Captain America #25 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

At some point in this issue, you start to wonder if the diarrhea and flatulence jokes are going to end.  No, really.  It really starts to sound like Bendis had returned to write the Avengers.  I know Remender meant to use these jokes to convey a sense of celebration, but they just keep going and going well beyond the time when anyone over the age of eight would find them funny.  Moreover (and unforgivably), he slights Jarvis by implying that he failed to make enough food, a charge that, among all the unbelievable parts of this issue, is the most difficult to believe.  

Speaking of the unbelievable parts of this issue, I don't really get why Jet flies off the handlebars at Sharon's accusations.  I mean, sure, I get why she would be upset.  But, would she really throw in her lot with her father so quickly?  She didn't really see a middle ground?  She evaded capture easily here.  She could've instead hidden somewhere for a while, approached Sam, and negotiated her return.  Or, if she really was innocent, she could've just surrendered.  After all, she knows that Zola used her to spy, so it stands to reason that Tony could've found the device that he used.  Again, I get why she's upset, but I don't know if I buy that she was so upset to return to Zola.  I mean, she even rebuffs her long-lost brother's efforts to stop her, claiming that he had a moment to have her back.  However, it wasn't like they had some huge meeting and he remained silent throughout it.  Was he supposed to punch Cap or Sharon at some point during the one- or two-minute window when Sharon accused Jet of treachery and Steve tried to arrest her?  Him trying to stop her from returning to Zola before they could get to the truth is him having her back.

The problem is that Remender doesn't really have time to do everything that he wanted to do.  It's like he wrote a 44-page issue and Marvel cut 22 pages.  He should've taken the full 22 pages to end the Zola saga and then addressed Sam taking over the shield.  Instead, we're forced to summarily dismiss Jet and hurriedly introduce Sam as Captain America, and neither character deserved such a fate.  To make matters worse, we get a four-page epilogue that establishes one of the long-serving Avengers as a traitor colluding with HYDRA and re-introduces the Drain.  I know that it's supposed to set up the re-launch of the series as "All-New Captain America," but, honestly, I would've preferred that we at least sent off Jet in a way that made me understand why she felt the need to return to her father.  Then, we could've set up Sam's debut.  Sure, it might've meant that this series didn't end on the nice odd number of 25, but it would've been the ending that this amazing series deserved.

** (two of five stars)

Captain America #24 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Sam fucking Wilson, everybody.

Nobody has ever written Sam better than Remender.  Seriously.  In fact, I'm hard pressed to think of a character with a better combination of heroism, humor, and integrity than Sam displays under Remender.  Throughout this issue, I found myself hoping that Steve really does listen to Sam and takes off time to be happy with Sharon and Ian, because, man, I really want to read a series about Sam as Captain America.

Beyond just the awesomeness of Sam, the rest of this issue is also great.  The heroes discover that Zola's mutate invasion is just a cover to distract them from discovering his true plan:  to set off a bomb to destroy New York.  The scenario is certainly one that we've seen countless times in superhero comics, but Remender finds a way to infuse it with emotion and suspense.  First, he reveals that Zola engineered Jet to return to Earth with Captain America so that he could spy on the Avengers.  Although I would like more information on how exactly Zola used Jet to spy, the revelation explains why Zola didn't simply detonate the bomb; he needed time to convince Jet to leave with him.  As a result, Zola isn't just a stereotypical villain monologuing to give the heroes time to stop him; he's delaying putting his plan into action on purpose to try to win back his daughter.  It's this attention to detail that prevents the story from falling into a cliché, and I hope other authors use it as an object lesson on how you take a familiar comic-book trope and make it feel fresh.

Moreover, it's the revelation that Sharon and Steve have a child together -- in the most superhero way imaginable -- that begins to bring this series to a close.  Red Skull and Arnim Zola stole one child from them, but they give them another one in the form of Ian, as Remender reveals that Sharon raised Ian after Steve left.  As Sam says, you really feel that they deserve to be a family, and it's the anxiousness that something might happen to Ian or Sharon before they have the chance at it that fuels the tension of the latter part of this issue.  It's a rare comic-book author that can bring this sort of emotion to a story, and it was a pleasure to read.  Moreover, this feeling is amplified by the fact that it comes organically from watching these characters' struggles over the last 23 issues.  With one issue left, I'm just hoping that Cap gets to ride into the sunset for a little while. 

**** (five of five stars)

Captain America #23 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

I'll admit it:  I actually thought Remender was off his game.  It was so obvious that Ian was the intruder that his reunion with Steve lacked a certain emotional punch.  It didn't help that they hardly had time for a hug before (a rather dashing and handsome) Ian joins Hulk, Iron Man, and Thor in an assault on Zola's tower.  But, I was wrong.  It's the unexpected revelation on the last page that Sharon is alive that made me realize that Remender knew exactly what he was doing.  Talk about a bait and switch!

Beyond the revelations, this issue is a joy to read.  Remender does a spectacular job with the characterization of everyone here.  From Tony's running commentary to Hulk's amazing "Hulk am poet of SMASH!" exclamation, the characters not only sound the way that they should but draw out the best in each other.  Remender constructed the story to maximize the potential of these interactions.  I loved watching Ian dive into battle with the other Avengers, and the paternal affection that even Tony starts to show toward Ian makes me hope that we see this group fight more battles in the future.  Moreover, Jet and Sam continue to be the best unexpected couple of the year.  Sure, Jet seems to have entirely changed her personality over the last few issues, but maybe Remender is just a hopeless romantic and believes that love inspires people to leave behind their shell.  Either way, it's just fun to watch them.

