Posts Tagged ‘ Captain America ’

Marvel has released the official Captain America movie poster – and I’m not really sure what to make of it.

First thing’s first, I still like the uniform, and I can understand the reasoning behind keeping Chris Evan’s face exposed instead of putting it under the helmet-come-mask.

What I’m not so sure about is the pose, the ash, and the word ‘Avenge’ when all three of them are taken together. I’m sure you know why – but it does make me feel slightly uncomfortable somehow. It’s probably just me.

Still looking forward to the movie – and my main concern is about the depiction of World War II. All the location shots I’ve seen show Hydra soldiers, not Nazis, and I can’t help but wonder if the flick is aiming for a slightly sanitized version of WWII (someone pointed out to me that action figures with swastikas are a tough sell). I hope not – but at this point I guess it’s a wait and see.

Let me get this out of the way: The Marvels Project is one good-looking trade. Steve Epting and colorist Dave Stewart do a beautiful job on the art, perfectly capturing the war-time settings that most of the book takes place in. I’ve always been a fan of Epting’s work since his Avengers run almost twenty years ago (urk) and he’s at the top of his game here.

Unfortunately, Ed Brubaker’s story lets the art down. Borrowing heavily from the far superior Marvels, The Marvels Project tells the story of the then-Timely Comics heroes as they gather for the first time against the backdrop of World War II, as narrated by Dr Thomas Holloway, the Angel.

The problem is, that’s all it does. There’s no true ‘story’ here, no overarching theme besides ‘ordinary men become heroes, and so do an android, a super-soldier, and an Atlantean’. The big draw for the series is the formation of the Invaders, but we see little of the team in action. Instead, we’re treated to things we’ve seen before; the Human Torch’s unveiling, Namor’s attack on New York and first battle with the Torch, Steve Roger’s transformation into a super-soldier.

There are some original touches – the Angel’s hunt for Nazi spies that has him crossing paths with the new Captain America, a cameo from an aging gunfighter, Nick Fury’s pre-Howling Commandos wartime exploits tying him to Professor Erskine and Captain America’s origin, and the teasing that a new generation may take over the Angel identity – but none of them really take center stage, and the scattergun approach to storytelling is undermined by the fact that too many storylines stay separated or even unresolved at the conclusion.

Brubaker also uses the series to reintroduce John Steele, a soldier from World War I with superhuman powers revived in World War II. Steele had been pretty much unheard of since 1940 (in real time), and Brubaker clearly revived him to use him in Secret Avengers.

Overall, though, this feels like a greatest hits collection that hits all the right scenes but never comes together coherently. Sure, it’s great to look at but it lacks any real heart. This feels like a real missed opportunity.

The Marvels Project is available from Amazon and loads of other places.

NOW UPDATED WITH THE OFFICIAL PIC

It’s a day for it.

Here’s a grainy look at Chris Evans and his padded crotch as Captain America from the upcoming movie…

The outfit looks pretty good – and usable – and I can’t help notice his crotchholster, meaning that it seems Cap will be armed. I also like the flying helmet-type thing under the Cap helmet (wings and all!).

Those suits at the back look terrible though. More Hydra soldiers, I expect. Will this version of World War II have Nazis at all?

Via

The latest Marvel tease for that big event I think I figured out hit this morning:

The image instantly reminded me of the classic Under Siege storyline (probably my favorite Avengers story). Suffice to say that Cap suffered the loss of a shield there –

- and later sifted through his destroyed belongings in a pose very similar to the one above.

It wouldn’t be the first time Cap lost faith in his country, either. Let’s just hope this time he doesn’t get a cape…

These days, if you read Captain America it’s a fair bet that you think that Ed Brubaker is, to put it in colloquial English, the dog’s bollocks. And he is – but reading comics over the past twenty plus years, there are two other writers’ runs that I prefer on the book. Not because they’re ‘better’ writers, necessarily, but because they’re the ones I grew up with.

