Almost 5 years have passed since the Polish premiere of the comic book series, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, by Ed Brubaker. Now fans have probably seen the last issue, American Dreamers . Is this a worthy finale to the Steve Rogers story?
Steve, Bucky and others
We begin the eighth volume of Captain America’s adventures where the Trial of Captain America ended. Bucky Barnes ends up in a Russian gulag, Steve tries to get him out legally, and is persuaded by Nick Fury to use the shield again, and Sam Wilson supports him in his actions. Meanwhile, Natasha Romanoff also tries to get her lover back, but her actions are not necessarily legal. Surprisingly, Peggy Carter helps her. However, this is only one of several stories offered to us by creators and publishers. We also get an insight into the anniversary album full of various stories taking place over the life of the title character. Finally, we can also read about how Captain America finds himself in a strange, alternative world dominated by Hydra and meets a clone of Adolf Hitler himself!
From crime to fantasy
When discussing the Captain America: American Dreamers album , it should be mentioned that many people probably thought that the last issue would be The Death of Captain America . Later, news appeared that the series would end with the fourth volume. Meanwhile, the eighth part has already been released on our market, which also has an open ending and the possibility of a sequel. However, even if Egmont were to publish further issues, it is certain that they will no longer be written by Ed Brubaker. The Eisner Award winner ended his run with Steve Rogers, and we got pretty much everything we could get. So what does the author’s ending look like? Well, let’s start with the beginning, that is the Winter Soldier, was brilliant, and the creator set the bar high for himself. Despite this, he managed to at least jump towards her at first. As long as Brubaker stuck to the conventions of crime fiction, everything looked really good and was a great read. Over time, however, the level began to drop, it seemed that the scriptwriter was running out of ideas, and we were getting more and more stories in the classic “superhero” style. And very clichéd ones at that. A villain would appear who wanted to rule the world, defeat Steve, or simply kill as many people as possible. Often without motivation, but with a good plan. Of course, after the initial problems, our Captain was able to cope, lock up the bastard, and another one appeared. These types of stories were still interspersed with some pretty good ones, but overall they were mediocre. The seventh volume gave us hope, i.eRebirth , which got back on track. Its sequel is truly breathtaking. The story told from three perspectives – Steve, Bucky and Natasha, is a real masterpiece with a gripping plot that can be read in one breath. But it’s only 1/3 American Dreamers. Next, we can read the already mentioned anniversary issue, for which several authors wrote scripts, including Howard Chaykin, Mike Benson and Frank Tieri. And this is a perfect curiosity for all Captain’s fans. Short stories with morals matching our superhero. Unfortunately, the whole thing is spoiled by the last pages (and when I say last pages, I mean almost 1/3 of the comic). It is no longer a crime story trying to be realistic, nor a superhero story. It’s fantasy mixed with science fiction, very chaotic and at times illogical. Marvel has taken us to other realities more than once, but what happens at the end of the eighth volume is a roller coaster ride. Perhaps such a script will find its fans, but they probably won’t be people who loved the beginnings of Rogers’ relationship with Brubaker. The advantage of all this is the fact
A cross-section of styles
For the graphic design to American Dreamersa whole lot of cartoonists respond. Butch Guice, Stefano Gaudiano, Steve McNiven and Alan Davis put in the most work here. However, Ed McGuinness, Giuseppe Camuncoli and Travis Charest also contributed. And that’s still not everyone. This is mainly due to the above-mentioned anniversary issue, where several artists were invited to work. Every Marvel fan knows perfectly well that this type of procedure is used quite often in the House of Ideas. And how do the staff fare? Let’s go back in time again and remember the first issues of Captain America published by Egmont. At that time, the main artist was Steve Epting, who often focused too much on the faces of the characters, giving us no insight into the action or background. However, this situation changed and with subsequent albums it got better and better. In the case of the eighth volume, it is really difficult to comment. Just like the script for the first part of the comic, the pictures are amazing. Bucky Barnes in the gulag, Black Widow’s actions and Fury’s political changes are beautifully drawn and make you want to come back to them. We can see a beautiful cross-section of styles in this special issue. And the ending, which is not very good in terms of the plot, is saved by an eye-pleasing, colorful line in a truly superhero style. There are also alternative covers that are also worth paying attention to. is saved by an eye-pleasing, colorful line in a truly superhero style. There are also alternative covers that are also worth paying attention to. is saved by an eye-pleasing, colorful line in a truly superhero style. There are also alternative covers that are also worth paying attention to.
At the end
The eighth volume of Captain America by Ed Brubaker is like the previous several parts. It has great and memorable moments, but there are also some very disappointing fragments that lower the overall rating. However, the cartoonists did better, and it is difficult to comment on them. Ultimately, however, one must be honest – if someone collected all the previous albums, it would be difficult to skip the last one, so they will probably buy it regardless of the review. On the other hand, people who have not delved into the series before will not find their way at this point. There are too many continuations of numerous threads. Therefore, you know best which group you belong to and whether you will become American Dreamers.