Captain America #47 Review

Captain America #47
Old Friends and Enemies 2 of 3
Written by: Ed Brubaker
Cover artist: Steve Epting
Artist: Butch Guice
Color Artist: Frank D’Armata
Letterer: VC’s Joe Caramagna
It’s been awhile since Steve Rogers was killed. Right now I don’t see any reason to bring him back. His book is, dare I say it, better without him and I don’t see it slowing down.
The current story arc is a bit deceptive in saying that it’s only part 2 of 3 as it’s actually a continuation of an earlier storyline that it looks as if they’ll finally resolve next month. New readers will find this issue a little hard to follow, so I would highly recommend picking up past issues if you can find them (they’ve been flying off the shelves). This particular issue plays out fast and quick. There’s no room for looking back here, only a strong sense of moving towards a conclusion, which I‘m big fan of as I tend to dislike comics that use several issues to make a point that in the past could be covered in just several pages.
Captain America, aka The Winter Soldier, aka Bucky Barnes (yes, there‘s some continuity to keep track of), is doing his best to get noticed by an evil scientist Dr Chin, a man he has a history with. Not the best plan, even by comic book standards, and it plays out in fairly standard ways. Dr. Chin’s own scheme involves the original Human Torch and considering all the build-up it fell a bit flat for me. I see what he’s doing I just don’t see any real motivation or reason behind his goals. He comes across as a Machiavellian-type villain.
While this appears a bit one dimensional I’m hoping that Brubaker might just be playing towards the common arch-types and characters from the 1960s, the era where the Winter Soldier first found life, and this story really began. Otherwise, it simply feels rushed and over-simplified. Bucky still comes across an intriguing character though, who is going through hell dealing with his past as the Winter Soldier, something which I expect will follow him for the bulk of his time as Captain America. Supporting characters like the Black Widow and Namor make glorified cameos in this issue, but I expect to see more from the Widow next time.
As always, the art is stellar and serves as one of the strongest selling points for this month’s issue. There’s a lot of fluid motion in the art along with some vibrant colors, especially in the explosions. The layouts are pretty standard, although and maybe it’s just me but I found the boat chase slightly confusing.
The cover by Steve Epting is real standout. It features a nice symmetrical balance that captures a real traditional sense of style in comics. It doesn’t feel too splashy or overdone, and has a lot of dark tones. This goes a long way in selling the mission of the book, a hard-nose, take-no-prisoners Captain America. One problem I do have with the cover is we never see Bucky in the uniform inside the actual book, although it’s not unlike most covers, where what’s on the outside is rarely what we actually see on the inside.
Brubaker finds himself using some clunky story elements, but as always his dialogue is spot on. That combined with some great art, make for one of Marvel’s best books month after month.

B+