Plus, it's not only a great stand-alone issue, but it also sets up the grand finale.  Cap, Hulk, Ian, Iron Man, Jet, Sharon, Sam, and Thor versus Zola?  I can't wait to see that.  This title continues to be the only one that breaks my usual habit of reading my pull list in alphabetic order, because I can't wait to see what happens every month.  All hail Rick!

***** (five of five stars)

Winter Soldier: The Bitter March #5 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

It was pretty clear from the start of this series that we weren't going to get a happy ending.  This issues confirms that hunch.

The increased violence that Remender and Boschi show Bucky and Ran using throughout this issue effectively conveys the characters' desperation.  Remender starts the issue giving them all a brief moment of hope, with Bucky plotting to kill his Soviet handlers before coming in from the cold and Ran imaging a future with Mila.  But, then the Soviets find them, and everything goes to Hell.  Nick Fury taking out the helicopter carrying Bucky and Mila is a brilliant stroke, since his actions lead not only to the rebirth of the Winter Soldier (after the Soviets recover his body) but also the birth of the Iron Nail (as Ran is now filled with hate when they send them to infiltrate Mao's camp).  It's just a reminder how often S.H.I.E.L.D. makes short-sighted decisions, something that Marvel has been doing a great job highlighting lately.

This mini-series is really a testament to Remender's ability to create new villains and not just rehash old ones.  I'm hard pressed to think of a better new villain -- other than Remender's own Apocalypse Twins -- than the Iron Nail, so I'm glad Marvel gave Remender a chance to develop him more fully here.  I'd love to see Remender return to Ran some day and show us his conversion to the communist cause.  At this point, we really only see him a broken man.  I intellectually understand how years of living with Mao as well as getting unlimited power from Fin Fang Foom turn him into the lunatic that we eventually saw in "Captain America," but it would be interesting to see that process first-hand.

*** (three of five stars)

Captain America #22 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Wow, we cover a lot of ground in this issue.

First, I like how Remender only half-heartedly tries to get us to buy Maria and Nick's argument that S.H.I.E.L.D. should keep Gungnir.  Nick tries to pretend that the ever-expanding Avengers' roster raises the same governance and oversight questions as S.H.I.E.L.D.'s operations.  Remender also shows that Nick isn't the only person to hold this position through a news clip of a talking head ranting about the need to hold Captain America responsible to the people that he serves (after his alleged work with Nuke in Nrosvekistan).  But, Cap doesn't buy it, and you can tell that Remender doesn't either.

But, the interesting part is that it's not Steve's fight to fight anymore.  Remender uses the Avengers' brain trust to make it clear that he's not putting Cap in the field any time soon, given Bruce and Tony's failure to find a way to re-super-soldier him.  This week's announcement that Sam is going to be the next Cap doesn't hurt either.  Remender continues to write a better Sam than anyone that I can remember.  Coming on the heels of the character's scene-stealing role in "Captain America:  The Winter Soldier," it's really the renaissance that the Falcon has needed for a long time.  It goes to a point that I often made about Sharon Carter.  She got dropped from the "Secret Avengers" roster once Cap left, as if she couldn't be a character in her own right.  Sam also gets treated this way not infrequently, and I'm excited to see him emerge as his own hero.

The only questionable part of this issue for me was Jet's characterization.  She suddenly develops a personality here, as well as an enjoyment for alcohol, despite telling the S-Man who offered her some in "Captain America" #16.NOW that she doesn't "pollute her body with mind-altering substances."  But, of course, in that issue, she knew that said S-Man wasn't exactly trust-worthy.  In the end, I've decided that I don't care.  I like this Jet.  Plus, it's not like she's unrecognizable.  She still makes everyone - particularly men - nervous, and I enjoy that thoroughly.

Oh, did I mention that Zola is alive and successfully invades Earth here?  (I told you that a lot happened.)  Remender doesn't say it, but it's easy enough to believe that decades have passed in Dimension Z and Zola managed to re-grow himself (or whatever it is that he does).  We'll probably get that proof when we learn next issue that the armored figure is an adult Ian.  Can I just say how excited that I am about that reunion?  It's not like Steve couldn't use a win.  He'll also need the help:  Zola isn't just acting alone.  He's putting into action some sort of master plan with the Red Skull.  Man, Sam is going to have his hands full.

If Brubaker's work on "Captain America" gave us the definitive Bucky story, then I have to say that Remender's run is starting to feel like the definitive Steve story (and, clearly, Sam story).  It's been a journey, taking him from a child to a senior citizen and exploring his challenges and struggles along the way.  I haven't been this excited for "Captain America" in years.

**** (four of five stars)

Captain America #21 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Holy effing crap.

Given that Remender destroyed Earth in "Uncanny Avengers" and sent Steve into another dimension for twelve years in this title, he's definitely proven himself to be an author that keeps you guessing.  As such, I wasn't entirely sure how this story was going to end, since it seemed entirely possible that Cap could fail to save Nrosvekistan.  The possibility that the hero might legitimately fail is so rarely on the table, and it clearly amps up the tension that builds throughout this issue.  In the end, Remender goes one better, because he makes you realize that you were worrying about the wrong thing.  Steve manages to save the day, but the Iron Nail drains the super-soldier serum from him in the process.  He wins the battle, but he loses his youth as a price.  Again, I really have no idea where Remender's going to go with that, and the possibility that Steve isn't going to be Captain America for a while left me staring blankly at the last page for a while.  For other artists, it would've felt like an obviously cheap stunt, tantamount to an X-Man's death.  For Remender, it's an opportunity to explore how Cap would respond to such a challenge.

