Mark Waid e Chris Samnee, a fantástica equipe que transformou o mundo do Demolidor e impressionou os leitores com as histórias de suspense estreladas pela Viúva Negra, se unem novamente para criar uma obra de arte protagonizada por um dos maiores heróis da Marvel Comics: o Capitão América!
Steve Rogers está de volta à ação, agora em uma jornada pelo país que ama para restaurar sua reputação manchada. Mas, para enfrentar os perigos que encontrará, será preciso de mais coragem do que nunca! Quando ele enfrenta um novo Espadachim, prepare-se para um duelo como nunca foi visto! Depois, lançado no futuro, a Sentinela da Liberdade encarará seu pior pesadelo: voltar a ser um homem fora de seu tempo. E, para salvar os EUA, ele precisará assumir um papel mais estranho ainda! Confira como um ícone americano é reimaginado por duas lendas do mundo dos quadrinhos!
Mark Waid (born March 21, 1962 in Hueytown, Alabama) is an American comic book writer. He is best known for his eight-year run as writer of the DC Comics' title The Flash, as well as his scripting of the limited series Kingdom Come and Superman: Birthright, and his work on Marvel Comics' Captain America.
The acclaimed creative team behind Daredevil and Black Widow, Mark Waid and Chris Samnee, take over Captain America after Nick Spencer’s atrocious run on the character - and fail to improve the title’s quality. Unfortunately the overly-politicised nature of the series - one of the main reasons why Spencer’s run was such garbage - continues.
Yup, Cap’s once again being used as the mouthpiece for far-leftist views to rail against the likes of Trump and anyone right of centre, tiresomely portrayed as neo-Nazis, here called “Rampart”. Nuclear fallout in the near future leads to a dystopian society where a corrupt king rules over the remains of America, favouring the wealthy and forcefully abusing the poor - it’s up to Cap to re-establish democracy.
The story is overly-simplistic with broad caricatures and little substance to hold the attention. It doesn’t help that there’s a deus ex machina present that you know will be used sooner rather than later so nothing that happens matters.
The other shorter, done-in-one stories are even more forgettable. Cap fights Swordsman, Cap fights Kraven, Cap fights more Rampart goons. Yawn. Generic, unimaginative, boring rubbish.
Samnee’s art is great and I enjoyed seeing Jack Kirby’s art at the end, repurposed with a new script from Waid, and Waid does write a decent Cap, capturing the spirit of the character convincingly. It’s not much though. Even putting aside the patronising politics, Captain America: Home of the Brave is as dull a read as they come.
"You seem to be back in fighting form. That's good." -- freedom fighter Liang, to a defrosted yet still-spry Captain America
'Good' is indeed the operative word - as in merely good - for Captain America, Vol. 1: Home of the Brave, my pick for a concise read in observance of Veterans Day. Waid & Samnee have also done some exemplary work when teaming on Marvel's Daredevil and/or Black Widow (plus Samnee illustrated the outstanding Thor: The Mighty Avenger title), so the two of them seem to have a firm handle on some of the company's big guns. Additionally, this volume does not lack for explosive action sequences and opens with three separate and fast-paced stories that has Cap taking on a violent supremacist group (although they mostly have all the effectiveness and menace of a squad of Imperial stormtroopers), the Swordsman, and then the usual Spidey antagonist Kraven the Hunter in a quasi-adaptation of that old standby 'The Most Dangerous Game.' However, the last half of the volume is a drawn-out narrative involving time travel (yawn) and some heavy-handed, thinly-disguised political hackery. While it's not the best story there were occasional moments of grace or quiet charm, such as our star-spangled Avenger embracing a female resistant agent - depicted in silhouette - that he's come to care for and respect after sharing the heat of battle. Then the volume concludes with a quick standalone tale showcasing the involvement of artist / writer Jack 'The King' Kirby, a.k.a. the guy OTHER than Stan Lee that helped establish much of Marvel in the 1960's.
