This week's post will be reviewing 3 issues: Captain America #614, Avengers #9, and Age of X: Alpha. This week's Spotlight will be slightly delayed, but I'll try and get it posted tonight. For those of you worried, it will be quite the post. And so, without further delay, let's get into Level 8.
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Captain America #614
This issue continues the "Trial of Captain America" storyline. For those of you who aren't in the know, the current Captain America was a brainwashed Soviet sleeper agent (Codename: Winter Soldier) during the Cold War, and in the previous storyline, this information was leaked to the public. Cap was arrested and put on trial as a potential traitor to the United States.
This issue can be broken into three major sections. The first section (which I personally found to be the most boring) had the Black Widow and Falcon get captured by Master Man and the evil forces of Skele...I mean...Sin.
The second section of this issue focused on the trial itself, and the testimony of several characters. I'm usually fairly interested in legal situations such as this, and as a result really enjoyed this section of the issue. The third section ties into this one, as someone working for Sin (or as he calls her the "Red Skull Lady") attempts to shoot Cap, but is taken down by Steve Rogers and Bucky. This... well, for a lack of a better term, flunky... is carrying a DVD which has Sin making her declaration: Bucky shows up at the Statue of Liberty, or she blows it up. Using the skills of Dr. Faustus, Bucky successfully escapes and moves to take on Sin.
As someone who fell off of Brubaker's run on Cap after Steve Rogers returned, I came back for the "No Escape" arc, and found myself fairly interested in this trial. I'm anxiously awaiting the next issue. And I know that some people out there are not big fans of Captain America, but my god you need to read Brubaker's run. It's golden.
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So, if you'll recall, back during Level 3, I mentioned that I was fairly eagerly awaiting this issue. Somehow, I almost totally missed it when I was at the comic shop. Fail, right? Anything, this issue didn't disappoint.
The major crux of this issue is the public reveal of the Illuminati. And you know what, I'm not sure I like how it happened. Steve Rogers kinda...lost his wits, and it seemed a bit, out of character.
That said, we know now that Parker Robbins (The Hood) has the two of the Infinity Gems, we know how get got them, and we're ready for the games to REALLY begin.
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Confession Time: I LOVED the Age of Apocalype crossover in the mid-90s. I thought the story was excellent, and it made quite an impact on the Marvel Universe proper. So when Age of X was announced, I was thinking we might see some sort of tribute story. This isn't the case, and I couldn't be happier about it.
The Age of X seems to be a dystopian future wherein Mutants are nearly extinct. Most of the issue is set up, but the reveal that the character Basilisk is actually the alternate-Cyclops was fantastic, and beautifully explained.
There was no plot to unravel yet, and all we know about the Age of X story was revealed in promo pieces. So, while I'm enjoying it, I'm fairly confused.
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Next Week: Our weekly reviews as well as the announcement of our next Spotlight.
Thanks for reading, and as always, feedback (nextlevelstaff@gmail.com) is welcome.
as always, fantastic!
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