Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle Reviews

Captain America #45
Marvel Comics
Brubaker, Ross, Magyar & D’Armata

This mini arc wraps up but does it really end? Captain America aka Bucky doesn’t really succeed in his mission but he does gather some intelligence that leads him into a much larger plot and story. The comic is a very good story, but the fact that the payoff is really a reveal and not much of a resolution is a bit of a downer. Still, this is a great read month in and month out.

The issue deals with two stories. In the present, Bucky is trying to stop Batroc and the man with no face from stealing whatever it is that they are stealing. The second story deals with Bucky’s past as the winter soldier when he was sent to kill the Chinese scientist and ran into the man with no face guarding the scientist. Bucky as Captain America struggles to piece everything together to make the two stories come together.

Bucky, ultimately fails, but with the intelligence gathered by the Black Widow and what Bucky sees, he begins to understand what Batroc was after. It’s another character from deep within Bucky’s past. He’s dead and they want his body, presumably to make an army molded after this mystery person.

This issue is simple and is mostly action page to page. However, the issue leaves a cliffhanger that really just opens up a ton of potential angles. This is just the beginning of another epic that this title has in the works. The ending creates so many questions I wouldn’t even know where to begin. But that’s the beauty of this series. A small arc with a random appearance from old character, Batroc, and three issues later the whole thing opens up to provide stories for many, many arcs using more characters from the deep past of Captain America.

The artwork has some highlights to it. The thing that stood out to me was the backgrounds. For example, when the helicopter leaves with the body the Midtown Tunnel sign with Bucky and Black Widow in the background was particularly eye grabbing. The glow of the white on Cap’s costume was also very well done throughout the fight.

This issue is a good fight and leaves an unsettled ending. It’s really just the beginning of bigger things to come. I liked the issue but did feel a little letdown that Bucky failed in the mission. Better luck next time.

4 out of 5 geek goggles