Part of the tragedy of Steve losing his powers is that he just realized how important they were in the first place.  As he struggles to stop Gungnir from destroying Nrosvekistan, Steve realizes that he had been asleep at the wheel, wallowing in his (understandable) grief over the loss of Ian and Sharon and letting the Iron Nail advance his plan this far.  As I was reading it, I thought that I saw where Remender was going; the arc would likely end with Steve really getting his head into the game again.  Instead, he can't even play the game anymore.  Moreover, Steve might've stop Gungnir in the end, but the Iron Nail isn't necessarily wrong that he lost anyway.  Sure, S.H.I.E.L.D. may blame the Iron Nail for the chaos, and it might even be able to prove its case to the public, as I've mentioned over previous reviews.  But, the world is now aware of the sheer destructive power that the United States was creating.  It might not exactly bring rise to other nations declaring war on America as Ran thought (despite how awesome that story might be to explore in the hands of someone like Remender), but it will certainly have negative repercussions for the United States.  In that way, Steve's victory is limited, at best.

Remender also spends some time making sure we consider the impact that this issue will have on Steve's supporting cast.  I loved the fact that the Falcon gets the win here.  Remender writes Sam better than anyone that I can remember - full of determination and grit - and I found myself wondering if he's going to tap him to replace Steve for a while.  We're also left with all sorts of questions about Maria Hill.  In this series and "Uncanny X-Men," Remender and Bendis have portrayed her as unable to control S.H.I.E.L.D., with often disastrous consequences.  (Kot in "Secret Avengers" is starting to strike a similar theme.)  It make you wonder how much longer she's going to be in charge.

This issue is a great conclusion to the second arc of this series.  Remender just keeps finding ways to advance an overarching narrative from issue to issue, with each set of battles having consequences that drive the next set of battles.  "Captain America" hasn't been this consistently good at telling such a big story about Steve since Gruenwald.  Brubaker obviously told an amazing story about the Winter Soldier, but his later work had Cap mired in self-doubt because the world wasn't like it was in the 1940s, without ever considering whether the 1940s was the world that Cap thought that it was.  Remender is returning us to Gruenwald's stories of Cap considering whether he really wanted to advance the agenda of his employers, and this issue only ups the ante.  Amazing stuff. 

***** (five of five stars)

Winter Soldier: The Bitter March #4 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Remender keeps us guessing throughout this issue, as Bucky and Ran essentially trade places:  the Wraith presses Ran to admit his loss of faith in the Untied States to himself, while Bucky remembers his past and commits to saving Lila.  It's pretty clear that Ran isn't going to recover from this moment, starting him on the road to becoming the Iron Nail, and we know that Bucky will eventually be brought back into the Soviet fold.  Lila seems the only hope for Ran to avoid his fate - allowing him to embrace some form of hope - so it's pretty clear that she's either going to die or leave him.  I actually thought that Remender was going to do that here, when the Wraith convinces her to leap off the cliff, but Bucky manages to save her.  (This sequence was actually the only negative part of the issue for me, since it's unclear why the Wraith didn't just kill her if he was going eventually to have her jump off the cliff.)  If anyone thought this mini-series could have a happy ending, they should be disabused of that by now.

*** (three of five stars)

Captain America #20 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

This issue is a lull in the festivities.  Essentially, it's when you decide to get another beer (even though you don't want one) to escape your insane aunt talking about something that she heard on talk radio.  You're really just waiting for the fireworks display so that you can go home and take a nap.

Remender does use the issue to reveal the Iron Nail's master plan.  He's somehow managed to make it look like Nrosvekistan engineered the attack on the Hub in revenge for Nuke's attack, and he's transformed Gungnir into its robot form (really) to destroy Nrosvekistan in retaliation.  Unfortunately, it feels like I'm reading an extra issue of "Batman Eternal," where no one seems capable of making the obvious connections sitting right in front of them.  Can't Nrosvekistan pretty easily make it clear that it didn't bomb the Hub?  I think Remender's point is that the Iron Nail is moving so swiftly that it won't matter; S.H.I.E.L.D. will have already done its dirty work.  But, won't that let S.H.I.E.L.D. off the hook?  If someone made it look like the Nrosvekistanis bombed the Hub when they didn't, it'll be pretty easy for S.H.I.E.L.D. to claim that it was played.

Either way, I'm not sure that the Iron Nail is right about the impact of the destruction of Nrosvekistan.  Sure, it'll be a public-relations nightmare.  The United States might even get sanctioned.  But, once again, can't the United States just say that the Iron Nail took control of the helm of Gungnir?  It should be pretty easy to do.  I think (again) Remender's point is that truth is so fluid in the present that no one will believe the United States.  That may be true in terms of the public, but I doubt that countries are going to invade based on that premise.  Moreover, even if the public does turn against the United States, are they really going to stop using Facebook?  Are they going to stop buying iPads?  In a way, the Iron Nail's point is actually proof that his plan won't work:  truth is so fluid, no one actually really cares about it anymore.  Even if people buy everything that the Iron Nail is selling, they're not going to be moved to action.  Remender could actually have that be the conclusion of this arc; after all, we don't have to believe the Iron Nail is correct to appreciate the horror that Gungnir destroying Nrosvekistan would be, regardless of the fall-out.

My other problem with this issue, beside some seemingly obvious solutions to the problem at hand, is the talky nature of the script.  Remender usually has a lot of monologuing in his stories, but this issue takes it a little too far, in my view. Everyone just talks and talks and talks.  It's not that nothing happens, but I found myself not really paying all that close attention by the end.

