Captain Midnight, Volume 2: Brave Old World

Captain Midnight #2

by Joshua Williamson, Eduardo Fransisco (Illustrator), Felipe Massafera (Illustrator)

In the forties, he was an American hero, a daredevil fighter pilot, a technological genius . . . a superhero. And when he rifled out of the Bermuda Triangle and into the present day, he found a world rife with danger!  
When Captain Midnight discovers his innovative technology has been corrupted in his seventy-year absence, he rockets into action, setting a collision course with a high-flying, overzealous patriot without a conscience, and a rogue black-ops organization eager to exterminate anyone who knows their secrets! Midnight is confronted by a brave new world he's determined to make better . . . or die trying!

Collects Captain Midnight #4–#7 and the four-page story from the CBLDF’s Liberty Comics.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Comic Book, Science Fiction, Superheroes

136 pages, Paperback

First published June 10, 2014

Reviews

[Chad · Rating 4 out of 5]

Captain Midnight remains a grumpy old man dislodged from World War II to now. Once he realizes all these different people have stolen his tech, he gets down to business. I like that Captain Midnight is an engineer at heart and solves his fights by coming up with solutions to take down the bad guys. We also start to find out what's up with Project Black Sky in this volume. They're the impetus for this reboot of Dark Horse's Comics Greatest World initiative of the 1990s.

[Alan · Rating 3 out of 5]

At this stage, two volumes in, I still appreciate Williamson's portrayal of Jim Albright's man out of time as someone who while frustrated by the changes he is being forced to accept does not spend pages bemoaning the fact. Oh, he'll gripe about the situation and then he decides to take action.

Maybe Williamson will decide to address this down the road but the fact that Albright is a scientists/engineer type is why he takes this approach versus the number of writers who mired Steve Rogers with enough soul searching to fill a month worth of soap operas. Albright remains a patriot, but when he sees something he doesn't like he is going to do something, and not sit around wishing for the past to come back.

Albright remains focused on Fury Shark, but the issues surrounding Project Black Sky are becoming more of a problem as there surface hints of government corruption and evidence that additional pieces of Albright's technology have been used for nefarious (I just the word) purposes.

Not a lot of characterization, but an enjoyable, well paced, action tale.

[Little Timmy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice modern adventures of this golden age character . recommended

[Anchorpete · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the reviews on the back of this trade says that this book is now starting to find its groove. I agree completely. This trade was way better than the first. Most likely because Captain Midnight isn't as interesting as a character as he is as a plot device, and this trade shows just how his presence has affected the world.
What really sealed the deal for me with this book was all of the world building. Dark Horse is really putting in the effort right now, to build up their own superhero shared universe. It seems like Captain Midnight is the center of that Universe, much like Captain America's super soldier serum is the center of the Marvel Ultimate Universe. You can tell there has been a great deal of planning and setting things up for the "Black Sky" Shared Universe. I, for one, am really excited about learning more about it.

[Christopher · Rating 4 out of 5]

A second reading of the first two volumes of Captain Midnight really helped to solidify this title as my favorite of the relaunched Dark Horse Heroes line (which has some really good stuff, but is pretty uneven overall). Maybe it's just because I knew what to expect going in this time around, but a lot of the issues I initially had with the writing and characters weren't nearly as glaring as they were the first time. I particularly like this volume, which sees Captain Midnight starting to acclimate to the 21st century, and learning what it takes to be a hero (and a man) in the new Millennium. More importantly, it really feels like the supporting cast finally comes into their own in this volume, particularly Charlotte Ryan and Agent (nee Mr.) Jones, both of whom get plenty of opportunities to establish a great dynamic with the time-displaced here in this volume. In addition to the writing, the art is quite nice throughout both volumes, offering clean lines, great character and costume designs, and easy-to-follow action. Plus, Captain Midnight's tech just looks cool as hell (I especially like his reconnaissance plane in volume one). All in all, I quite enjoyed this the first time around, but kind of grew to love it during this second read-through. If nothing else, it's got me very excited to read more, and I think that's the best compliment I can pay to any ongoing comic book series.

[Jeff Lanter · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a surprising and much appreciated improvement from the first volume. I thought there was definitely a shift in the dialogue and character with Captain Midnight which made this feel less anachronistic and made Jim Albright a more interesting character to boot. Both the author and Dark Horse editorial deserve credit a lot of credit for that. The plot is pretty light superhero action which is entertaining and fun. There is one surprise cameo that I thought was pretty cool as well. While this book may not totally stand out in a crowded field of superhero comics, when I finished Brave Old World, I had had fun and wanted to read more so perhaps if I see this one sale again from Dark Horse I will pick up some of the future arcs.

[Gina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Captain Midnight is readjusting to society after the Bermuda Triangle had kept him away. Because of the lost time and the military rank, it is easy to see some similarities to Captain America, at least as shown in the movies. They have some fun with the execution there, and I share his frustration with locating reliable news.

The story moves along pretty quickly with one surprising cameo.

[Tyler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting stuff. Really building something here with Project Black Sky.

[La Revistería Comics · Rating 3 out of 5]

Segundo tomo del nuevo pero recontrarretro Capitán Midnight y sus visitas al lustroso viejo mundo.