This was the run when Captain America came back to the world after the Heroes Reborn business. You know, when all the heroes died blah blah tons of awful storytelling, one of the crappiest Marvel events, I’m sure you all remember it.
The first arc starts a little weak. Hydra’s up to their usual shenanigans, Cap keeps busting them up, everyone in America goes crazy with CAP FEVER. As I was reading it, it struck me as a little lame. I was glad to find out that it was intentional, the previously mentioned CAP FEVER was part of a clever scheme.
While there’s some blips in the writing and the art, they’re both solid enough at the start. There’s enough new ideas and interesting themes that I wasn’t bored. The quest for what the American Dream really is was a good idea for Cap, the photon shield, maybe not so much.
As the series continues, I found it became weaker and weaker. The American Dream arc ends in a strange way, the Red Skull arc wasn’t very enjoyable, the payoff involving Cap’s shield wasn’t terribly well done…I wouldn’t say mediocre, but every new arc seemed a little less enjoyable than the last.
As I read through the series, this didn’t really change. It touches on a discarded super soldier, Cap’s girlfriend, plenty more on A.I.M., Bucky’s death, but it just felt hollow. By the end, there was little I enjoyed in the issues. Unfortunately, I can only recommend reading the first two or so arcs, skip the rest.
2.5/5
Buying Options : I don’t believe this is available in trade paperback form. You can buy the individual comics online.