Captain America #50

Every issue of Captain America goes the same way. Someone, usually Cap but sometimes Sharon Carter, does something that sparks a memory of the past. That past story is retold. That person moves on from there. It's a simple formula, but Ed Brubanker does a phenomenal job of using the most basic of tools to tell the most interesting of stories.

Issue #50 starts with Bucky being attacked while patrolling on his birthday. Ahhh birthdays. The attack reminds Bucky of how complicated his life has been, symbolized by his past birthdays. For his 16th, he was arrested for underage drinking and hitting a military officer. This leads to his recruitment into special ops training. On his 18th, he's attacked by Nazis when a friend tries to throw him a party. 20th: he finds out the location of the man who eventually caused his and Cap's demise.

Brubanker's character studies are second to none. No one cared about Bucky before this series, but with each issue I find my self saying, "Oh that's how this happened," or "That was so cool." His clever use of birthdays to detail Bucky's past is another effective tool to add to his collection. They're effective because they're a natural timetable for the past. Most people remember what happened on certain birthdays. Bucky does too. His memories just happen to be a little more exciting than ours.

One thing Brubanker changes in this issue is the mood. It's Bucky's birthday and he deserves a party. At the end of the issue he gets a nice little party with the Avengers. Usually, I don't like campy stuff like this but I've felt so bad for Bucky after his depressing birthday tales and his troubled past from the rest of the series that I was actually enjoying his happiness and surprise at the party. The hundred candles on the cake was a funny addition too. Bucky's old. Get It?

Luke Ross does a great job on pencils. Every panel is poster-worthy. Ross uses close-ups effectively and his explosions are beautiful. The changed panel layout in action scenes was a nice touch to add to the chaos of the situation.

This being the 50th issue of the series required some extra material. Marcos Martin provided this with a history of Captain America at the end of the issue. Usually I skip these, but I read this one because I feel like a journalist now. I'm glad I did. His writing was great. It didn't read like a Wikipedia page, as most of these do. While reading this, I could actually hear the narration from those old war commercials in my head. You'll know what I mean when you read it.

Captain America is one of the best series out there. Some have said that it's also one of the least accessible because of complicated stories. This issue is a great jumping on point. It's completely self contained, provides some back story similar similar to the type you will find in every issue, and has a history of Captain America. There is no reason a comic book reader interested in anything Marvel should not have this.