Hey, look: I can’t begrudge Marvel for drawing out the big return of Captain America with one-shots and tie-ins and miniseries etc. While big events like Secret Invasion, Dark Reign, X-shake-ups, etc. were trying to burn all the oxygen in the room, Ed Brubaker and a crew of rotating artists was quietly creating one of the greatest long-form comic book stories ever made.
This one-shot starts (somewhat predictably) with a flashback of Cap and Bucky during World War 2, fighting Nazis. It’s meant to establish how great Cap is and how Bucky is really his sub. We don’t need this reminder, but it’s flavor and, of course, it’s done well.
We then see Bucky and Natasha talking about how now that Cap is back, he’ll be wanting his shield. Nat even suggests that there might be room for two Captain Americas.
Later, the three fight Mister Hyde and afterwards Steve tells his former sidekick to keep the shield. And then, at the very end, the President pardons Bucky and seems to accept that Steve has a new role.
I have to hand it to Brubaker. He never wastes space. This one-shot is so much more than filler—it completely defies readers’ expectations and positions the Marvel Universe for a new normal.
Well done. Grade: B.
A few months later, Marvel followed up with an alternate reality/satire starring Irving Forbush.
He goes nuts in the new Marvel Bullpen and Ed Brubaker shoots him in the back of the head.
It’s better than it ought to have been, but isn’t exactly funny. Grade: C