LOTRKing’s Comic Book Reviews and Other Random Stuff

Overall rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Wow. Brubaker excels at keeping you guessing until the last minute. With only one issue left until the end of the epic Death of Captain America storyarc, there is still a lot left unrevealed. Next issue looks to be phenomenal. Of course, that is still up in the air, but this month we got plenty of teases for what lies ahead. As Red Skull and Co. recaptures “Bad Cap,” the Red Skull pushes his plans into the final stage. Zola is finishing his work on “Doom’s device” and we learn that he also has a device to separate Skull and Lukin. Of course, for these two to be separated, they will each need a body. With blatant hints that “Doom’s device” is likely a time platform, I’m assuming they’re going to pluck Red Skull’s body from some point in the past (or, if the plan is even more sinister, they may grab someone else from the past, though I’m not too sure that Skull is keen on sharing minds again).

Once again, the word to describe the next scene is: wow. First Brubaker brought back Bucky, but then revealed he was a brain-washed Soviet Assassin. Then he killed Captain America. However, he kept the hope alive by having Bucky take the helm and revealing that Sharon was pregnant with the child of Steve Rogers. Now, Brubaker has killed the next, and only, member of the Rogers family: the unborn baby is dead. I had hopes last issue that perhaps the blade had missed the womb, and that somehow the fetus could be miraculously saved, but this was not to be. (Then again, Brubaker always complained that Bucky was killed “off screen” and since all we have is Faustus telling Sharon of its death, it’s possible that the fetus did survive – perhaps placed in a surrogate’s womb – and the Red Skull will keep it hidden, though this is doubtful.)

And speaking of Faustus, turns out he’s got some morals. Having finally come to the realization that he does not support the Skull, he convinces Sharon to forget her pregnancy ever happened, and returns her reactivated S.H.I.E.L.D. GPS unit. As James (oh yeah, he should probably feature in this comic, shouldn’t he?) and Sam get close to Sharon’s location, Natasha intervenes and convinces James that his work is needed elsewhere while she and Sam rescue Sharon. As these two invade Red Skull’s base (with plenty of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents for back-up), James goes to the presidential candidate debate. Red Skull plans to assassinate one candidate and have Senator Wright rescue another to further improve his chances at winning the election. But just as Sin pulls the trigger, the bullet is intercepted by Cap’s shield, as Cap jumps in to “save the day.”

As you can see, there’s plenty of awesomeness to go around. With only one issue left until the story that has been building since issue one is over (who’d ever guess that someone could pull off a 42 issue storyarc?), this probably isn’t the best time to jump on. But if you haven’t been reading this, you NEED to get all three trades for “The Death of Captain America” when it’s all over, cause this is the stuff that comic book legends of are made of.

-LOTRKing