Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle Reviews

Captain America #47
Marvel Comics
Brubaker, Guice & D’Armata

Captain America, as Winter Soldier in this issue, find himself outsmarted and in a heap of trouble. We get a taste of what the mad scientist has up his sleeve and things are looking fairly dire for Bucky and friends. It’s a great issue that gives a pair of excellent cliffhangers.

The issue opens with Bucky the Winter Soldier infiltrating the lab of the crazy doctor, Chin. He cuts his way through the thugs until something goes wrong. While the action is heavy in the beginning we get a glimpse into the struggle that Bucky is having with his multiple identities. Has he really embraced being Captain America? Is that even possible if he hasn’t let go of the Winter Soldier? Or is he really just dressing like the Winter Soldier for Chin’s benefit?

Bucky learns that the Black Widow is piecing together the danger that he is in. As she reveals her discoveries to him, Bucky takes a bit of a dive. Chin’s men capture him and this allows Chin to do some interrogating.

Chin and Bucky provide some great moments that give some insight into Bucky’s mindset and it helps to fill in some gaps with regards to their previous encounters. The character of Chin is definitely a villain that could have some long reaching involvement, even if he does some James Bond-style of reveal the plan to the good guy gag. The issue ends with two great moments which I can’t even hint at.

The comic gives you all the elements of a spy-action story. Bucky has two agendas working at once. He’s lying to those he needs his support from and he’s playing games with his own life to put himself in a position for the big score. Chin plays the classic villain that’s outsmarting him at every turn and has more cards up his sleeve than a hustler. This comic truly sets up a how-are-they-going-to-get-out-of-that scenario.

The only thing that I found this issue to be lacking was the leash that Bucky has here. I mean, he’s Captain America, in China, running around out of uniform with allies that may or may not be approved by his organization. I found myself wondering who exactly had dispatched Black Widow after him as well as where is the people who initially had the Human Torch’s body. It’s a tedious, but I felt like a little blurb about this would have gone a long way.

The comic is set at night and the artwork makes excellent use of the natural cloaking surroundings. I will say that the two reveals are made all the more shocking by how they art sets up the scenes. They provide two very memorable moments.

This being the middle issue of the arc you might think about passing on it. However, between the recap page and the explanation in the conversation between Bucky and Black Widow I’d say you would have all the information you would need. This is a great issue and you shouldn’t pass it up if you like some spy elements over your classic cape moments.

4 out of 5 geek goggles