OK, definitely not going to stay on these issues too long, even though these issues go on for too long. (See what I did there?)
This is a 6-issue “epic” that includes a backstory prologue starring Cable in issue #19 and then goes on to create and kill a new hero.
Back in the story arc for issues #7-10, Ringmaster made a ring out of a piece of the Cosmic Cube. In this story, Captain America loses the ring when he gets attacked while transporting it to SHIELD. A kid finds it and it gives him powers. He calls it a “free, dumb ring.”
After a series of random adventures with the ring, he ends up face to face with Iron Maniac, who kills him.
It’s picked up by a skrull who hides under the identity of Crusader.
He’s also introduced during this arc and, unlike Freedom Ring, he’ll be back in other comics.
This volume of MTU is far from bad, but it’s also not very good. What’s to like? Many of the ideas are interesting and different. There’s tons of different characters, which can be fun. Look at the tags below and you’ll see how many folks appear in this 5-issue arc. It pulls together some of the stuff from across the issues of this series, which has often felt like an unplanned season of “Lost.”
But there’s also a lot of alternate reality mishigas and really pointless side stories that take away from what could/should be a roller coaster ride of stupid, fun fights coupled with bonding with Freedom Ring enough to care when he dies. I just didn’t.
Another positive, though: It has NOTHING to do with Civil War. I’m not even sure where it fits into continuity, and I don’t care. I like Civil War, but the endless tie-ins are quite tiresome when you’ve taken on the task of reading every single Earth 616 Marvel book in chronological order.
Best scene: Wolverine versus Aunt May.
Next: The final issue of this series. A back-up story in this issue introduces the storyline, which is the return of Titannus. Can’t say that thrills me.