Don’t get me wrong, Brubaker’s run has a great hard-edged tone to it and takes extraordinary risks – such as reversing one of Marvel’s two previously untouchable deaths (Peter David had less success with kind-of reversing the other one around the same time). The comic today has an almost espionage-like tone, and that’s no bad thing – but when I was a lad, someone else was writing the good Captain as an out-and-out superhero and his name was Mark Gruenwald.

Gruenwald was a well-respected writer and editor for Marvel prior to starting his Cap run, but it’s arguable that, alongside Squadron Supreme, that it’s Cap that he’s most remembered for. His run spanned Captain America #307-443, and although not without it’s rough spots (such as Cap-Wolf and ‘Fighting Chance’) it also included a number of classic story lines.

Luckily for all of us, many of those story lines are now being collected as Marvel want lots of product on the shelf when the star spangled Avenger’s movie is released next year…

#308 is in the Secret Wars II Omnibus – okay, so this is a ridiculously oversized (and some would say overpriced) collection, and it includes only one issue of Gru’s Cap run – but it’s worth pointing out for completeness sake. Cap tries to settle back into his old life, but runs afoul of new villain the Armadillo – he’s also shadowed by the Beyonder, who is so impressed with him that he makes himself an identical body to saunter the Earth in.

Until, of course, changes his hairstyle…

Moving on…

#318-320, #358-362 is currently the first real collection of Gruenwald’s run – although the issues collected are separated by a few years. They’re in Captain America: Scourge of the Underworld – collecting the Scourge saga (also included is the Gruenwald-penned U.S.Agent mini-series, plus Scourge’s other appearances), where the eponymous vigilante is eliminating the deadwood of the villain circuit, including the infamous Bar With No Name massacre which took out a whole host of D-list villains.

#332-350 (along with Iron Man #232) are collected in the mammoth Captain America: The Captain - surely Gruenwald’s finest hour on Cap. Steve Rogers resigns as Captain America rather than work for the shadowy government Commission, leading them to replace him with John Walker. While Walker and his new partner serve as the new Captain America and Buck- er, Battlestar – Rogers eventually adopts a modified uniform and calls himself simply ‘The Captain’. (Cap #339 is also collected in the upcoming Fall of the Mutants Omnibus).

#357-364 are collected in Captain America: The Bloodstone Hunt; think of it as Cap as Indiana Jones and Diamondback as Marion Ravenwood and you won’t be far off. This story also introduces the Red Skull’s lackey, Crossbones, currently a major player in Thunderbolts.

#365-367 are collected as part of Acts of Vengeance Omnibus. Essentially a story of villains switching opponents to take down the Avengers, Cap’s issues have him fighting against Iron Man villain the Controller. These big omnibus collections are pricey, but for me are a perfect snapshot of Marvel at that time – and worth it purely on a nostalgia level, but your mileage may vary.

#398-399 and #400-#401 are included in Operation Galactic Storm Vol 1 and Vol 2, respectively.

For my money, OGS was one of the better inter-title crossovers that Marvel did around this period. Centering on the wide-spanning Avengers family of books, the story features the team – and most of the reserves – stuck in the middle of an interstellar conflict between the Kree and the Shi’ar. A spiritual successor to the classic Kree-Skrull War (and spiritual predecessor to War of Kings, for that matter), the story results in a schism in the team with Cap leading the more idealistic Avengers while the Black Knight and Iron Man head up the more…well, ‘realistic’ is the wrong word when it comes to space wars with superheroes, but you get the idea. Good, solid, comics.

#402-408…well, there’s not a lot you can say about Captain America: Man and Wolf that the cover above and this cover doesn’t say for you:

Captain America becomes a werewolf and, er, runs around the MU encountering people like Wolverine and Cable. Oh, and the conclusion ties in to the lackluster Infinity War, just to top it all off. Probably the low point of Gruenwald’s run.

#425-437 are collected in two volumes, Captain America: Fighting Chance – Denial and Acceptance. The Super Solider serum in Steve Roger’s veins begins to kill him, forcing him to evaluate what he wants to do with his final months (before suiting up in armor, obviously). I’ve got mixed feelings on the storyline, myself. On the one hand, I appreciate what Gruenwald was trying to do – and I have a fondness for Jack Flag (lately starring in Guardians of the Galaxy) and Free Spirit – but I don’t think it quite works.

