Captain America #45 Review

Creative Team
Writer: Ed Brubaker
Artist: Luke Ross and Butch Guice
Inkers: Rick Magyar, Mark Pennington, and Butch Guice
Colorist: Frank D'Armata

Story - Time's Arrow: Part 3 of 3

Review
There are many reasons why I find Bucky as Captain America much more interesting than Steve Rogers but the number 1 reason why I find Bucky more interesting is all the story possibilities Brubaker and future writers have with Bucky and his unknown past. Nothing against Steve but the problem with him as Captain America, like so many comic book characters, is that all the stories fall under the category of been there, done that. There isn't much more of Steve's history that can be explored since there isn't much their anymore.

This is were Brubaker gets a huge benefit with Bucky as Captain America and why the stories feel new and refreshing. There is about a sixty year gap in Bucky's history during his time as Cap's partner and as the Winter Soldier that is a big mystery to the reader which allows Brubaker and other future writers a bit more freedom with the stories they want to tell. But with characters like Steve Rogers, Batman, and Superman many writers are hindered due to all the history those characters have that writers can't take to many liberties, if any at all, with those characters and their history.

Brubaker does such a great job integrating the flashbacks to Bucky's past with his present adventures that it makes the reader realize their is still much we do not know about Bucky. It seems the more time Bucky is Captain America the more his past is going to come back to haunt him which is bad for him but good for us.

I loved the fight between Bucky, The Man with No Face, and Batroc. Throughout the fight Bucky is fighting with his instincts and past experience to get him through his fight that when he is throwing the shield is great. Towards the end Bucky was mainly fighting to survive and not win since for most, if not the whole fight he was against the wall never allowed to breath. I hope that we see more of The Man with No Face and Batroc again in the future since they prove to be a great challenge to Bucky who barely survived the fight with some timely help from Black Widow. The art from Ross and Guice was really well done in that fight, and the whole issue. I didn't even know that there were two artist working on this issue since both Ross and Guice artwork were very similar.

I love the great reveal that The Man with No Face and Batroc were after the body of the original Human Torch. It is going to be interesting to find out what they wanted with the original Human Torch's body and if the scientist Bucky was sent to assassinate when he was Winter Soldier is the one pulling the strings from behind the scenes.

Also I have to say that the Bucky and Natasha relationship has become my favorite couple in comics. Their relationship is really great and not the typical relationship since both of them are able to protect themselves and that they don't have to constantly worry that the other person may be in trouble. It will be interesting to see if Brubaker uses the fact that Bucky is part of the New Avengers to cause friction between the couple.

Issue Rating
Story: 9.4/10 - Again Brubaker proves he has a great handle for Bucky and all the characters in this title that I can't wait to see were he takes the plotline of the original Human Torch's body in the future.
Art: 8.3/10 - Ross and Guice provided some great artwork and it is not even noticeable that their were two artist working on this issue.
Overall: 8.85/10 - After such a huge epic story this three part arc gave this title a some breathing room to allow any new reader to catch up while also providing an exciting story that sets up future plotlines.