Captain America 5, Captain Marvel 11

Captain America 5
Remender (w) and Romita Jr., Palmer and Hanna (a) and White and Loughridge (c)

One of the things I've really enjoyed about this series is how much it's shown Cap's childhood, a hitherto unseen portion of Steve Rogers' life. It's tied just about every step of this book to childhood and to raising a child and family, from Sharon wanting Steve to marry her in the first issue of this series to Steve learning to be a good man from his dying mother to Steve watching a good man turned bad in his father to Steve raising a son of his own in Ian. It's starting to all come full circle now, as Ian is discovered by his real father Zola and his sister Jet. Cap and Ian, being the great guys they are, elect to turn back from their chance to return to Earth when they see that the Phrox's home is being attacked. The two jump into the battle against Zola's mutates only for Zola to release his Zolandian Captain squad (all cloned from Cap's blood) and for Jet and Zola himself to enter the fight. Cap spares Jet's life when Ian knocks her down, leading her to spare his when Zola knocks him down. Zola blasts Cap away, claiming the resistant Ian for his own. Steve cuts the Zola in his chest out and vows to save his son.

For all the plot that's happened in this book, the thing I've been most impressed with is character-building Remender's done. He's created his story around Steve Rogers, not Captain America, which is a gutsy thing to do for a new Cap writer. Between the importance of Steve's childhood and the removal of the character from America, Remender has taken Captain America all but out of the book. He's still wearing the flag and Zola still hates him for who he is, but by and large this is Steve Rogers fighting for his son in Dimension Z. To tie that together, we're not seeing moments in Captain America's history where he fights alongside people younger than him, we're seeing moments from Steve Rogers' history that define him as a person. Steve even says in this issue that he's fighting harder for Ian than he ever could have for Bucky or Nomad. There's something stronger attached to this book than any connection Captain America might have; it's a connection that Steve Rogers has. Not only is that a pretty revolutionary idea for a Captain America book, it's a heck of a feat for a new Cap writer to pull off. I'd love to know the thoughts of former Cap writers on this idea, to know whether they would have ever considered or if they feel like they could do it. The truth is Steve has always been Captain America; the two have forever been the same character with and without a mask. Steve doesn't make different decisions when he's not wearing the flag (usually). He's a great guy in any situation. But to tilt the book and remove that Captain America onus from him and focus on a different aspect of Steve is a brilliant idea and Remender is making it work beautifully. Fantastic book.

Captain Marvel 11
DeConnick and Sebela (w) and Andrade (a) and Bellaire (c)

Above, I said that I liked that every step of the new Captain America series has pushed us towards character and towards plot. Captain Marvel has been equally firm on that, introducing a solid cast of supporting characters for Carol in every issue to bring her down to Earth. Instead of the Avengers powerhouse living in Avengers mansion with all her Avengers pals, Captain Marvel lives in an apartment building around normal people she cares about and has a daily routine that puts her in contact with more normal people she cares about. It's really a great social element that most mainstream comics push to the side, but it can work extremely effectively. In every little meeting she's had with someone, we've learned something new about Carol and the way she interacts with the world. Altogether, they combine to give us several lessons about the character. She's among the most human of the Avengers, though her powers raise her above many of them skill-wise. She takes her human life very seriously, not wanting to get so swept up in superheroing that she doesn't have time to enjoy what she's fighting for. And, like so much Peter Parker, she would do whatever it took to protect the people that give her that normal human life.

Though these ideas were largely introduced last issue, DeConnick has sprinkled the characters in so subtly and so wonderfully that you care about Carol's supporting cast about as much as you care about her, at this point. You care about them more because Carol cares about them. When Deathbird attacked Carol last issue and forced Carol to fly to move Deathbird away from her home, we saw an awful lot about how Carol operates. All those little interactions from every issue are woven together to build a tapestry of normalcy for Carol. She's not frightened by Deathbird attacking her or by any villain putting her in harm's way, she's frightened when they make a move on Carol's friends. She'll fight to defend that normalcy. Frightened is almost definitely the wrong word. She is worried about it, for sure, and she clearly cares about all the people in her life. But Carol doesn't have fear. She has anger. It's that anger that prompts her to seek out this new Deathbird (it's revealed this issue that the old Deathbird is definitely not the one who's attacking Captain Marvel) and bring the fight to her, even without being able to fly. There's also another major player on the board here, someone pulling the new Deathbird's strings and who has some amount of contact with Carol's life, up to sitting and feeding pigeons with Rose, Captain Marvel's elderly lady friend. Next issue will reveal who's driving the villains right now and likely an extended fight between Newbird (as Carol calls her) and Captain Marvel. Can't wait. Phenomenal book. Everyone should be reading this book.