Waid and Samnee deal with Nick Spencer's Secret Empire, dumpster fire of a run on Cap by pretending it never happened. In an isolated bubble, this is fine. But Secret Empire went and completely trashed Cap's relationship with America, so it seems a little disingenuous to have Cap go on a road trip where he's still continuously beloved, especially when books like Deadpool are actually dealing with Cap and the fallout. That being said, this book is all right, but it's nothing special. Waid's Cap overcorrects from Stevil Rogers, swinging back towards 50's Boy Scout, Captain America. The 3 Cap "On the road" issues are fine, but the story gets really weird when Cap gets transported to a dystopian near future where the ultra-rich rule what's left of a mutated, nuclear holocaust America. The story is part Komandi with animal / human hybrids. There's never any real stakes though, because as with any of these time travel stories, you know it will always end with the hero "resetting" back to the status quo by the end of it.
Chris Samnee's art is as good as ever. I did notice it seems to be trending towards newspaper strip art, especially with Matthew Wilson's muted palette on the book.
I have never read a graphic novel centred around Captain America before. In all the Marvel films Captain America is one of my favourites, so I hoped that would transcribe to my enjoyment of his tales in the comics.
And I happy to say that I thoroughly enjoyed Home of the Brave. Really entertaining story with some really cool plot ideas, some hilarious lines and a great mix of stories within the separate volumes. We have a few short, loosely linked segments that steadily become bigger in scale, up to the crescendo which was tense and enjoyable, with some great art that has definitely interested me in carrying on.
Captain America: Home of the Brave collects Captain America #695-700 by Mark Waid and Chris Samnee.
I was a tremendous fan of Waid and Samnee on Daredevil so I had to pick this up. In the aftermath of Secret Empire, Captain America is driving around America on a motorcycle and encounters white supremacist organization Rampart, The Swordsman, Kraven the Hunter, and gets frozen in ice once again.
This is really good stuff and not just because I think Chris Samnee is the bee's knees. The first three issues are linked but largely done in one stories. The three remaining issues see Captain America thawed in a future America torn by war and ruled by a dictator.
Waid has a great handle on Captain America's personality and resists the temptation to go quip-a-minute Marvel movie style with the dialogue. While Captain America doesn't fight any of his iconic foes, he acts like Captain America should and goes a long way toward making me forget about all that dumbass Captain America being a Nazi stunt crap in Secret Empire. Five out of five stars.
After the travesty of Nick Spencer’s Nazi Cap and the whole Secret Empire dumpster fire, somebody needed to revitalize Cap. Enter Mark Waid and Chris Samnee, Marvel’s closest thing to a superstar team after their enormously successful Daredevil run. Home of the Brave is a solid story, very sterile, but not without its moments. Cap’s characterization is fine if a bit old-fashioned (I personally much prefer Ed Brubaker’s and MCU’s take on him), but it works well to re-establish him after Spencer basically committed character assassination on one of Marvel’s most iconic heroes. In short, this is not my favorite Cap comic ever, but it’s a good enough read, and this is something that the character desperately needed after years of editorial and creative abuse.
Waid and Samnee collaborate again, giving their own spin on Captain America this time. Samnee's art really lends to the Steve Rogers vibe, and it's paired well with Waid's characterisation. Whilst not terrible, the plot is the weakest element of this story, especially the 2025 stuff; was it really necessary to add in time skips and time travel? There are also moments where it feels like Cap's biggest super power is plot armour. One of the most likeable versions of Captain America, but one that suffers narratively.
Well, that was a breath of fresh air after suffering through Hydra-Cap!
I have fond memories of Mark Waid's last run on Cap, so I was very happy to have him return to the book, especially as he brought his current partner-in-crime Chris Samnee along with him.
My only grumble is that this was YET ANOTHER BLOODY TIME TRAVEL STORY! Enough with the time travel, Marvel, PLEASE...