There are some other storylines in Gruenwald’s run that deserve collecting – Streets of Poison (#372-378) springs to mind especially – but right now the best of his run (and, oddly, the worst) are either available or will be shortly.

As for the other writer that I like? That’s a whole other post…

I mean…seriously, how good is this?

Via Hobo95 on DeviantArt

I mean, Booster Gold‘s chalkboards?

Pfft.

Like Marvel would lift something like that wholesale and plunk it into their books…

…oh.

According to CBR the above page is from Avengers #5, so it looks like I’m wrong…

Anyway, let’s have a little breakdown shall we?

Going from left to right along the timeline…

• Siege

– Well, we know what that is, I guess. It seems to be quite a way before the next events, at least one of which takes place prior to it. Probably an aspect of time being broken in the arc the panel appears in. Or an editorial slip.

• Captain America Reborn – Again, aside from placement no surprise here. There’s a little side note asking ‘What did Cap see???’ referring to his vision at the end of the series, which bore some resemblance to the War of the Worlds-esque (or Tripods-esque, depending on your frame of reference) alien invasion from Killraven‘s alternate future.

• Nine Worlds in Disarray -this presumably links into Matt Fraction’s upcoming Thor run, which will apparently deal with the nine worlds of Norse mythology, of which Asgard is only one. Again, the timeline appears slightly skew-wiff as this presumably takes place before the next notation…EDIT: Apparently Avengers Prime concerns the Nine Worlds being in disarray – thanks, Kunstgriff!

• The Heroic Age Begins! – I guess there’s not much mystery there.

• Three! – a reference to the upcoming Fantastic Four arc which apparently promises the death of one of the core characters (because that’s never happened before).

• Hope Returns!? – presumably referring to the recent Second Coming in the X-Men books featuring the return of Hope from the future.

• There’s a dotted line leading down to the next comment that I can’t quite make out “Spider on the …” Horizon? Horror? Whatever it is, it seems to begin with HO and end with ON. Horton? I’m guessing this is Spider-Man related…

• Man Without Fear – no real secret here, either, as Black Panther is becoming the new Man without Fear and taking over Daredevil’s book.

• Throwbacks! - Okay. I have no idea what this refers to. Any ideas?

• Chaos! – The upcoming Chaos War event, of course.

Next slide, please…

• EDIT: There’s a bunch of equations including the words ‘Similar Form‘ and ending in ‘Paired‘. Not sure what this could refer to but open to suggestions!

• Five Lights – A not-so subtle reference to the current Five Lights arc in Uncanny X-Men leading to Generation Hope.

• Who is Worthy? – 9,9,9, – these linked comments outside of the timeline presumably refer again to Thor‘s nine worlds and perhaps an indication that someone else is going to try hefting mjolonir for a while – or that Thor himself may not be worthy? We’ll see.

• EDIT: Crossed out below this is something else I can’t make out: What Wouldn’t Do ?????? Any suggestions?
  Back on the timeline…
  • What is Where Asgard Should Be? – Thor again. A valid question; if Asgard’s in Oklahoma, what’s occupying it’s old position at the end of the rainbow bridge?
  • Master of Kung Fu – Shang-Chi’s making a comeback in Shadowland, and there’s a new Heroes for Hire series on the horizon – so maybe he’ll have a part in that? Or will there be a new Master of Kung-Fu? Replacement heroes are all the rage, you know.
  • Nova Antiquus – perhaps an earlier bearer of the Novaforce will be making an appearance wherever Nova himself ends up?
  • Academy Traitor! – I’m guessing there’s a traitor in Avengers Academy?
  • Return of the King – There’s a few people this could refer to; Magneto has been referred to as a king a few times in the past; the Black Panther’s in exile of some sort from his own country; the Kingpin perhaps? Or it could (hopefully) be the return of Black Bolt who died at the end of War of Kings. In any case there appears to be a King. And he appears to be returning.

  Off to the side of the timeline -

  • EDIT: The one I couldn’t quite make out earlier is The Drumm of Revenge – presumably pointing towards a Dr Voodoo (Jericho Drumm) story – or perhaps his dead brother? Either war I’d put money on this happening in New Avengers.