** (two of five stars)

Captain America #19 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

I'm tagging the "Winter Soldier:  The Bitter March" series here, because we learn (or, at least, I do) that Ran Shen is the Iron Nail.  I'm going to read some back issues* to see if I've known that all this time, or if Remender just made it clear in this issue.  He certainly dropped the hint in "Winter Soldier:  The Bitter March" #2 when Ran contacted Dr. Mindbubble for help fleeing the Winter Soldier.  But, it obviously opens up all sorts of questions.  Why does Ran turn against S.H.I.E.L.D.?  How does he go on the journey to become the Iron Nail?  It's hard to believe that the young man that we see seducing a Nazi scientist over champagne and political philosophy while on the run from the Winter Soldier becomes the Iron Nail.  If you're not reading the Winter Soldier mini-series, I highly recommend it, because the questions surrounding Ran definitely make this arc much, much more interesting.  Otherwise, it's pretty normal.  Steve is outraged by a villain's ability to commit mass atrocities, and he rallies past his emotional baggage from the loss of Ian and Sharon to confront him.  Besides Ran, the most interesting development is Dr. Mindbubble taking over Steve's mind, making you wonder what damage he and the Iron Nail could accomplish with Steve -- not to mention Gungnir the Super-Helicarrier -- on their side.

* OK, the back-issue search makes it pretty clear that Ran is the Iron Nail from the start.  In issue #13, Ran returns to S.H.I.E.L.D. after going silent for the two years that he spent undercover infiltrating Mao Zedong's inner circle.  Mao apparently expelled him from the party after he formed his own communist group, the Shaolin Scientist Squad, and pissed off the Soviets.  Fury is surprised that Ran didn't think that he'd have discovered the truth.  However, Ran isn't there to return to S.H.I.E.L.D.:  he's there to bust out Dr. Mindbubble from the Weapon-Minus facility.  Unfortunately, he's stopped by the Winter Soldier, presumably there because of the pissed-off Soviets.  So, I don't necessarily have the answers to any of the questions that I raised in the preceding paragraph as a result of re-reading issues #12-#18, but they do help clarify that we always knew that Ran was the Iron Nail.  (We just didn't know Ran.)

*** (three of five stars)

Captain America #18 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

As much as I love Ed Brubaker, one of the weaknesses of his recent "Captain America" series was that he never found the right balance when it came to Cap questioning his ideals.  The series was one lament after another about the failures of the mass media and elected officials to fulfill their responsibilities to the American people.  Gruenwald previously had Cap go down that road, resigning his commission and becoming the Captain.  Unfortunately, Brubaker never had Cap come to any actual conclusion; it was a lot of disillusionment, not a lot of action.

Thankfully, Remender has done a much better job of connecting Cap's disillusionment to his actions.  First, he has made it clear why Cap would be disillusioned in the first place:  we previously had the irresponsible photo journalist dishonestly connecting him to Nuke's rampage in Nrosvekistan, and we now have Maria Hill's secretly building an enormous helicarrier (probably not for peaceful means).  Moreover, Remender gives Cap a clear view on these developments, unlike the previous series, where he seems conflicted all the time.  Here, Cap tells Falcon that he's previously worried about S.H.I.E.L.D.'s overreach, but always thought that they'd find their way after a period of overstepping their bounds.  But, now, post-Dimension Z, you get the sense that Cap isn't in the mood to keep on forgiving.  After all, he's in a period where he's pondering whether using non-lethal means is always justified, after realizing that killing Nuke would've saved hundreds of lives at the Hub.  (Remender also does a particularly good job of reminding us how dodgy Hill is, something that Bendis has also been exploring in the X-books.)  As a result, Remender makes the connection between the actual events and Cap's response all the clearer, explaining why we find him and the Falcon spying on S.H.I.E.L.D. in this issue.

This personal investment in the outcome fuels the issue, and it raises all sorts of questions.  On one hand, you're left wondering why Cap would prevent Dr. Mindbubble from taking down S.H.I.E.L.D., given the damage that he knows that it does.  Just the possibility that Cap might throw in his lot with the bad guys for the greater good is obviously enough to keep me reading.  But, even beyond that, you also wonder if he'd kill Mindbubble if he thought stopping him was a good idea.  By giving Cap a clear view on these issues, combined with a reassessment of his operating practices, Remender opens all sorts of possibilities that we didn't have in the previous series.  Add in some good banter between Cap ad the Falcon and and you've got a good time.

*** (three of five stars)

Captain America #17 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

The idea that Dr. Mindbubble (Weapon Minus) was created to counteract the various Weapon Pluses (Captain America, Wolverine, etc.) is pretty awesome.  I'm guessing that the point was that S.H.I.E.L.D. could use his mind-control powers to take over the Weapon Pluses if they got too dangerous, though it's unclear how S.H.I.E.L.D. planned on controlling Dr. Mindbubble (particularly given his actions in this issue).  Also, it's unclear how Dr. Mindbubble became allied with Iron Nail.  Was Iron Nail himself maybe a Weapons Plus project?  I guess we'll see.

Remender does a great job showing Steve's grief when he discovers that he essentially delivered a bomb (in the form of Nuke) into the Hub.  Rather than just making it grief, though, it ties into Steve's questioning of his entire modus operandi, at the urging of Jet Black.  I think Remender goes a little far in suggesting that Steve would ever think that Punisher might be right, as he does here, but I do buy that he might find some "Zola pragmatism" attractive, particularly given his current mental-state.  After all, Jet suggests that Cap might've been right when he came close to killing Nuke, a point seemingly underscored by the devastation at the Hub.  If Remender doesn't overplay this hand, I'm interested to see where we go with Steve's re-assessment of his non-lethal tactics.