This is an odd one for me to review, because I am kind of reviewing it in a vacuum. I have never really read a stand alone Captain America comic before. I have read him in various events and in Avengers books, but that's about it. So I can't really say if he is "returning to form" here because I don't know enough about him. Whenever Marvel or DC reboot, however, I always give them the benefit of the doubt and check out a bunch of their new stuff.
So, just based on the quality of stories alone, this was an ok book. Cap is running around being Cap. He saves the innocent and spouts lots of jargon about hope and courage.
I kind of like the idea of him bumming around the country but, hey, I am a Kerouac fan so that's probably where that comes from.
The last arc in this book is a time travel story, which I usually hate because of how clichéd they are (they even have the old "the time machine only has one use left!" trope and, as everyone who has seen Deadpool 2 knows, "that's just lazy writing"), but this one kind of worked for me. It is about a group of faux patriotic rich people taking over and, if you say anything bad about them, you are seen as un-patriotic (and are killed). Yeah, it's a bit on the nose because they are obviously giving a wink and a nod to current events but, hey, I like sticking it to the man in comic book form as much as the next fella.
So, over all, this was pretty fun. Cap throws his shield around, punches some people, and loves his country and his mama. You haven't won me over yet, Marvel reboot, but you haven't scared me off yet, either.
Captain America returns! After Secret Empire and everyone on the internet crying that Steve Rogers hates jewish people, we have turned back to the time Captain America was a symbol of hope! The real Steve Rogers and here, but he has to fix a few things.
This starts off with Cap basically fixing his name and getting things back on track. Then the 2nd half is a weird pull through time, Cap is frozen again, and has to deal with a world broken and dismayed after a evil leader has taken off. Can Cap fix the futures or are we all doomed? That is the question asked here!
Good: I loved the art. Simple and clean (Kingdom hearts is soooo close to coming out) and if you liked Waid's Daredevil run, the vibe is similar here. Cap is returned to the good old boyscout we all love and admire as well. The fights are fun, the heart is there, and no heavy political storyline to be found. What a ending too, a true Cap moment.
Bad: The time traveling thing felt a little out of place of the way the story was going. Like a sudden jump. Also the future characters weren't all that interesting to me.
Overall, a fun, light, super cool adventure for Cap to go on. After Nick Spencer's darker, more political take, this was a nice bounce back (Even though I liked some of Spencer's run a lot) This is a easy 3.5 out of 5.
After Secret Empire, which we're not talking about, Steve Rogers wants to reconnect with America. So of course, that means road trip! But when his trip across the country becomes a trip through time, Steve will have to topple a brand new threat to the world as Rampart run rampant across the future!
Palette cleansers go a long way in comics sometimes. After a particularly divisive storyline, it's nice to get one and done stories, or a new creative team that just does something straight forward for a change. They clear the air before something big starts again, and that's what it looked like this volume was going to do for Captain America after Secret Empire.
The first three issues are straight forward adventures, with Steve getting nostalgic, battling a new Swordsman, and Kraven The Hunter (easily the volume's best issue). These are fun little romps without lasting consequences that are just good comics.
Then things get weird.
The last three issues of this volume, #698-700, tell a flashforward type story in which Cap gets stranded in a future where the USA has been overrun by new terrorist organization Rampart, and he has to devise a way to oust them from control and/or get back to his own time. It feels like a rehash of Secret Empire for a start, and it feels a bit too quick. After the three initial straight forward issues, this is some batshit crazy stuff with mutants and a dictator and it just made my head spin.
The conclusion is very clever, I'll give it that, but I'm not sure this type of story was necessary or important to tell for Cap. It's a good examination of his weaknesses, I'll give it that, but I think it might have just been blown out of proportion in order to make issue 700 bigger/more monumental than it needed to be.
I can't fault the artwork however. This marks Chris Samnee's last Marvel work under his exclusive contract, and it's a delight to look at. His simple lines and great use of shadows make for distinct visuals that you just don't get anywhere else. Waid and Samnee work together so well by now, you always know that they're going to turn out something great.