  And back on the timeline again –

  • Night Falls – Well that’s not ominous at all. A sign that something bad is coming? Perhaps it’s horror-related somehow? Who knows.
  • Iron Lad Returns – Looks like everyone’s favorite young Kang/Young Avenger is on his way back through the timestream somehow, presumably in the the Children’s Crusade mini.
  • All Hope Lies in Doom! – Well, when doesn’t it? Sounds like Doctor Doom is going to be getting some pagetime, maybe in the Fantastic Four, maybe in an Avengers book – but somewhere.
  • Schizm! – Sounds like there’s going to be a split somewhere along the line. Could be in a team, could be in reality, hell, could be anywhere. Or it could be some new character causing trouble – but my money’s on the first option. I think there’s going to be a falling out between characters somewhere again.
  • Stark Resilient – I’m guessing that’s a reference to the current Invincible Iron Man arc of the same name, in which case that book is ahead of the curve.
  • Where is Wanda? – Probably the end of the current Avengers: The Children’s Crusade mini series starring the Young Avengers that’s running right now.
  • Galactus Seed – That just sounds…wrong. More likely to be another arc in Hickman’s Fantastic Four than about Galacta, which is a shame.
  • ST….365NRATS – I have no clue. As long as it’s not Marvel’s answer to Lab Rats.
  • Fear without Man – I suspect that this will be an arc either following Daredevil Reborn (or perhaps that series itself) or simply an arc in the Black Panther’s run.
  • What’s in the Rings?!?! – Despite the earlier Return of the King reference, I guess this isn’t about bringing Gandalf and co to the MU. Instead, I think we’ll see the Mandarin’s rings being explored somewhat – mainly because I can’t think of any other rings of note in the MU.
  • Steve’s Vision! – Sounds like that vision we were talking about earlier is going to come to pass relatively soon.
  • Ultron War – Is Hank Pym’s greatest mistake coming back? Again? Honestly in light of the Ultron Imperative and Annihilation Conquest, any more Ultron stories seem redundant.
  • Yesterday’s X-Men – Possibly referring to that teaser of dead X-Men that popped up recently? Or something else? It’s off to the side of the main timeline so it may not take place around this time.
  • Born To Burn – Given that I think Johnny Storm will be the missing FF member at the end of ‘Three’, I would guess that this would be his return to the fold.
  • We Are Here – The point at which Avengers #5 takes place.
  • Kang’s Forces – I think this refers to a big ol’ timewar that’s going on in the Avengers book, which I’m getting in trades, and probably not the big Kang War we had at the end of Kurt Busiek’s run. Or, sadly, The Crossing (which I’m expecting to get the big Omnibus treatment any day now…).
  • Scorched Earth? – Sometimes the only way to win is to destroy what you’re fighting for. Whether a reference to the Kang thing, the Killraven thing, or something else I don’t know. EDIT: Apparently Jeff Parker’s first storyline in (Red) Hulk, starting with this week’s #25 is called – wait for it – ‘Scorched Earth’, named for the Intelligencia’s plan. Safe bet that this refers to that.
  • 3PION - Well, not a ‘P’ but a Punisher skull symbol. Probably not the return of Lynn Varley and the other Punisher stand-ins, sadly. EDIT: I’ve read that this could be deciphered as 3SkullION or Triskelion – which would be the Ultimate Avenger’s HQ over in the Ultimate Marvel U. Is there a crossover in the offing?
  • INFINITE FUTURES!! Again, I suspect this has to do with the future being hazy after the Kang thing wraps up. Or that Marvel hasn’t had it’s 2012 editorial retreats yet.

  Lots to clear up here, and lots of hints.

  But Booster Gold still did it first!

  Continue Reading »

I had a revelation yesterday. A revelation.

There I was, mocking Frankencastle mercilessly when it suddenly occurred to me: what an opportunity Marvel has missed now that he’s apparently being turned back into plain ol’ Frank Castle. I mean, think about it:

You have FrankenCastle.

You have vampire Wolverine.

