Captain America #12 Review

by Dylan Duarte, CMRO Contributing Writer

Captain America

Issue #12

Written by Ed Brubaker, Art by Patrick Zircher

Published: July 2012

I’ve been a huge fan of Brubaker ever since he took over Captain America some years ago. I haven’t been crazy about his work on Winter Soldier, but it’s comforting to know that the Captain is still going strong. Issue 12 is the second part in the Shock to the System storyline, which has Captain America chasing down a mole in the witness protection program while a new vigilante, Scourge, is killing super villains. Good stuff.

I have a soft spot for anti-heroes like the Punisher. I understand the desire to dole out ultimate justice. Personally, I wouldn’t hurt a fly, but there is something intriguing about their black and white mentality. I’m obviously not the only one who feels this way, giving that such characters are referred to as anti-heroes and not just villains. The Scourge thread is a fun one, and what’s even more compelling is the character is shown to have actual compassion and remorse, which makes him all the more interesting. There are a few moments in the issue where he questions what he’s done and it makes it hard to dislike the character, brutal though he may be.

Dum Dum Dugan gets some time in the spotlight as he teams up with Cap to assault a Hydra base. Between his mustache, his bowler hat, and his name, it’s damn near impossible not to love Dugan. Tracking down the mole leads to some pretty good twists and again, everything is gray. Nobody seems to be acting completely of their own accord, which really muddies things and makes it hard to tell who the bad guy is. Brubaker juggles so many complex characters so well and it really shows in this issue as things get more complicated but not necessarily convoluted. I’m eager to see how this all pans out and I can’t wait until the two threads collide.