The only reason that I'm giving this issue only three stars is that I feel like Remender went the cheap way in making the banker so overzealously evil.  Few people think of themselves as truly evil.  I think that it would've been better to have the guy narrowly obsessed with profits rather than making him into someone who seemingly wanted as many people as possible saddled with bad loans, as he's portrayed here.  It's a relatively minor complaint, but I'd be lying if I didn't say that I rolled my eyes at one point.

*** (three of five stars)

Captain America #16.NOW (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

This issue is difficult to follow in a way, because Jet Black consciously rejects all the usual tropes that a comic involves.  She tells the S-Man who attempts to befriend her that his sob story about his family dying in Genosha won't convince her to join his side.  (She doesn't even let him get her drunk.)  She also rejects the Red Skull's attempt to get her to join his side by cutting off the pretty speech about hate that serves as his trademark.  It's hard to manipulate someone who doesn't have the patience for it.  Similarly, it's hard to know where an issue is going when the character refuses to follow the well worn path.

The S-Man's story is possibly the best part of this issue, since it fleshes out the story that Remender has been telling in "Uncanny Avengers."  We've never really been properly introduced to the S-Men; we've only really ever seen them serve as the Skull's shock troops and little else.  Getting some more background about one of them implies that we're going to be seeing more of them in the future, in both that title and this one.  Moreover, the story in and of itself is intriguing.  The S-Man's father uproots them because he believes in the mutants' cause; however, the son only comes to resent the mutants for giving his messianic father a cause, one that forces them to leave their otherwise happy life in the Soviet Union.  When his family is killed in the Sentinels' attack on Genosha while he was studying abroad, it confirms his belief that this sort of associative compassion is a weakness, one that cost him his family.  In that way, he serves as the inverse of Jet, a man raised in compassion who embraces hate.  I honestly can't wait to see more of him, particularly as a foil for Jet.

When it comes to Jet herself, I was actually somewhat confused by the ending.  After fleeing the Red Skull, she suddenly herself standing in the alley where she was originally approached.  We're left uncertain if the events of this issue actually happened (though I think that they did, to be honest), particularly if the image of her father was real or not.  I'm not really sure why Remender went with this sort of mystical ending, but hopefully it'll become clearer at some point.

*** (three of five stars)

Captain America #15 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

I like what Remender does with Nuke in this issue, making him the sympathetic character that he deserves to be, given his long history of shadowy figures manipulating him.  He also does a great job of using Steve's lecture to Nuke about forgetting the wars of the past as a reminder that he needs to do the same thing, something that he himself acknowledges to Sam.  But, of course, it can't all be rainbows and unicorns.  I knew from the moment that Agent Lamia was introduced -- the daughter of a soldier that Nuke saved -- that this issue wasn't going to end happily.  Iron Nail nuking Nuke and taking out the S.H.I.E.L.D. Hub Station -- and Lamia -- in the process wasn't exactly what I expected, thought it got the job done.

That said, the Iron Nail parts of this story bothered me.  First, I think that Remender at some point has to explain how he has all these amazing camera angles on the devices that he's using to spy on the protagonists.  I assume that Hub Station had a lot of cameras, so I understand how he hacked into the feed (though I have to wonder why it was so easy for him to do so).  But, he also seems to have a camera in Steve's bedroom, which seems like the sort of thing that Steve would've noticed at some point.  Second, he's a little too communist.  The conversation that he had with the banker trying to escape his mine lacked any nuance, with the Iron Nail just ranting about capitalists not working as hard as the proletariat.  I mean, sure, OK, I get it philosophically, but, for a modern super-villain, it's hard to believe that he's really just motivated by taking out the bourgeoisie.

*** (three of five stars)

Captain America #14 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

I'm probably going to be giving too much to credit to Marvel here, but, if the next cross-over event deals with a full-on attack on S.H.I.E.L.D. by various interested-parties, I'll be impressed with the way that it built to that event in several titles.  After all, we've got Cyclops and Wolverine preparing to go to war with S.H.I.E.L.D. for its development of mutant-killing Sentinels in "Wolverine and the X-Men."  Here, we've got the Iron Nail deciding to take down S.H.I.E.L.D. so that the world can live free from the secret police.  If you don't believe that S.H.I.E.L.D. is the secret police, the Secret Avengers' attempted assassination of A.I.M.'s Dr. Forson in "Secret Avengers" makes a pretty compelling case.  Moreover, Sam's orders to take the camera from the journalist in this issue is a good example of the sort of ethically challenged decisions that S.H.I.E.L.D. makes with little accountability.  That said, Remender also shows why the press isn't the noble institution that it thinks that it is, with the journalist misrepresenting the truth by saying that Cap and Nuke worked together in Nrosvekistan, probably for the page clicks.  It's exactly the sort of story that we should be seeing in "Captain America."

*** (three of five stars)

Captain America #13 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

I actually don't have a ton to say about this issue, since it's pretty straight-forward.  We get some background info on the Iron Nail, though it's clear that Remender is just setting up that story.  We also get Sam trying to protect Steve from his responsibilities while he heals, emotionally and physically.  Remender really gives us some great characterization here, making it clear that Sam feels overwhelmed by that task.  Remender makes it equally clear why he would feel that way, since Cap's in a pretty bad place throughout the issue.  We first see him lying in bed in the middle of the day, something that an emotionally hale and hearty Steve probably wouldn't be doing.  Moreover, Steve's thought-process in combat when he faces Nuke underlines implication that he's close to losing it.  It's pretty stream-of-consciousness, in a way that makes it seem like Cap's just trying to hold it together.  We're definitely building to something here and this issue makes it clear that it's not going to be pretty.

