I Hate It When This Happens

Solicited by Marvel earlier today:

CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIGHTING AVENGER #1
Written by BRIAN CLEVINGER
Pencils by GURIHIRU
Covers by GURIHIRU & BARRY KITSON
Captain America’s Day One!
He’s got the strength. He’s got the training. But has he got what it takes? A ragtag Special Forces unit takes Captain America on his first mission of World War II. Their orders? Don’t get him killed! But when the low-profile assignment draws the attention of Baron Strucker, the future Red Skull and half the Nazi army, it’ll be a crash course in super heroics for Marvel’s first Avenger!
48 PGS. /One-Shot/Rated A …$3.99

Y'all may or may not remember, but way back during SDCC '10, in July, this was announced as an ongoing, to premiere in January. I wondered where it was, and now I know: it's a one shot, coming out in April. My feeling at the time was that it was going to be a similar quality as the sadly canceled Thor: The Mighty Avenger and my feeling now is that the cancellation of that book probably has something to do with the minimizing of this one. It's too bad, too- I still love Gurihiru's design for Captain America.

"We're Going To See Him When He's New to This Whole War Thing"

Today's announcement of pre-continuity Captain America series written by Brian Clevinger and drawn by the Japanese art team (one might even go so far as to call them a dynamic duo)* Gurihiru, entitled Captain America: Fighting Avenger has some potential. The idea of an ongoing series set during the War is a fantastic one and, if it means that we get to see some Captain America war comics on a consistent basis, it's something I'm sure to pick up come January.

Oh, sure, it could be terrible- light reboots like this sometimes are- but looking at the killer costume redesign Gurihiru came up with and reading what Clevinger has to say about the project gives me heart:

"We're approaching Captain America from an angle you never really see. It's that window between getting hepped up on supersoldier serum and becoming, y'know, the mythic Captain America that immediately comes to mind when you talk about him."

This suggests a sort of Captain America: Year One style project (sort of like last week's solid Thor: The Mighty Avenger #1), but without all the grimngritty that's usually found tagging along with a project like that and, in fact, what he goes on to say about his writing style for the work is a further reason to see this project as a potential bright light:

"To put it into die-hard Marvel reader terms: it's not funny like Deadpool, but maybe it's funny like Iron Fist"

Funny like Iron Fist? Surely, Brian Clevinger, you mean funny like The Immortal Iron Fist, my favorite comic book series ever? Sweet.

So we've got a good concept with a writer who has promised that his writing's going to be serious with a little bit of a goofy streak- but, wait. There's more, you say?

"What's great about Steve is that he just wants to do what's right. Actually, it kind of goes beyond that, doesn't it? It doesn't occur to him there's an option. Even more than Spider-Man, I've felt that Steve is the embodiment of, 'With great power comes great responsibility.' Only, in Steve's case, I think he considers 'citizenship' to be the great power in question. Whereas the power/responsibility mantra is more of a lesson or a reminder to Peter Parker, for Steve it's a fundamental part of reality that's as inevitable as gravity."

I didn't think there was another writer out there who gets Captain America like Ed Brubaker does but maybe, just maybe, we've found that guy. This is a project that has the chance to be absolutely fantastic- perhaps my expectations are a little bit too high, but I simply can't wait.

The ball is in your court, Brian Clevinger. Please don't disappoint.

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*Alright, fine- I'd never heard of Gurihiru until reading the announcement today- but, seriously, is that costume just killer or what? The helmet is a stroke of genius.