Captain America 7, Indestructible Hulk 8

Captain America 7
Remender (w) and Romita Jr., Hanna, and Janson (a) and White (c)

The issue starts by delving again into Cap's past, but this time from the perspective of present day Cap (or, more specifically, the Cap of two years ago, who farmed the land with the Phrox and Ian. Remember, an absurd amount of time has passed while he's been here) as he looks back on the man his father was. He reveals to Ian that his father collapsed under the pressures of his time and was unable to stand back up, something Steve is able to more easily understand now that he's been raising Ian. Ian asks if Steve will ever disappear on him and Steve admits that his intense desire to not be like his father has led him down a wholly different path altogether; instead of abusing the ones he loves, he becomes emotionally unavailable to them. He promises Ian he'll never disappear. Flash forward to today, as Cap works his way through Zola's tower to try to find Ian, who is being brainwashed by Zola. Steve has already subdued, but not killed, Ian's sister Jet so Zola knows he's on his way. Jet is freed by some of Zola's minions and pursues Steve again. Meanwhile, Steve is having a hell of a time in this assault, forcing his already broken body further and further until he is again confronted by Jet. She attacks him but her heart isn't really in it and Steve escapes the fight momentarily to save a Phrox from being mutated, a process Zola has been enacting to further his plans (soon revealed!). He saves her but it leaves the two of them dangling from the walkway with only Jet around to save them. Steve convinces her to act on the impulses she's been feeling lately, including her confusion about Steve and the recent guilt she's experienced at Zola's plans. She tells Steve the entire plan (now revealed!) which involves Zola infecting many powerful people of Earth with the liquid consciousness he infected Steve with, though a greater dosage, and effectively create a world of Zolas run by Zola. The plan is already pushing quickly forward and Steve needs to find a way to derail it and to save Ian. Jet makes him swear to save Ian and then tells him where her brother is. When he gets near, he is shot through the side of his stomach by a seemingly fully brainwashed Ian.

There is so much happening in this issue (hence my really long description) and it's hard to break it all down. Steve reveals that the memories of his childhood that he's been experience aren't just there for the reader's benefit, they're there because they've recently forced their way to the top amidst all of these new experiences. This, tied to his understanding of his own psyche and emotions (the idea that he pushes people away as a response to his father's abuse) gives us such a different view of Steve while keeping so nicely to the character itself. It's unimaginably difficult to write an entirely new angle for a character while being somewhat handcuffed by 70 years of backstory but Remender has proven again and again that he's more than capable of it. Now Steve will have to face the hardest fight of his long life as he battles Ian to try to save him all while Zola furthers his own plot. This is an even harder fight than Steve had with Bucky back when Bucky was Winter Soldier because a.) he's actually spent more time with Ian over the years they've been stuck here, b.) he physically raised Ian like a father, as opposed to Bucky who was more of a best friend or even brother with maybe a hint of father mixed in, and c.) Ian is a child. Come back next time for an even harder inner turmoil for Steve, if that's the sort of thing you want to see. It is admittedly rather painful as Steve is forced to deal with all of these things, as well as dealing with numerous physical injuries that he is constantly diagnosing and working through. Still, brilliant book.

Indestructible Hulk 8
Waid (w) and Simonson and Wiacek (a) and Charalampidis (a)

We learn a little bit more about the semi-suicidal Patty as well as about the way Mjolnir is viewed in the scientific community as this Jotunheim arc concludes. Patty has a degenerative brain disease that is all but incurable at this point but she is the sole provider for her father. Suicide would mean that the insurance companies wouldn't give him anything but dying at the Hulk's hands would surely compensate him, as opposed to her simply dying from the disease and leaving him alone and with nothing. Bruce tries to get her to believe it's curable or at least worth trying to cure but she's a bit of a hard sell. They talk about why Mjolnir is immovable but she's not interested in it unless it has to do with a cure for her. Meanwhile, they devise a plan to return home with a lot of soft science (I'm supremely happy that I'm not a scientist because I can just read whatever writers say in here and be like "yup, makes total sense to me. I'm sure this is a real solution") which is ultimately interrupted by the Frost Giant possessing Randall revealing himself and leading his fellow Frost Giants in an attack on Midgard. They are eventually rebuffed by Hill, on the other side of the portal, and Hulk's emergence. The whole team, including the rather wounded real Randall, make their way back to Earth and Thor and Hulk part ways for the time being. Bruce hopes that the whole experience has opened Patty's eyes to not being alone in the universe because, as he says, "alone" is poison. Next issue will team Hulk (or pit against) with Daredevil in a clash of Mark Waid authored heroes.

This arc was certainly interesting and it was very nice to see Simonson drawing Hulk and Thor together (even if he made Bruce and, by relation, Hulk's hair somewhat Osborn-like). The story went a long way to develop the characters that Waid has introduced to Banner's world, which definitely needed to be done after several issues that focused on Hulk and/or Banner working with SHIELD. This book is going to have to toe an interesting line of keeping Hulk available for SHIELD while focusing itself on Bruce and his work with the science he's dedicated himself to. The conceit of this book, which makes it very different from most Hulk books, is that Bruce is determined to make something of himself after all this time as a super-scientist and it'll be neat to watch as Waid puts that in the forefront and tries to leave Hulk a bit on the sidelines, as much as you can leave Hulk there. It's largely untested waters and it'll be fascinating to see if Waid can still make a compelling book when you take one of the more famous characters in Marvel history and put him on the bench in favor of the other half of him. If anyone can do it, though, it's probably Waid.