*** (three of five stars)

Captain America #12 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

OK, we have a lot going on here.  First, Remender unexpectedly has Cap break down this issue.  I figured that we were going to have to wait several issues for him to lose it at a crucial moment, to realize that his failure to acknowledge his pain was going to cost him or someone else their lives.  Instead, it's understandably the Falcon who gets Steve to come clean, not only about Ian but about how disconnected he feels to a world that he barely remembers (again).  Surprisingly early as it is, I'm glad to see it.  The Falcon isn't like Bruce Banner, "Nick" Fury, Maria Hill, or Hank Pym, the people who last issue decided that spending ten years in an alternate dimension was no good reason for Steve not to be released from the hospital.  The Falcon knows Steve enough to know that he's hurting and that he needs to be pushed to acknowledge that hurt, since he interprets that pain, as we see here, as a weakness.  I wasn't really interested in a story where Steve's grief drives him to the brink and I'm honestly glad that we're spared that here.  His grief might weigh on him and manifest itself later, but it's at least a burden that he's not sharing alone.  To have him do so would have been to underestimate the great supporting cast that he's always had and I'm glad that Remender doesn't do that.

But, Steve is actually only one of the focues of this issue.  (In fact, I wouldn't even say that he's the primary one.)  Here, we learn that Nuke isn't just some deranged super-soldier, but a deranged super-soldier whose strings are being pulled by a Chinese Communist with dragon-based powers.  (Yes, you read that correctly.)  As bizarre as it sounds, Remender really sells it, since you could see how the damage that Nuke's doing is going to hurt America.  Moreover, the dragon guy is amassing some of the world's richest men to work as laborers, a punishment for their capitalist sins.  The connection between Nuke and their disappearances is made be a freelance journalist covering Nuke's attacks, though Remender doesn't really make it clear how the trail of the men's disappearances led her to Nuke, though she herself explicitly makes that connection.  Has Nuke been kidnapping them and she's been following Nuke?  Or, is she following the dragon guy kidnapping them and stumbled upon Nuke?  And, if the goal is, as I'm assuming, to discredit America, why is dragon guy ensuring that news of Nuke's rampage isn't being released?  (I'm assuming that he's behind the communications block that the journalist mentions here.)

I'm anxious to have those questions answered, but I think Remender's doing a great job of raising them.  Steve is likely to be an issue or two away from addressing the problem, given his current situation, so I like the fact that Remender's keeping it on a slow boil in the background at this point.  The lid clearly isn't going to stay in place for too long, though.

*** (three of five stars)

Captain America #11 (HERE BE SPOILERS!

With Steve's return to Earth, Remender does a great job of establishing Steve's new status quo.  He answers the most important question, informing us that Steve did spend 12 years in Dimension Z, though also letting us know that the Super-Soldier Serum prevented him from aging normally during that time.  He also confirms the full extent of Steve's injuries (as unbelievable as they are, given that he confirms that Steve has been doing everything in these last few issues with a Zola-sized hole in his chest.)  Moreover, we know that Steve considers both Ian and Sharon to be dead, giving us a sense of the incredible grief that he must be experiencing.  After just the first few pages, we understand the full spectrum of mental and physical trauma that Steve has to overcome as a result of his time in Dimension Z.

That said, the answer that we don't get is how Steve will overcome that trauma.  The reason isn't because Remender is remiss in showing us that process; it's because Remender understands Steve well enough to know that he himself has no idea how to do it.  In a worrisome sign, Steve goes beyond just refusing assistance here; he's actively trying to keep people from knowing the full scope of his trauma, given that he and Jet have colluded to keep Ian's existence a secret.  Remender does a great job of showing how everyone -- Bruce Banner, "Nick Fury," Maria Hill, Hank Pym -- defers to Steve to such an extent that it doesn't even dawn on them to refuse his request to return to work as quickly as possible.  I kept waiting for the Falcon to arrive to suggest that Steve might not be in a place where he gets to make a decision about his best course of treatment.  The fact that he goes home and burns all his possession to sever his link to his past is probably a good sign that he's not doing so well, mentally.

That said, something also feels right about that moment.  After all, burning all his artifacts from the Second World War shows that Cap's time in Dimension Z eclipses that experience, at least to a certain extent.  In a way, Remender is clearly trying to make Steve a more modern character.  He keeps him as a man struggling in a time that he doesn't recognize, but it's now not because Frank Sinatra isn't at the top of the charts.  Steve is completely forced to reconcile the experiences of one period of his life with the experiences in the time where he finds himself.  In Brubaker's most recent run on this series, Cap was portrayed as struggling with the disillusionment that he felt over the political discourse in the 2010s, with an implicit parallel to the similar discourse from the 1940s.  I was never really a fan of that parallel, since it seems too simple.  In a way, Remender goes after it in his portrayal of Steve's youth, since an orphan of Steve's young age living in Depression-era New York would certainly be able to cope with the fact that America didn't always manage to deliver on its promises.  By burning all his artifacts, Steve is somehow acknowledging that Depression-era New York, Nazi Germany, and Dimension Z all inform who he is, but he has to find out who he is in 2013 America.  At this point, he has his mother's exhortation to always stand up and a shield.  The rest is now an open book.  If Remender brings Cap to a good place at the end of his run, it'll be a Cap who embraces his optimism that America will always deliver, based not only on those past experience but also on the experiences he has after his return from Dimension Z.  In a way, it'll be a repudiation of Brubaker's Cap, who struggled to find that optimism in a politically polarized world.

Of course, he could also just go crazy.  I think it would actually be interesting for Remender to explore this idea, similar to the road that Brubaker took with the Winter Soldier upon his return.  It's pretty easy to see Steve break, driven mad by being displaced from place and time to such an extent that he has no cultural, ethical, or political moorings; 2010s America might as well be 2110s America, because his experience in that iceberg and Dimension Z have robbed him of any frame of reference.  Maybe sometimes you just can't always stand up, even if you're Captain America.  I actually hope that Remender takes us down that road for a while, because I think it'll mean more when we find ourselves in the place of optimism that we all hope we'll eventually see.

