Captain America was the last of the renowned “color” series by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale. The first issue came out in 2008…
…but the final one didn’t reach us until 2016–owing to a variety of reasons.
Like the other color stories, it explores the origin of the titular character from a different perspective than the prior recountings.
It starts with Steve Rogers first awakening after his long sleep. He immediately looks for Bucky. When he’s told what happened, and that he’s been asleep for decades, he begins to reminisce.
He thinks back to his World War II days, and his work with Nick Fury’s Howling Commandos.
In that issue, we get a strange little retcon…
The origin of Nick Fury’s eyepatch. Apparently, he started to wear it as a disguise–before he lost his vision?
I really like how Loeb focuses on the relationship between Nick and Cap–even though this miniseries is ostensibly a bromance between Bucky and Captain America.
Eventually, they face the inevitable big Red Skull battle–and he has rarely looked as fearsome as he appears in the hands of Tim Sale.
It ends with how Bucky died and how it turned him into the Captain America we know of today.
Along the way, we get Batroc’s origin and lots of pop-in guests.
Of course it looks beautiful. It’s also well-told, as good as any of the other works by this creative team. It doesn’t reveal much that’s new or important, it’s just a wonderful character piece.