So why not let Steve Rogers have a remission and have him revert back to CapWolf?

You know what you’ve got right there? The Marvel Universe’s version of the holy trinity of Universal Horror monsters.

If you want to get really creative, throw in a Marvel Zombies refugee, wrap someone up as a Mummy, and turn a hero into a Creature from the Black Lagoon-style, er, creature and, hell, just have Sue Storm be stuck in invisibility mode and you’ve got your Horror Avengers right there.

Instant win!

From the stage at SDCC2010 – the cast of the Avengers movie – (L-R) Robert Downey Jr (Tony Stark/Iron Man), Clark Gregg (Agent Coulson), Scarlett Johansson (Black Widow), Chris Hemsworth (Thor), Chris Evans (Steve Rogers/Captain America), Samuel L Jackson (Nick Fury), Jeremy Renner (Hawkeye), Mark Ruffalo (Bruce Banner), Joss Whedon (Director), Kevin Feige (Marvel Studios).

Do I have my concerns about this? A few.

But right now?

I’m just pretty damn excited about it.

Via

…maybe.

Slash/Film (and lots of other places) are reporting that Neal McDonough is in negotiations to play Dum Dum Dugan in the Captain America movie.

Dugan was second in command to Sgt Fury in the Howling Commandos in WWII, and as I’m pretty sure I read an interview with Samuel L. Jackson saying he wasn’t in Cap, I wonder if he’ll be running the troop this time out. Then again, Jackson seems to get confused as to who’s playing who in the Marvel movies so maybe I shouldn’t put too much faith in that.

Off topic, I also wonder how Dugan manages to be running around in the current MU, too – Fury had the Infinity Formula administered to him by Berthold Stermberg, but I’m pretty sure Dugan didn’t.

Maybe I shouldn’t think about it too much.

I know a lot of people thought Ted Levine should get the part and I can see why (even if I do have a hard time shaking his Silence of the Lambs‘ Buffalo Bill tuck’n'dance maneuver out of my head every time I hear his voice) but I’m sure McDonough will do fine as Dugan provided he grows a Sam Elliot-esque ‘tache for the role.

After all, McDonough has something going for him that Levine doesn’t: not only has he been in a flick about wendigos of a sort (Ravenous, underrated but pretty damn good), but he also fought the Borg.

And the Borg won.

With the concept art for Thor and Captain America hitting the internet the past few days, I figured it was time to flex my not-so-mighty photoshopPixlr skills and mash up a few images…

And you know what? As thrown together as it is, I kind of like it.

Forget Cap’s overblown Mark Twain speech during Civil War.

Forget Cap taking down Zemo in Under Siege.

You can even forget when he resigned his uniform rather than work for the Commission.

Captain America’s greatest line came in Mark Waid and Ron Garney’s final issue before the book was canceled and relaunched as part of Heroes Reborn, as he and Sharon Carter led a bunch of captives away from a pursuing army.

Let’s see that again…

Delivered in all seriousness with a completely straight face…yep, Chris Evans has his work cut out for him.

Scans via

Deadline is reporting that Hayley Atwell has been cast as Peggy Carter, the love interest of Captain America.

Well, she’s pretty and she’s English so I guess that fits (although I actually thought Peggy was American).

The real question is will Atwell also play Sharon Carter, introduced as Peggy’s almost-identical younger sister (and now retconned into being her niece) when Cap thaws out in the current era in the Avengers movie?

In a stunning bit of casting news, the Warrington-born DJ, reformed hellraiser, former-ginger, now-greying, ex-Mr Billie Piper, Chris Evans has been cast as Steve Rogers, Captain America in the upcoming movie.

It’s a weird bit of casting but…

…oh.

Well that makes more sense.

While I don’t hate the casting, I hope that Evans reigns in what I can only refer to as his ‘shtick’ – that over the top comedy delivery that was prevalent in his Johnny Storm role and in The Losers trailer where he plays Jensen.

Even so, I think he has some qualities that will serve the movie well – it’s just a shame (at least from my perspective) that this pretty much puts the nail in the coffin of any future Fantastic Four movies, at least without reboots.

Look, I liked them, okay?