issue stays fresh here for a multitude of reasons, but to me the quintessential one would be Ed's varied required style for every scene. There are no delusions as to why the narrative moves along differently when Cap skydives out of a car and plants a bomb before dropping to ground, to when he self-reflects upon his frequent dreams of the World War he was famous for winning: the pace and tone of every scene feels perfect. The art from Epting and company was as good as any but if there's one defining factor in this book, it is Ed's skill in creating a balls-out story, complete with almost every type of action scene and dialogue sequence imaginable.Want to see Cap kick some butt? You have it and with some intelligence thrown in as well, even with no caption or dialogue balloon in sight. If there's a case that needs to be fought for superhero espionage this is the book you want put in front of the doubtful. It's the closest thing to a must-read (and perfectly written) superhero book in modern times.

Some superheroes are better served when allowed to do their thing in as close to a realistic backdrop as possible, and as near to street level. Daredevil is one such, Captain America is another, and it's awesome that my man Ed Brubaker is writing both. Of course, there's a grain of salt to this "realistic backdrop" thing as relates to Cap. Star-spangled dude does dwell in a holographic-enhanced building and gets to drive a nifty flying Porsche. Cap isn't the easiest character to write and to keep interesting to the reader. He's this noble but uber-bland boy scout, a leader of dudes, and is just about unbeatable in a scuffle. It's a given that when Captain America throws his mighty shield, all those who oppose his shield must yield (yep, I'm hummin' it as I'm typin' it).Steve Rogers hasn't piqued my interest in forever long, and it took Ed Brubaker for me to start reading CAPTAIN AMERICA again. If you're any sort of comic book fan, then you're already clued in that Brubaker is one of the best writers currently going in this medium. He's known for penning gritty, hardboiled tales ( Daredevil: The Devil, Inside and Out, Vol. 1 , Criminal Vol. 1: Coward (v. 1) , Sleeper Vol. 1: Out in the Cold , INCOGNITO) and he brings his first-rate sensibilities and knack for storytelling to these pages. What has worked fantastically is Brubaker's keeping Cap away from those generic superhero elements and planting him in an ongoing espionage thriller, a genre in which Cap's presence really makes sense, what with his close affiliation with S.H.I.E.L.D. and an emphasis on Cap being more supersoldier than superhero. Also, occasional black and white flashbacks to Cap's days in WWII lends him degrees of pathos and reminds us that he's a man whose own era has passed him by. As the first issue opens up, Cap is feeling pretty torn up and ticked off, what with the Scarlet Witch going bonkers, Hawkeye dying, and the Avengers ending up disassembled. So, yes, you could say that Brubaker has injected a measure of complexity into Steve Rogers.SPOILERS now.Naturally, Herr Red Skull isn't too far away and he's got his henchmen Crossbones, Dr. Faustus, and Arnim Zola lurking in the wings. And, again, Old Bony Face's long-ranged scheme involves the Cosmic Cube, the downfall of America, and the effing up of Steve Rogers. There's also a renegade Soviet general doing his evil thing, amassing influence and fortune and taking over corporations left and right. So far, it sounds ho-hum, yet Brubaker spins all this into a gripping, fast-paced story arc. Two things really stand out in Brubaker's first 25 issue run. Count me as one of those folks up in arms about Bucky being resurrected, yelling like nuts that this ain't no way, no how gonna work. And now I am completely sold on James Buchanan Barnes. It's all about how Brubaker went about it: taking his time, flirting with the notion of Bucky being alive and then introducing him (in his wicked persona of the Winter Soldier) and making him into a viable must-read contemporary character. When these issues were first coming out, believe me people were on edge waiting for that inevitable Captain America/Winter Soldier clash. When Captain America was assassinated in issue #25 (that was the other thing), shocked as I was and believing even now that Steve Rogers will return someday, I felt that no one but Bucky deserved to pick up that shield.Brubaker also does justice to Cap's other supporting characters. Agent 13 (Sharon Carter), the Falcon, Nick Fury and Tony Stark pop in and out and fit in seamlessly. It was nice to have Agent 13 hanging out again with Cap and even picking up where they left off, romantically. We find out some wonderful tidbits along the way, such as the other Captain Americas who took up the mantle when Steve Rogers was taking his iceberg nap. One of my favorite arcs has Cap and Agent 13 teaming up with Union Jack and Spitfire in London as they go up against super-powered neo-Nazis (the 4-part "Twenty-First Century Blitz"). Meanwhile, one heartwrenching bit of read is that issue devoted to Jack Monroe's last pathetic days on earth (issue #7). If you're at all a fan of Nomad, then you won't like how he ends up, the supersoldier serum in his body having failed him and rendered him dangerously delusional.End SPOILERS.There's no page count in this trade hardcover, but this sucker is thick enough to kill a donkey, maybe two donkeys and a wee pony. CAPTAIN AMERICA OMNIBUS Vol. 1 collects issues #1-25 of Ed Brubaker's run, as well as CAPTAIN AMERICA 65th ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL (meh) and the pretty damn great WINTER SOLDIER: WINTER KILLS one-shot special. Time- and continuity-wise, these 25 issues cover quite a bit of ground, starting from when the Avengers had just disassembled, to the House of M tie-in (issue #10, which is the last story presented in this trade), to the founding of the New Avengers, to the Civil War tie-ins. This collection dazzles with 75 pages of bonus stuff: an Ed Brubaker intro; three interviews with and a quick bio of Ed Brubaker; an interview with Steve Epting; concept designs, page layouts, finished pencils and cover roughs by Steve Epting; variant covers by other artists; the script for issue #25; Jim McCann, from Marvel Sales & Marketing, reflects on the phenomenal news coverage re Steve Rogers' death; and comprehensive biographies on Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes. Very cool!Remarkable as the writing has been, the visuals have been just as key to this relaunched series's overwhelming success. Steve Epting, Mike Perkins and Michael Lark (on the flashback sequences) submit some ridiculously good, realistic-looking artwork. Cap has never looked better and doughtier and as for the Winter Soldier... well, you can see why you can't front on this dangerous cat. Do yourself a gynormous favor and pick this up, if you don't yet have the original collections. For what's offered in this very dense trade hardcover (which by the way can stop bullets and dissuade rampaging buffalos), the price is affordable; this is a fantastic way to spend a day or two, catching up with Captain America, as you pore thru all nine thousand, thirty-two pages of this enormous honking book, which also comes with its own gravitational field.

