Captain America #49 Review

Brubaker’s Cap has been a favorite of the Revolution. The rotating group of artists have kept a similar style. Some books would have been killed by that differing artists but the similar style and quality has blended very well. This should be another good read.

Creative Team
Writer: Ed Brubaker
Pencils: Luke Ross
Inks: Rick Magyar

Story Rating: 9 Night Girls out of 10
Art Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 8.5 Night Girls out of 10

Synopsis: Sharon Carter is thinking how she no longer has nightmares. At least not every night. She is suffering through her recurring dream. Sharon has shot her lover, Captain America. As he dies in her arms, he asks why she did it. She tells him that it was not her. The Red Skull made her do it. She wakes up screaming.

It has been nine months since Steve died. Six months since Sharon broke free of Dr. Faustus and the Red Skull’s mind control. She resigned from S.H.I.E.L.D. Now there is no S.H.I.E.L.D. and Bucky Barnes is the new Captain America. She moved back to her family’s mansion in Virginia. Occasionally Sam (the Falcon) Wilson stays with her. He is one of the few friends she has. She knows that some pieces are missing from her memory but she can’t quite find them.

Sharon goes to a home to visit her Aunt Peggy. Sharon’s aunt always understood her. Peggy was a spy and Captain America’s lover during World War II. Her aunt’s mind is not what it used to be. She remembers that Sharon is someone who works for S.H.I.E.L.D. She says that Steve will be visiting if President Roosevelt ever lets him have a day off.

Sam shows a picture to a bartender. The bartender does not remember seeing the man in the picture. The man is the “Fifties Cap” the government created when they thought Steve was dead in the fifties. Sharon saw him in the Red Skull’s headquarters. He did not stop her from escaping. Now she wants to find him. Sam reports to her that this was another dead end. He changes into the Falcon and heads home.

Back in Virginia, Sharon goes outside for a walk to clear her mind. While on her walk she bumps into an old friend-Dave Cox. They decide to have dinner at Dave’s house. He tells her how his wife left him. They kiss. Both agree that they should remain friends. She goes to sleep on his couch. The next morning, Sharon finds a scar on her belly. She does not remember having it.

The Carter Mansion, later in the morning…Sharon is drinking and crying when Sam returns. She asks if she was pregnant. Sam tells her everything and the memories return. Sharon lost the baby while fighting the Red Skull’s daughter-Sin. She is afraid she has become like her aunt, trapped in her memories.

At the rest home, Aunt Peggy is telling someone about her niece. Her niece likes to hear her war stories. The man asks her to tell him everything. It is the “Fifties Cap”.

Night, and Sharon is having nightmares again. She is trapped in a room with the Red Skull and Arnim Zola. A glowing rectangle is below her. Zola says she will never comprehend what she sees. A humanoid figure rises from the rectangular object. Sharon wakes up. Was it Steve she saw that day?

The Good: This issue did not contain much superhero action. But to be honest, I did not notice until I started writing this review. Brubaker kept the story going with the dramatic moments.

Was the glowing rectangle a time platform? It looked like one that Dr. Doom used in the past. Maybe the Captain America that Sharon killed was one from another time? Or did the Red Skull bring Cap into our time from the past?

Maybe the time Steve spent in suspended animation did not really happen. Maybe Cap was brought into current Marvel time and is returned at a future date. I am very curious how Brubaker will wrap up this story.

It surprised me to see Dave Cox reappear. If my memory is working right, he first appeared back when Steve Englehart was writing Cap. Definitely a classic Cap series. Look it up if you have not read those issues.

Another surprise was the fact that Peggy was getting visited by Steve Rogers. Unfortunately for our heroes, it is the Cap from the fifties. This can’t be good for Sharon.

Ross and Magyar make a good team. Their art on the dream sequences was outstanding. I loved the Steranko type art on the title page. Hopefully, they will be teamed up again.

The Bad: Nothing, unless you picked it up to read an action packed story.

Overall: A good spotlight issue for Sharon. Brubaker and associates continue to produce one of the better super hero books on the market. I am looking forward to issue #50.