Review- CAPTAIN AMERICA BY ED BRUBAKER VOL. 2

CAPTAIN AMERICA BY ED BRUBAKER VOL. 2 (Marvel, 2012; Hardcover)

Collects Captain America Nos. 6-10 (cover dates February- June, 2012)

Writer: Ed Brubaker

Artists: Alan Davis (penciler) and Mark Farmer (inker)

Ed Brubaker and Alan Davis together is like chocolate and peanut butter...it's a can't miss combination. Indeed, it's almost as if the cosmos itself willed this pairing to happen for this arc. No one but Alan Davis could shift gears so smoothly between a rogues gallery featuring the Machinesmith, Codename: Bravo, Batroc the Leaper, and the Serpent Squad (Cobra, the Eel, and Viper). No one but Alan Davis can craft such crushing action sequences with the grace, wit, and dignity that belies the violence being perpetrated. And no one but Ed Brubaker has made Captain America cool.

This Machinesmith storyline has been brewing since the Steve Rogers: Super-Soldier mini-series two years ago, and Iron Man, the Falcon, and Hawkeye all play important roles in this arc. Sharon Carter of S.H.I.E.L.D also plays an important role, which I won't divulge because I try to keep this as spoiler-free a zone as possible. There are different trains of thought as to what constitutes a spoiler on the Internet. Some folks say two weeks after an issue hits the stands, others say one year. I try to avoid spoilers for any era of comics, as there is someone reading this who is bound to have not read it yet. I'm all about the joy of discovery, folks, for you and for me.

I am savoring these last few Brubaker-penned Captain America collected editions, as his run is now over. I'm certain that I will sit down and re-read the entire thing again from beginning to end someday. This era of the title is the good old days. We lived it, folks.

Junk Food For Thought rating: 5 out of 5.

The OCD zone- Typical Marvel Premiere Edition Hardcover, with the same production values, advantages and shortcomings that the format has to offer.

Paper rating: 5 out of 5. Nice thick coated stock, perfect for this material.

Binding rating: 4 out of 5. It's glued, but it's a thin hardcover, so it's no biggie. It's not like it's going to fall apart or anything. I normally lose sleep over books with glued binding, but not with these Premiere Hardcovers.