Like Black Widow before it, this collaboration between Waid and Samnee has good ideas but doesn't seem to execute them fully. The first three issues are exactly what I wanted as a fresh start for Cap, but then the latter three are just...weird.
Mark Waid is a genius. When Captain America is done well, it should make you properly sad for what we aren't, and proud of what we are. At this particular time and place, a superhero telling someone that they have to look out for someone else solely because they are bigger than the other person is what we're lacking as a people right now, and I needed this reminder. The first part of this works better than the second part because it is clean and pure and the second is more complicated, but it works, too. Ah, a tonic of a comic.
3.5 but I'm rounding up because I like the wholesome vibe to this series.
I've always enjoyed Waid's Cap books because he truly understands the importance of hope in Cap's series. Cap stands for ideals more than anything else. It's a bit ironic because the actual character is incedibly focused on what you can see with your own two eyes. Cap inspires everyone to be the best they can be and this book has several stories about that. What I loved most about it was that it was a lot of Captain America with civilians. Hardly any other heroes are featured here. It's mostly about Steve getting more acquainted with the average American.
There's a pretty obvious message here about the rich buying the government and letting the rest of America fall to pieces. It's upsetting because we esentially get a look at America's future. And it is b-l-e-a-k.
Anyway, this was fun to read and I really like the art.
Beautifully drawn and colored by Chris Samnee and Matt Wilson this book sadly lacks an interesting story.
Getting the pulse of America after the Secret Empire fiasco Steve fights nazis, Kraven, nazis in a radioactive future and back again. Generic plot, generic villains, (very) heavily handed message, poor and unimaginative future-on the verge of grotesque even- Waid sadly doesn't renew the cool and fun approach he brought to Daredevil with the same Chris Samnee.
Not that his Captain America-the character- is bad, far from it. His very essence is well handled, but a fresher and more original boost is needed to give the series an edge.
Reading this was like drinking a tall glass of sweet lemonade after that dumpster fire of a Hydra-Cap storyline (i.e. Secret Empire) I tried to keep up with.
There were about four distinct stories in this volume. Story 1: Cap is on the road, trying to find his place in the American Heartland away from the city. The mood reads very much like Cap is running away from everything a bit after Secret Empire & trying to find himself again in the American people. He drives through a small town named Captain America, Nebraska. Lucky him, he's made it just in time for their annual Captain America town celebration, which commemorates the day Cap saved the town from "Rampart": the bad guy/supremacists who tried to take the town via military coup ten years earlier. (Foreshadowing: Rampart are the new bad guys for the rest of the volume.) There's a very sweet "testifying" by the people of the town about Cap at the celebration. It was all very healing, and gave me the warm and fuzzies. But it turns out that Cap's visit to Captain America, Nebraska was not a coincidence! Steve expected Rampart to come back on the anniversary of their defeat to try again & he was there to stop them! There's a very sweet moment at the end when he talks to the town people afterward. I thought the writing was very spot-on (very Cap). It ends kinda cheesy ("The strong protect the weak. Never forget that."), but I thought the issue was very redemptive for post Secret Empire.
Story 2 is my favorite of the volume. Cap continues on his journey through real 'Merica and tries to offer to wash dishes at the local diner in exchange for a meal in the fictional Sauga River, Georgia. Silly, Cap. Of course, his presence causes a ruckus in the small town. This time, by coincidence, he crosses paths with the cray and violent Swordsman who threatens to flood the tiny town (and murder everyone) by destroying the local dam. Cap saves the day with the assistance of a dam engineer and the town's local, adorable diner owner. Very wholesome, even though the issue was full of action (and pretty violent murder by the Swordsman...).
Story 3, I did not love... because it was a Kraven story. Who I hate. Ug. He's one of my least favorite super-villains. Anyway, he's just the middle man here between Captain America and Rampart (foreshadowing complete!). The story ends on a pretty great cliffhanger & issue 698 starts Story 4.
