The long delayed mini-series loses an artist, and finds Steve Rogers in Siberia, and closer to an old enemy in “Captain America: Living Legend” #2.
Written by Andy Diggle
Illustrated by Agustin AlessioAs the Russian army mobilizes to lock down a crash site in the remote Siberian wastes, Captain America’s mission is to find the survivors and bring them back alive – or silence them forever. Impossible odds in hostile territory are all in a day’s work for a super-soldier like Steve Rogers, but even he is unprepared for the horror that awaits them all in the icy wilderness. Because something has survived. Something alien. And it is awake…
Jumping artists mid-series is never a good thing, but “Captain America: Living Legend” had to do just that after only one issue. The artist swap delayed the series for years, but with the looming movie sequel Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Andy Diggle finally gets to complete his Cap story. The first issue followed three separate timelines, as a World War II-era Captain teams up with Russian commandos led by Sergeant Volkov to attack a Nazi, an older Volkov heading a Soviet Mission to land on the moon, and a space station being taken over by some mysterious force and crashes to Earth in the present day.
The second issue opens with another team of Russian soldiers investigating the space station crash site in the middle of Siberia, where the soldiers are greeted by a grisly scene. At the same time, Steve Rogers, Captain America himself, is heading to the crash site in a S.H.I.E.L.D. stealth jet, and encountering the same electronic interference that affected the Russians, forcing him to make a daring leap from miles up in the air and land in the vast Siberian tundra. The story flashes back to 1968, as Volkov and two other cosmonauts orbit the moon and prepare to land. Volkov is suddenly possessed by a malevolent force, and opens the hatch causing his two comrades to be sucked into the void of space. Back in the present, Cap finds Doctor Fox, the only survivor of the space station, at her escape pod, and together they investigate the crash site. And it becomes immediately apparent that it is not just mechanical failure that brought the space station crashing into Siberia.
One of the ways “Captain America: Living Legend” #2 improves over the first issue, is that it features a lot more of Captain America. Andy Diggle has made a career out of writing about warriors who have been molded by combat, and his Steve Rogers feel like an honest representation of the character. In Diggle’s hands, Rogers is determined and filled with resolve, but very wry at the same time. Even with the series non-explicit place in continuity, Rogers is clearly still a man who has seen incredible things, and refuses to let shocking sights deter him from the mission. This is not the newly unthawed Rogers, still adjusting to the wonders of the modern world, but rather he is expressly aware of the blurred lines that separate good from bad. Diggle makes excellent use of dialog to convey a great deal of character information, whether it be Rogers’ lighthearted remarks in the face of grim circumstances, or the way he sounds confident and assured when upon meeting Dr Fox. It’s easy to see why he’s the leader of the Avengers.
The time-line jumping that made the first issue a more complex read has been slimmed down here as well. Instead of having three timelines, 1945, 1986, and “Now”, overlapping multiple times over a couple dozen pages, the issues only features the present day and 60’s time frames, and is far less likely to confuse readers. The story is still the same, featuring a more stripped down and spy driven Captain America, free of aliens or extra dimensions. The miniseries is still only half finished, so Diggle spends most of the issue asking new questions and unveiling new mysterious instead of providing answers. Despite the further cliffhangers, the story does feel like Diggle is bringing it to a firm conclusion; he’s just taking his time with the set up.
Continued belowThe wonderfully talented and notoriously slow Adi Granov was only able to illustrate the first issue of the series, and so the second issue of “Captain America: Living Legend” features the art of Agustin Alessio. Like Granov, Alessio is a painter and brings a similar realistic style to the book. There is nothing cartoony about the way the characters are rendered, and they look life-like, as if they exist in the real world. This issue features plenty of machine action, and twisted metal monstrosities, and Alessio proves that he can handle the extra-ordinary as well as realistic characters. The aftermath of an attack that left the remains of soldiers fused to their vehicles features art that is particularly chilling.
A slight draw back to art is that the story locations like Siberia, barren military bunkers, and outer space, and the overall realism feel of the book, is that it is not the most visual interesting issue ever. There are pages and pages of snow, and wheat, and snow, and space, and empty rooms, and snow, and snow. Alessio renders them all beautifully, but a dozen pages of snowy Siberian tundra are only going to look so interesting. Alessio is a new addition to the Marvel crew of artists, and his work on this issue, and the recent “Infinity: Against the Tide”, proves that he is very capable of handling many aspects of the Marvel Universe.
“Captain America: Living Legend” #2 manages to pull though the tricky situation of an artist switch without losing steam or quality. Andy Diggle still delivers a back-to-basics Captain America story that stays to true to the characteristics that define Steve Rogers. Agustin Alessio was brave to step up to the challenge of following Adi Granov, and succeeded by delivering art that is so good, it packs one wish that Alessio had a bit more of a visually dynamic story to work with. The issue still poses many questions, and hopefully the final two issues from Diggle and Alessio will answer them all.
Final Verdict: 7.5 – Buy. It’s a decent story with great art from Agustin Alessio; readers will just have to be a bit patient for the pay off.
