Ratings20
Average rating3.7
The origin of Winter Soldier
The writing by Ed Brubaker is great as usual of course, but the art is just okay with nothing interesting to look at and very hard to follow action scenes. Also it’s interesting to see some characters from the movies with different faces, although the cap looks funny to me.
And, as it usually happens with superhero comics, you need to know some additional characters who are connected to the cap from his earlier adventures.
I guess I'll continue looking for other Brubaker works elsewhere.
Absolutely deserves its reputation as one of the best Captain America, and even Marvel, arcs. Brubaker's voice as a creator is perfectly intact here. He understands that to tell a good, serious story set in a universe such as this, you have to embrace its inherently silly aspects rather than ignore them, and then use these aspects to tell the story you have in mind.
This arc being almost 20 years old now, with much of its innovations permeating the MCU, it's easy to overlook how good of an idea the Winter Soldier really is.. He fits the pulpy spy thriller tone perfectly but packs some serious emotional punch for Steve Rogers, leading to exactly the internal conflict you want for something like this.
The art can be a little rough in places, but the moody color palette combined with Brubaker's great dialogue keeps everything grounded throughout, ensuring that the tone and atmosphere are always spot-on.
Finally, the whole thing is very well structured. There's no filler, and information is revealed at exactly the right time, so that even if you know the twists and turns, it still feels satisfying to read.
Just slightly better than the first volume. Story gets interesting with the exploration of the relationship between Cap and Bucky. Otherwise, the rest however just doesn't grab me.