Story 4 was maybe my least favorite of the book. Maybe. I didn't love everything about the time travel/America Dystopian (Near) Future storyline, but I still really enjoyed it especially compared to Hydra-Cap, which was a run that suffered from one large-ass terrible idea, too many plot holes, and convoluted writing. This story at least had solid dialogue, beautiful art, and ended with Cap taking a leap of faith. Reading this, I feel like Waid really knows who Captain America is, and that's what makes this comic so much fun, IMO. I know the reviews are pretty mid-range to low, but I'm happy to give this a solid 4 stars.
A blast. Gorgeous art from Samnee, who may be the best in the mainstream business today (one nit: it could've been established more clearly that Kraven had Cap's shield in their final confrontation - I had to reread the sequence to realize where it came from.) and Waid delivers the sort of fast-moving, hope-overcoming-hopelessness narrative that defines his best work (and all of his Cap work). The characterization isn't deep - Cap is who he is and Waid just runs with it, but if you're looking for a fast adventure with some pep talking heroism, this one's for you.
I see a lot of other GoodReads reviewers putting this in contrast to "Nazi Cap" or "Secret Empire." I have no idea what those things are, so if you don't either, rest assured you can jump right in here and be fine.
A game of two halves, Brian. The first few issues are Cap on a road trip getting in touch with the Real America, which is populated by decent sorts, and it’s pleasantly reminiscent of Cap’s 80s comics, where he roamed around on a bike fighting B-List villains after getting calls on the Cap-phone. Chris Samnee’s crisp, balletic fight scenes take this stuff up a notch.
But with a 700th issue looming this low-stakes approach can’t last, and so America gets taken over by a dictator with a boat for a face. The best thing you can say about this sequence is that the dynamic between Cap and the pragmatic resistance leader is nice, and that the story’s third act is a pointed rebuke to Secret Empire’s “and then Cap came back and everything was fine the end” conclusion. Otherwise? Creaky.
This was OK. I'm not sure that the story will stand the age of time, it wasn't super interesting if you don't understand the context. This volume is clearly politically charged, with a dictator destroying the U.S. in only a few years, keeping all the food and wealth with the elite, etc. So on the surface I enjoyed the political-ness of it but if you aren't living the context I feel it's just another Cap story.
Mark Waid's take on Cap is one to be remembered. He really fleshes out Captain America in a deep characterization and celebration of why he's great! This is especially impactful following the events of Secret Empire.
Mark Waid still definitely knows his Captain America, and still teams quite effectively with Samnee. This is a strong short term story. It seems to be designed to be a self-contained 6 issue arc that introduces or re-introduces Waid's Cap to the readers. Or, viewed another way, it feels like a book designed to capture the essence of what it is to be Captain America, the strengths and weaknesses.
It's also a time travel story, and one that covers an exceptionally long period of time by dropping in and out of the chronological storyline covering key moments in a manner that allows the reader to connect the dots themselves to generate a fuzzy overall picture. And, everything that happens in the middle half to two-thirds of the book is undone through time-travel magic by the end of the story. It's short on details, except for the first couple issues, but it captures the essence of Waid's vision of the character beautifully.
I love that part of it. How it is a lyric-poem version of an epic story that encapsulates Cap and the creative team's vision of who and what he is. However, I know who Cap is, and this is hardly redefining (thank goodness). Also, there's very little room for subtler character work--at which Mark excels--in this style of storytelling. All the strokes have to be really large to get through the story in the space provided/intended. Also, time travel. Ugh. It just means you can't invest too much in the characters or the story, because none of it will matter by the end. Ah well. I'm hoping the next volume by this creative team moves in a slower, more character driven fashion and allows Waid and Samnee to build to the kind epic we have here without having to tell it on fast forward.
That said, if you want an encapsulation of everything awesome about Captain America from an exceptionally talented comics creator, this volume delivers that in spades.
Captain America: Home of the Brave is the first collection after the controversial Nick Spencer Hydra Cap run.
And it reads like Captain America comfort food. I liked Secret Empire and Spencer's run on the character and reading this it felt like intentionally classic Captain America to get him back into the groove of things after such a story as Secret Empire.
