Captain America: Steve Rogers #1

Captain America: Steve Rogers #1Marvel’s new Captain America series is getting press for one huge reveal, but we’ll get to that in a second. For those who haven’t been paying attention, Steve Rogers has spent the last several months rapidly aged to a senior citizen with the Falcon taking over the role of Captain America. With Captain America: Steve Rogers #1 Steve is back in action along with the Falcon (still also Captain America, but not in this comic), and a team of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents including Agent 13, Jack Flag, Free Spirit, and Rick Jones.

So Cap’s back in action with a questionable costume redesign and new shield, to take on a new Hydra controlled by his old nemesis the Red Skull. Of course the original Hydra, controlled by Baron Zemo, is also still around. Writer Nick Spencer layers the story well juggling flashbacks and several characters (one of whom won’t make it out of the comic alive) while hiding the big reveal until the end.

Given the character’s vast continuity I can’t say I buy the premise of Steve Rogers being a Hydra agent but the set-up does allow Marvel to take Cap in an entirely new direction. We’ll just have to wait and see whether or not it turns out to be a good one.

[Marvel, $4.99]