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Why you should be reading 'Captain America'
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Cap rocks!
It's the best comic book on the racks today. And while it sports a famous character, the fact of the matter is that the protagonist is a virtual unknown.
I'm talking about "Captain America," which oddly enough isn't about the Captain America you know and love. You probably know the old fuddy-duddy Captain America - Steve Rogers, the skin-and-bones Army recruit who drank the mysterious "Super Soldier Serum" back before World War Two and became a powerhouse U.S. operative dressed in a Star-Spangled suit, armed with a red-white-and-blue shield. As you may recall, Cap ended up frozen for many years until he was revived, then allowed to become leader of the Avengers. He had quite a colorful life - partnering with the Falcon, feuding with the Red Skull, and trying to reconicle himself to the fact that he was an old-school 40s guy living in the modern age.
That Cap isn't around any longer.
Marvel killed off Steve Rogers something like two years ago. In his place is Bucky Barnes, longtime Cap sidekick, who has emerged after years of brainwashing to take his mentor's place. What Marvel has really done is set up a fascinating scenario: The guy who is the super hero isn't all that confident about his ability to take Cap's role, setting up a different kind of super-hero story. The hero is uncertain, tentative, halting. He's not sure if he's up to the task, even as the tasks he takes on become more and more important to keep the world safe.
Now that's a different kind of super-hero plot. And "Captain America," one of the hoariest characters out there, is enjoying new life by following it.
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