The search continues – review of the comic book “Captain America: Red Scoundrel”

New old enemies

After the events of The Winter Soldier , Captain America continues his search for his friend, Bucky Barnes. He doesn’t even mind the fact that his buddy was brainwashed, served the Soviets and became their killing machine. To accomplish his mission, Steve Rogers, along with agent Sharon Carter, travels to London, where Union Jack and the Spitfire also join the team. Meanwhile, general Alexander Lukin’s mental illness worsens and he takes more and more the identity of Red Skull. He even manages to recruit Crossbones and Sin to his group, as well as renew the organization known as the Master Race. Moreover, he obtains plans for Sleepyhead, a robot that Captain America and Nick Fury’s commando squad dealt with during World War II.

Spy atmosphere

Kapitan Ameryka: Czerwony Łajdak to przygoda osadzona między dwoma fantastycznymi komiksami. Jest kontynuacją uznanego na całym świecie i przełomowego dla serii Zimowego Żołnierza (tytuł ten wygrał także w Plebiscycie Ostatniej Tawerny, gdzie został wybrany najlepszym zagranicznym komiksem 2019 roku) oraz poprzedza Śmierć Kapitana Ameryki. Chociaż zarówno poprzednik, jak i kontynuacja są bardziej popularne wśród fanów, to Czerwonemu Łajdakowialso nothing is missing. Ed Brubaker, a creator who needs no special introduction, is responsible for the script. As usual, he created an unusual comic in which there is much less superhero action and more crime-sensational action. Steve Rogers plays the role of a detective again, whose task is to discover the next pieces of the puzzle and solve the mystery related to the new incarnation of Red Skull. Of course, from time to time he will give someone a mouthful, but more often he will sneak, question witnesses or find more evidence in the case. There is also a dark atmosphere typical of the author. Lukin’s mental illness, the tortures of Synthia Schmidt or the cold-blooded killings are just a few examples of what is included in the notebook.

Face bank

Mike Perkins and Steve Epting are responsible for the drawings featured in The Scoundrel Red . Both men decided to focus mainly on showing us the faces of the heroes. So we get a very accurate presentation of the characters’ facial expressions, we can also see their every wrinkle. Unfortunately, this is a bit strange and downright unnatural. Additionally, we lack background in many places. Behind people you can often see only blurry shapes and colors, which are the outlines of a city, forest or paintings on the wall. Too often, we won’t see the legs or even the torso either. We can only look at the figures of heroes during the fight scenes, which are much better viewed than subsequent dialogues and faces.

The publisher is a plus

Captain America: Red Wretch is a collective comic book published in Poland by Egmont. It was published in hardcover and on special chalk paper. However, this is not the only plus. It has not been forgotten to include a special issue, published on the 65th anniversary of the creation of Captain America. We go back to the times of World War II, where Steve Rogers, Bucky Barnes, Nick Fury and a commando unit fight Red Skull in Germany. This part was drawn in a retrostyle and it tells us who Sleepyhead was. But that’s not all. At the end of the notebook we find a six-page interview with the creator, Ed Brubaker. All fans of his work should therefore be delighted with this addition.

Summary

Ed Brubaker is not in the habit of making bad comics. And this is also the case of the Red Scoundrel . While its plot is not as good as that of the Winter Soldier , it still has a spy atmosphere with a hint of thrill. The whole thing is very good to read and the adventure is really addictive. Egmont deserves praise as well, for a nice edition and interesting additions. Unfortunately, the drawings spoil the whole thing. A slightly strange line and focusing only on the characters’ faces disturbs the reception. Fortunately, we also get action scenes that somehow compensate for the weaker moments.