Artist: Mitch Breitweiser
Colorist: Elizabeth Breitweiser
Letterer: Artmonkeys Studios
Review: Will Dubbeld
Like I wasn’t gonna review Captain America for Independence Day...
And not just any Captain America.
This one-shot takes place in 1944, long before the Star-Spangled Avenger joined the ranks of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.
All eras featuring Cap’s adventures are dear to me, but I’ve a special attachment to his WWII stories.
It’s due to my grandfather having served in WWII mixed with a healthy love of seeing Nazis getting their shit kicked in.
Because fuck Nazis.
Which is incredibly odd to still be a thing in the year of our lord, two thousand and eighteen, but here we are.
In any case, the Knaufs hit the mark here. Cap runs a solo mission behind enemy lines, takes a ride on a bomber complete with nose art, and fights a giant Nazi with a mechanical eye.
The mission objective involves rescuing a scientist responsible for inventing Nazi flying saucers.
That’s right, Foo Fighters. More accurately, “Feu Fighters”, as I understand.
Anyway, Captain America versus death ray-shooting UFOs, folks.
This isn’t quite your classic, safe Captain America romp. It’s seeped heavily in dramatics and is somewhat dark in spots, placing the story squarely between a Sgt. Fury, “Wah-Hoo!”, and the Dirty Dozen. It’s not the (relatively) sanitized style of yesteryear, but that means the comic is able to deliver æsthetics like Cap duel-wielding machine guns whilst liberating Jewish prisoners from a concentration camp.
For the win.
Essentially, we’re given the gift of a Golden Age Cap story wrapped in some of the new millennium sensibilities and a handful of grit.
True Grit, even.
I didn’t remember this one-shot at all but am glad I rediscovered it in one of my longboxes.
It’s an enjoyable read from stem to stern for all, except for the most evangelical Captain America fans, I would imagine.
The Knaufs Knauf it outta the park, as far as I’m concerned, but I’m curious as to what happened to the father-son Knauf duo. They were very prevalent for a hot minute, writing Iron Man and The Eternals amongst others, and then, boom!.
They dropped out of the comic scene.
As far as I know, in any case.
It makes one wonder...
This is a great little single issue, not beholden to continuity or a slave to crossover. Honestly, there’s no reason this couldn’t be a regular standalone issue of the regular series. Unfortunately, Marvel seems stuck in this cycle prohibiting anything short of a convenient, trade paperback-sized story arc.
Neatly packaged.
Make Mine Marvel, Excelsior, and have a safe and happy Independence Day, friends.
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