765

There's a serious excess of flashbacks in the first half of this book, but once it settles down it's pretty damn good - I loved the Winter Soldier dossier, and from there on out it's tense and wonderful. ( )

I wasn't all that thrilled with the first trade, but Brubaker really cranked up the storytelling in this one. It's less of a rehash of things past and more geared towards the actual plot now. I loved the interaction between Captain America and Bucky, and I can't wait to see where the story goes next. ( )

Good (but not great) story. Leaves a few things hanging. Things which I assume will be picked up on in future story lines.

Let me preface my comments with this: I hate these types of stories. Comics (and Marvel Comics in particular) spend WAY too much time bringing people back to life. Ultimately, it cheapens the sacrifices they made in death if they just keep coming back to life. Okay, that being said, I haven't read many Cap books that are better than this. The plot is good and interesting (especially for a resurrection tale), but the characterization is superb. Cap is vulnerable and hurt, and yet remains likeable and professional. The way he makes Bucky remember the war is really interesting and original, and then the ending is quite well done. What I really appreciated is that, while Brubaker does not tell Cap about Bucky's fate, he does tell the audience, so we are not left assuming he's dead AGAIN when he is not. ( )