Captain America #42 – Review

By Ed Brubaker (Writer), Steve Epting with Luke Ross (Pencilers), Rick Magyar, Steve Epting, and Fablo Laguna (Inkers), and Frank D’Armata (Colors)

Originally, I started reading Captain America for the same reason that almost everyone else did: his landmark death in issue 25. My intent was to read this series only for the three acts of “Death of the Dream” just to see how the story played out. Towards the beginning of act three, I realized what a genius story this truly was, and decided I would probably continue reading even after it was over. If my reading permanence was ever in doubt, the ending of this epic storyline has sealed it.

This feels much more like a season finale of a television show than a final issue of a comic book story arc. We get plenty of resolution in several things, but Brubaker teases us with the promise of much more to come. If you are hoping for a big reveal of Red Skull’s master plan, forget about it. Brubaker seems to want to let it stew longer. Likewise, the fate of a few other characters is left hanging in the air. Despite a lack of resolution, the good guys seem to think it’s over (don’t they know bad guys always come back?) and we get to see the beginning of Bucky as Cap accepted in the Marvel Universe.

Penciler Steve Epting, with some help from Luke Ross, continues to deliver more of his action-centric work. With the use of other artists occurring frequently in this arc, I was afraid that Epting may not be featured in this issue, but luckily he was able to finish the epic that he helped begin. As usual, Brubaker lets Epting’s work tell much of the story.

So was I disappointed by this issue? Slightly, I expected it to be the big “everything since issue one has come down to this” finale, but the promise that this story will continue seems to be even more satisfying. And like any good suspense artist, Brubaker plans to make us wait with a completely different storyline coming up. It will be nice to not only to see a non-Red Skull villain story, but to also see Bucky finally operating as Cap on his own. How long will it take till we get a true resolution? Who knows, but I’m sure whatever Brubaker has in store for us until then will be just as entertaining. (Grade: A)

-M. Staples