Marvels Captain America: Winter Soldier
I've mentioned in a previous blog that I'm not a massive reader of Marvel comics. I know a lot of the characters and I've seen all of the modern Marvel films, but never really got into the comics. Perhaps it comes from childhood, there were never a great deal of Marvel comics available where I lived in the 70s. Plenty of the classic British comics that you'd expect, I think at one point I must have been getting five different comics a week. The usual suspects, Beano, Dandy, Whizzer and Chips, Warlord, 2000AD, Nutty, Victor the list goes on.
I've mentioned in a previous blog that I'm not a massive reader of Marvel comics. I know a lot of the characters and I've seen all of the modern Marvel films, but never really got into the comics. Perhaps it comes from childhood, there were never a great deal of Marvel comics available where I lived in the 70s. Plenty of the classic British comics that you'd expect, I think at one point I must have been getting five different comics a week. The usual suspects, Beano, Dandy, Whizzer and Chips, Warlord, 2000AD, Nutty, Victor the list goes on.
Because of the cartoon series on TV I loved Spiderman and I remember one Sunday, going for a walk with my dad and we went to a newsagent and I saw a Spiderman comic. Being a generous dad (who didn't want to walk home with a moaning child) he brought me the comic. When I got home I sat and read it right away, sadly my biggest memory of this was disappointment. I was too used to the British anthologies, this was just one story, and it was a part of an ongoing story too. My love affair with Marvel was over before it began
As the years went by my comic reading whittled down to 2000AD only until, at around 18 years old, I stopped reading comics altogether. When I found my passion for comics reawakened again a few years ago, my first port of call was the galaxys greatest but then it expanded to a wider variety, even some Marvel titles. But those were limited to Deadpool (I'll admit purely due to the film) and the Garth Ennis run on Punisher Max. The pure superhero genre or Avengers tie in stuff still wasn't on my radar.
However, that was until a Lockdown Marvel giveaway on Comixology where they gave away a range of digital collected trades. Titles such as Civil War, Captain Marvel and the title that caught my eye Captain America: Winter Soldier. Being a good Black Country lad I'm always
Captain America the Winter Soldier is probably my favourite of the Marvel films, perhaps because it feels more like a stand alone thriller with added superhero elements, rather than a full on superhero movie. Needless to say this was the first of the trades which I read and I was pleasantly surprised.
Captain America: Winter Soldier Ultimate Collection shares little in common with the film from a story point of view but again it feels like a thriller. The only backstory I know of Cap is from the films but, to read this, I don't think you'd even need that knowledge, this is a great standalone story arc. Flashbacks are used to fill in backstory and give a greater insight into the characters. The writer, Ed Brubaker, keeps the story moving at a good pace throughout with a nice balance of action scenes and breaths for developing characters and the storyline.
The art duties are shared between Steve Epting, Michael Lark, John Paul Leon, Tom Palmer and Mike Perkins. All involved give us some great art, with particularly good action scenes throughout. Often with the obligatory Marvel mass destruction of a city area and little regard for innocent civilian casualties while our heroes battle.
So, my first taste of a Classic Marvel Superhero was a success, perhaps in some part due to the fact that I have a knowledge and liking of Captain America from the movies. But nonetheless I enjoyed the ride and I'm glad I gave it a chance. Now I just have to decide which of the freebie Marvels to read next.
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