Anyway, the fact that I've written this much about this issue shows just how incredible I think what Remender is doing with Cap is.  I can't wait to see where you go from here.

New-ish Comics! (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Batman/Superman #3:  This issue would've been great if not for the completely unlikely story involving a young Bruce playing baseball with a young Clark in Smallville.  Pak and Lee have been telling a story that's often difficult to follow, requiring a re-reading (or two) to get a full sense of the story.  However, that effort is generally rewarded with a greater appreciation of the story.  Unfortunately, with the random flashbacks to an imagined childhood, it made this process all the more difficult, since it prevented them from focusing on the story at hand.  For example, I'm still unclear on why the government was developing a crystal meant to take down Superman.  In fact, I'm not entirely sure which Superman (of the two) is the target.  Moreover, the crystal's connection to Darkseid is left virtually unexplored.  Pak really could've used the four or five pages spent on the childhood digression to clarify the actual story.  The whole thing reeks of editorial interference.  Hopefully, we can just forget about it and get some answers next issue.

Captain America #10:  Honestly?  I can think of few multiple-issue runs that were anywhere near the same level as this one.  The only ones that come to mind are the Kang War ("Avengers" #41-#55) and the Black Mirror ("Detective Comics" #871-#881).  Remender kept us guessing to the very last minute, when you weren't sure if the "ghost" helping the Phrox was going to be Ian or Sharon.  The revelation that it was Ian (and the brilliance of branding him "Nomad") literally made me gasp.  Moreover, his resurrection of sorts reminds you just how much Remender leaves on the table.  Dimension Z is a weird place, where you truly believe that a child can survive getting shot at point-blank range and falling into a chemical-fueled river.  If you believe that, you also believe that Sharon Carter may be alive (and possibly Zola's host) or that Steve Rogers might really have lived ten years without aging more than a few minutes.  The consequences didn't just completely disappear at the end of this arc, wrapped into a neat package.

As such, Steve's status quo is completely unclear at this point.  After all, who does he mourn first?  Ian?  Sharon?  Himself?  What are the physical repercussion of his ten years in Dimension Z?  Did he actually age?  When he briefly returned to Dimension Z from the tunnel, the ruins of the destroyed battle-station had already aged, seemingly implying that Steve is a decade older.  How does that work?  Also, how does he handle Jet Black?

But, we have next month to worry about those questions.  For now, it's time to bask in Remender delivering the quintessential Captain America story.  Remender made this storya bout Cap and his faith in himself.  He reminds us of that faith in this issue, when Cap tells his mutate clone that a few derogatory comments about his mother aren't going to make him doubt the lessons that he learned from her.  Moreover, Remender reminds us that this faith in himself is bigger than Cap, that it inspires the entirety of the Marvel Universe; here, this faith inspires Ian in exactly the way that Cap hoped, leaving behind his legacy in Dimension Z even if he's unaware of it.  Moreover, Sharon is perfect here.  Remender treats her as the bad-ass that she's always been, completely in charge of the situation and doing what needs to be done, regardless of the consequences.  Even Brubaker, who freed her from the "Gal Friday" role that she often played, rarely portrayed her as strong as she is here.  It's one of the few times where I've felt sad at losing a character but actually OK with the way that their story ends.

Can we also just talk about the craft on display here?  Remender's amazing narration of the epilogue, where you had no idea where it was going until you arrived at the Nomad revelation?  JR JR's insane landscapes and even more insane Zola?  This entire arc was a tour de force in terms of the talents of everyone involved.

It's a big, crazy, epic story.  You're left wanting so much more; I found myself hoping that we're going to get a Dimension Z series that follows Nomad.  But, Remender isn't rushing anything.  I was hestitant about this story in the first few issues, but Remender has finally give Cap the sort of ongoing series that he deserves.  I can't wait to see where we go from here.

Captain Marvel #15:  The obvious problem with this issue, which Sana herself acknowledges in the letters page, is that you feel like you're not missing one issue, but several.  First, we're presented Carol's memory-loss as a fait accompli, despite the fact that it wasn't particularly clear at the end of last issue that it was the repercussion of severing her telepathic link with Yon-Rogg.  Moreover, Carol is notably not in New York, but somewhere in deep space with the Avengers, fighting the Builders.  I stopped reading "Avengers," but I am reading "Infinity" and I don't remember this ground being covered in issue #1.  (When exactly did Earth join the Galactic Council?  Do they no longer consider it an irrelevant back-water?  Of course, I had trouble following "Infinity" #1, so maybe it's just me.)

But, DeConncik actually, somehow, manages to move you past all that.  She embraces the chaos, showing Carol as somewhat thankful that she's lost her memories, because the lack of emotional investment makes it easier to deal with the insanity around her.  In fact, DeConnick seems to be speaking to the reader and Carol on the same level, promising all of us answers so long as we make it thorugh the "Infinity" business.  It's remarkably clever, just as we've all come to expect from this series.

Scarlet Spider #21:  Buddy's going to be OK, right?  Right?  I mean, everyone's going to be OK, right?  Kaine is going to remember that he's a hero now and save everyone, right?

