Captain America: Winter Soldier

Captain America: Winter Soldier by Ed Brubaker
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The Red Skull acquires a Cosmic Cube, only to be murdered before he can use it and the killer seems to be someone Captain America thought dead since World War II. Can Captain America and Agent 13 unravel the mystery of the Winter Soldier and the Cosmic Cube before whomever possesses the Cube gets a chance to use it?

Fresh off of reading Gotham Central, I was ready for more Brubaker and I sure got it! When I first started reading Ed Brubaker last century with A Complete Lowlife, I had no idea he'd be one of the top guys in comics.

Back in the day, there were two Marvel books I held above all others. Forget about X-Men or anything featuring Wolverine's over-exposed ass. They were the Fantastic Four and Captain America. I have most of Mark Gruenwald's run on Cap, as well as a few issues in the early 100 range. Will Brubaker's run eclipse Gruenwald's in my eyes? It already has.

Brubaker's run kicks off with a bang. The Red Skull is dead and Bucky is alive? Wow. Most of the rest of the story is Captain America coming to grips with the fact that Bucky is the Winter Soldier, an assassin working for the Russians, and searching for the Cosmic Cube.

I thought the flashbacks really helped make the story. Bucky kicking ass whenever he showed up, only to fade away again, helped build the suspense to the inevitable showdown with Captain America.

Any gripes? Only that the confrontation I waited twelve issues for was pretty quick. This is right on the edge of being a five star book.

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