I could definitely see this not being to the taste of some people. Because it's very black and white with what it wants to say and what it wants to be.
It's a Steve Rogers who stands for the American ideal through and through. And it's commentary of the current political climate is nearly see through. But while having that aspect of it Home of the Brave manages to tell a few self contained stories that warm my heart and a three issue story where America is lost to overtly evil classic comic villain characters after a nuclear war. If that sounds boring to you I don't think you'll like it. If that at all sounds interesting you should give this a shot.
Drawn by Chris Samnee who worked with Waid on a large portion of his Daredevil run and brings the same creative flair here, the pencils are a wonder and he's able to handle Cap and his shield as well as Horns and his club. And btw the colors light it up very well giving flair to nuclear aftermath.
My largest problem with the trade is how focused it is on what it wants to be that it leaves nuances behind and left desired because it plays out exactly how you think.
Question is if that hampers the experience for you.
This is where Cap picks up after the events of Secret Empire. This wasn't bad, but it didn't feel like it was dealing with the ramifications of Secret Empire, which was one of the biggest events to even happen to Cap. It's only mentioned briefly and then things just move along. The main story involves Cap being frozen and sent into the future (again) and how Cap deals with a post-apocalyptic world. For this type of story the build up felt too short and the storyline itself was too brief. This type of story just felt out of place as the first one after Secret Empire, and for such a relatively short story arc. Mark Waid had one of the best Cap runs ever back in the 90s, and this storyline would probably have fit in well with his run then. It just wasn't what I was expecting as fallout from Secret Empire, even though the story and art weren't bad.
I did enjoy the Cap vs Kraven issue, and there's a lot more potential in that meeting. Plus, in the retro story with Kirby art, Waid had Cap call Batroc an "arrogant ass." Seeing that with the Kirby art was hilarious.
What I liked about this, is it was kind of Captain America soul-searching after he defeated Captain Hydra, who looked exactly like him, and pretended to be him for long while. I feel like this was meant to show Captain America getting his super hero mojo back, but it fell a little short. I feel like there were plenty of chances for interactions between Captain America and people who still believed in him and people who had lost faith in him, but he only met people who still believed. There could have been some interesting character conflict here, but it was completely glossed over and I'm disappointed in that.
Following the much-reviled Nazi!Cap story Secret Empire--unread by me--Home of the Brave finds the powerhouse team of Waid/Samnee/Wilson returning Captain America to his roots. Meant as a reassuring stopgap between the polarizing Nick Spencer run and Ta-Nehisi Coates' forthcoming stint as the first black man to write the title, this volume matches the quality of its pedigree. Cap decides to roam the country to reconnect with his mission, and while the book initially has echoes of the unfortunate Superman tale Grounded, Steve quickly finds himself in a far-flung future where the U.S. has been taken over by right-wing extremists. This puts Cap in his wheelhouse, fighting to protect America's ideals from those who would corrupt them. Likewise, the creative team does what they do best, crafting a rousing, fast-paced thriller. In his final Marvel project (for now), Samnee once again reveals himself as a master of the form, his action scenes leaping off the page and his quiet character moments conveying every ounce of emotion in Waid's script.
Now this is what I'm looking for in a comic hero story. I want a terrestrial story, with one hero, going against a villain or two. I can't make myself care for the universe-spanning tales with 12 heroes going against 20 villains. And don't get me started on two characters with the same powers. This was the perfect tale of a single guy (Cap), trying to live his life, get away from it all, meeting salt-of-the-earth people, and helping them out in a time of crisis. Great visuals, too.
Waid & Samnee's take on Captain America is surprisingly mediocre. Well, maybe not surprising as I'd heard complaints of the same, and I now agree with them.
Oh, there are some shorts that are pretty good, albeit a little too jingoistic. The big plot though has faceless foes and a huge reset button. It pretty much never happens, which was the only possible resolution.
Samnee's art continues to be attractively simplistic, but there's none of the nuance that made his Daredevil work great.