Unlike the past few issues, Kraven is a villain from Kaine's past whose presence here makes sense.  After all, it's Kaine who led to his defeat at Spider-Man's hands during "Grim Hunt."  Kraven's not likely to forget that easily.  Moreover, under normal circumstance, I'd be totally fine with Kraven posing as Ben Reilly in order to torture Kaine, since it's exactly the type of crazy that you'd expect from Kraven.  However, on the heels of the cross-over event with "Superior Spider-Man Team-Up," I have to say that it didn't work the way that I think Yost hoped that it would.  I spent most of the issue worried that it was a continuation of the Jackal's plot, something Yost clearly wanted us to think to make the revelation that it was Kraven all the more impactful.  But, instead, it proved to be distracting, since it not only reminded me of a plot that I find overplayed but also makes you wonder what the Jackal is doing now that he's returned to the background and when some other remnant of the Clone Saga is going to darken Kaine's door.  So, although it was clever, it would've been even better had it not come on the heels of the "Clone Saga 2.0" story that we just had.

Regardless, I'm definitely anxious to see where we go from here, both in Kaine's confrontation with Kraven and the status of his supporting cast.  Interestingly, unlike the Assassins Guild or the Clone Saga, Kraven is a ghost of Kaine's past as a hero, not as a villain, and I wonder if it'll play out differently than the other stories have.

Thanos Rising #5:  Aaron makes it pretty clear here that he doesn't believe that Death has guided Thanos through the years; Thanos himself is responsible for his actions.  In fact, if Aaron raises any questions here, it's not whether Thanos really sees Death, but it's if his construction of Death is a sign of mental illness or a convenient excuse for his behavior.  In other words, is Thanos mad or, as Monitor says, is he really just selfish?  Either way, we emerge with a more complete and sympathetic view of Thanos here, though one that actually somehow makes him more responsible for his crimes.  It's been a complicated story for a complicated character and Aaron really did a great job of giving us a definitive approach to a character who's too often been used simply as a powerful bugaboo.  "Infinity" is unlikely to add any nuance to the character, so I finished this issue glad for this mini-series and a chance to understand Thanos better.

Young Avengers #9:  Ugh.  Heart-breaking.  I mean, OK, I trust Kieron GIllen and I really believe that he has no intention of keeping Billy and Teddy apart forever.  Moreover, as Teddy himself implies here, Billy's decision to let Teddy go seems to signify that he's not making Teddy love him.  I mean, I don't think that we're ever going to get a definitive answer to that question, since it essentially requires proving a negative, that Billy isn't making Teddy love him.  But, if he were, it would seem unlikely that he would allow Teddy to go.  Instead, it seems more likely that he believes that Teddy loves him and equally believes that Teddy will return to him, a conclusion that we all hope Teddy will also make.  Because I trust Gillen, I also know that Teddy has to go through this journey.  They are, after all, just kids and the people who live the kind of life that they live don't just get to marry their high-school sweetheart and live happily ever after.  For them to be happy, Teddy needs to believe that Billy isn't making him love him and that requires some time on his own for a while.  (I mean, if Billy is really an multidimensional messiah, he can probably make Teddy love him from afar, but, really, let's not go too far down that road.)

Captain America #9 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Remender really shakes up Steve here, with Sharon claiming that it was Zola’s manipulations that left him thinking that he had been in Dimension Z for several years.  When she tells him that it’s only been 30 minutes or so, Steve clearly doesn’t believe her.  Of course, Remender plays his cards close to his chest and so I’m not quite sure whether he wants us to believe her, either.  It's pretty unclear what the truth is going to wind up being or, really, if we're going to get one truth.  It was always unlikely that Remender was going to have Steve age 12 years, given the impact it would have on his status quo.  Given that some sort of de-aging ray would be too incredible to believe, even for this story, it seems likely that Sharon’s right.  But, that said, Ian and Jet were real people, evidenced by Sharon interacting with them.  It couldn’t have all been some sort of fever dream; Ian was a baby and grew into a child, for sure.  The answer to this question is going to have a significant impact on where we go from here so I’m anxious to see what it is.

Meanwhile, Zola exits, stage right here.  Remender tries to make Zola into an emotional, if not sympathetic, character here, sacrificing himself so that Jet could live.  The problem, though, is that I’m not quite sure that I buy that.  We are talking about the guy with so little regard for human life that he mutated his maid with a dog.  I get that it’s his daughter, but I’m still not sure that Zola is capable of love, particularly given Jet’s betrayal.  It does raise the question, though, where Remender is going to go with Jet.  She seems the only possible candidate to cross into Cap’s ongoing status quo, though I wonder if Remender will allow her that.  It seems it would be all the more devastating if Steve were to leave Dimension Z with no proof of what he experienced there, which leads me to believe that it's the most likely outcome.

Captain America #8 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Honestly, this issue is almost too devastating to recap.  When I saw the cover, I had a hunch that Sharon would arrive and kill Ian, but, when the moment came, I was totally wrecked by it.  Although I felt like Remender had Ian shake off Zola's programming a little too quickly, it was still a happy moment, the redemption of the suffering that Steve had endured on behalf of his son.  It's of course what makes what comes next all the more terrible, to have that hope snatched from Steve when he needs it the most.  Remender and JR, Jr. go to great pains to make it appear that Ian's death is irreversible, with his body falling into the vat of liquids below them, and you have to wonder where we go from here.  Can Steve forgive Sharon for "saving" him by killing his son?  Does Ian get reborn with all his memories like "Captain Zolalandia?"  Do any of Ian's criticisms of America -- a land that uses force to protect the wealthy, but pretends to be a beacon on the hill -- shake Steve's faith in himself and his mission?  Remender leaves open all those questions and I'm sure that we'll have to address them at some point.  Right now, though, we have to have our battle royale with Zola and I honestly can't wait.  I seriously hope Steve hands him his ass after everything he -- and the reader -- has endured so far.