I really want to like this series. Captain America is my favorite hero, so naturally I want whatever he’s involved in to be good. However, I just don’t feel like this is a Captain America story and too many things are taking me out of it while I’m reading.

In the last issue, Steve Rogers charges head first into a trap (something COMPLETELY out of character for him to do) set by longtime rival Arnim Zola. After a scuffle, Cap ends up in an alternate dimension created by his foe called Dimension Z with Zola’s infant son.

This book picks up a year after that. The baby, now known as Ian, and Cap are nomads in this wasteland filled with failed creations of Zola’s. The two are constantly on the run, looking for food and shelter and basically trying to stay alive in a place where every single odd is against them.

Oh, and Steve is now known as “Papa” to Ian. Zola probably isn’t going to be very happy about that later on.

My biggest problem with this story is the convenience of it all. When Cap first entered the trap, he didn’t have his uniform or his shield. He left that stuff somewhere before meeting Sharon Carter and getting on the train. Then suddenly in battle with Zola’s goons, he has them. In this issue, where did Steve get a gun? Or Ian’s clothes? Or that bullet that says “diligence” on it? That’s not something that you find anywhere. I’m willing to let the weapons and the clothes slide, but something that’s clearly a memento just popping up out of nowhere is too convenient.

That’s also a hindrance of using the time jump. Rick Remender fast-forwards a year later and skips a bunch of details that probably would have been good to know. Just like in ‘Seinfeld’, you can’t yadda yadda over the good parts. Even still, I’m not even too sure how good those parts are if what’s in the book are the good parts.

Things get a little interesting once Steve and Ian meet the more humanoid creatures that inhabit the land, and you care about what happens to Ian because he’s a kid and everyone cares for kids, but in general, I just didn’t care about the situation.

The bottom line contributing factor to my disinterest with this story is that this feels like something that would happen to Thor or Hulk or Iron Man or even The Avengers as a whole. Captain America has always been the man out of time dealing with the present. Now that he’s been thrown into this situation, it’s so vastly different in a bad way that it’s starting to lose me. This is a generic superhero story that could basically happen to anyone on the Marvel roster. When I pick up a Captain America book, I want something uniquely Captain America, and I’m just not getting that here.

At the very least, I have John Romita Jr.’s cool artwork to look at.

If things continue this way, I might have to drop this series from my pull list.

Final Score:

 

 

CAPTAIN AMERICA #2
Written by RICK REMENDER
Art by JOHN ROMITA JR., KLAUS JOHNSON, & DEAN WHITE