CAPTAIN AMERICA VOL. 2: CASTAWAY IN DIMENSION Z BOOK 2 (Marvel, 2013; Hardcover)
Collects
Captain
America
Nos.
6-10 (cover dates June- October, 2013)
Writer:
Rick Remender
Artists:
Penciler- John Romita, Jr.; Inkers- Tom Palmer, Klaus Janson, and
Scott Hanna
Colorists:
Dean White with Rachelle Rosenberg (#10)
Rick
Remender has penned a really dark Cap saga over the course of ten
issues. Things are downright morose at times, and it is a tough pill
for me to swallow. Real life is hard enough, and this winter is as
dark and gloomy as all get out. I realize that none of that is
Remender's fault, but weather does affect moods. The first half of
this opus showed so much promise but the second half came up short at
the end.
We
have what may be Arnim Zola's masterstroke against Captain America,
and are left with a question at then end. Was Dimension Z real? It
sure seems that way, but did all of those events, a decade plus,
really occur to Cap or were they memory implants from Zola? I like to
think all of this happened, but can we be certain? Time will tell.
You
can't go wrong with the artwork when you have a heavyweight like John
Romita, Jr. along with accomplices Tom Palmer, Klaus Janson, and
Scott Hanna. Couple that with colorist Dean White and you have some
real eye candy. Modern day colorists add depth and shade to the mix
and almost act as an additional inker sometimes. Modern colorists
have a million choices as well as other tools at their disposal and
blow my mind.
I
think that it is safe to say that Marvel has entered a period of
post-decompression with their comic books. Double page spreads and
splash pages are used sparingly rather than as a general rule to pad
out the page count. There are more caption boxes and word balloons
and, therefore, more story per issue then there were just a
few years ago. I felt like these issues had something to really sink
your teeth into. This was a refreshing change of pace from the faux
Frank Miller style of dialogue and caption free comics that have been
regurgitated ad nauseum over the past decade. This is a change for
the better.
So
while this book was slightly disappointing it was still entertaining.
I'm not writing off Remender's run yet and neither should you. It
takes more than one “off” day for me to write off a title. I'll
wait and see what he has up his sleeve next before making any final
decisions.
Junk
Food For Thought rating: 3.75 out of 5.
The
OCD zone- The free digital copy code is no longer on a stiff
piece of cardboard glued into the book block. It is now behind a
sticker which must be peeled off. While still annoying because it
“ruins” the book, it is far less annoying than the card.
I
really like the spine redesign on all of these Marvel NOW! collected
editions. I am not one of the spine fetishists of the world but some
designs look better than others.
DVD-style
Extras included in this book: #6 Many
Armors Of Iron Man variant by Pasqual Ferry.
#8
Wolverine Through The Ages variant by Alex Maleev
Script
for #10 (18 pages).
Paper
rating: 4.25 out of 5. The glossy coated stock paper is a fair
weight.
Binding
rating: 4 out of 5. Perfect bound/ glued binding. It lays pretty
flat in one hand since it is a thin book.
Hardback
cover coating rating: 4.5 out of 5. The cover has the image
printed directly on it, no dustjacket required. The coating is a
somewhat odd feeling dull matte finish and is scuff resistant with
reasonable handling.
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