Writer Ed Brubaker clearly knows his Captain America. I occasionally wonder at the ability of Marvel's writers to keep characters like Cap and Nick Fury, characters whose roots are in the Second World War, going into the 21st century. Brubaker does it brilliantly. I'm not sure if there's much here for those who aren't familiar with Cap's history to some extent. There are references to Cap's long history along with tie-ins with what's happening in the rest of the Marvel Universe, which in this case is the major tie-in event known as the Civil War. At one point Nick Fury has to go into hiding and that isn't explained. The reason is out there somewhere else. I suspect this kind of thing is for the initiated only.So,if you have some familiarity with Cap's history then this is a must-buy. In fact, you might as well purchase the follow-up volume,  Captain America: The Death Of Captain America Omnibus HC (Captain America (Unnumbered))  as well because the end of this is simply jaw-dropping and it is not possible to stop at the end of this volume.Beautifully illustrated too, and although expensive, Amazon's price probably works out cheaper than buying the comics individually. Although, it's a heavy tome! I think I might have bruised a rib or two, trying to read this lying down.Treat yourself! Captain America: The Death Of Captain America Omnibus HC (Captain America (Unnumbered))

Like some or many, growing up I thought Captain America was some cheesy way for America to show how much they love themselves (sorry it was the flag uniform)!However a few decades later, all grown up, the team between writer and artist is a rare thing in grabbing you in to their world and making it feel real. There are some interesting 'powers' of Steve Rodgers that I never knew (his intuned sences for example) that makes you feel he can avoid all those bullets and stand up against all those up powers! The story arc is very well put together with a few minor ones (House of M eg) that stands out but feels like a bonus.Cap is not the only star of the book and again I didnt like Bucky in his prime but how they use him in the story is top notch and with the others like Red Skull just goes to show how hard it will be for any movie to compare.Whether or not you are a huge fan of Cap I highly recommend this. It's a huge page turner with the only drawback being the availablity and cost atm.... that and you may wish to purchase the next brick (almost as good)!

Great book in great condition

Completely revitalized the title, best since Gruenwald early days.

This omnibus is my favourite I ever read. It does a wonderful job of touching on some of the most exciting storylines (which have since been adapted into film): Civil War, Winter Soldier, etc.I would recommend this book to anyone wanting to learn more about Captain America!Steve Epting and Ed Brubaker make an excellent team and each issue is fun and exciting.