When I heard about a new Captain America run beginning, I was already pretty excited. Cap is such a paragon of character that a good writer can have so much room to experiment. When I learned that it was by Zdarsky, I was thrilled. I’ve enjoyed his work on Batman, Daredevil, and Spider-Man: Life Story. So, I had big expectations going into this.
And I was not disappointed.
I would like to begin by speaking a little about the way the comic looks and feels. The art is phenomenal and the layout really adds to the kinetic energy it radiates in it’s action sequences. It is an absolute treat to look at and I thoroughly enjoy the style they’ve chosen for the characters. Depictions are expressive and you could thumb through the whole thing and get the general story without reading a word – that is how well it conveys it’s ideas visually.
But where would we be without the writing… And wow, Zdarsky. Opening panel, first lines, he pulls no punches. Without getting into too much I am excited to see how Zdarsky investigates some of the themes that he appears to be tabling. We will of course see a return of some of the best themes around Captain America; what does it mean to fight for freedom in a world that constantly redefines it, how do values from decades ago translate to modern times, and where is the line between service and duty? But he has also introduced a B plot which appears to be setting up a mirror to Cap’s experiences of the trauma of war and service looking at how this newer generation is handling the same experiences but in a modern world. I think there is a lot of room for this idea to be expanded upon and ask interesting questions and I really excited to continue this run.
As always, the measure of a comic is how much it made me want to pick up the next issue and this one has me pacing in anticipation.