Captain America has been a major hit with comic book readers since Ed Brubaker and Steve Epting reinvented the monthly series at a time when most fans had little to no interest (yours truly included). In the intervening years, even I have to admit that the quality has wavered some (especially after the comic was relaunched last year).

With the many announcements of creative team changes accompanying the mass relaunch of the Marvel Comics catalog, it is surprising to see that there are so many pleasant lineups, including Captain America. Romita Jr. is a staples of the industry who has earned acclaim from comics too numerous to name (anything from Kick Ass to Wolverine, the Punisher and more). Rick Remender has made quite a name for himself on Uncanny X-Force, Secret Avengers, Frankencastle (Punisher) and the under-rated Venom series. His unique combination of tight plotting, dark comedy and strong characterizations make him one of the luminaries of the modern Marvel bullpen.

In short, buy this series.


Marvel has already confirmed Kieron Gillen and Greg Land's "Iron Man," and Jason Aaron and Esad Ribic's "Thor: God of Thunder." Yesterday, CBR had the first word with Mark Waid and Leinil Yu on their upcoming "Indestructible Hulk" launch. Thursday saw two more pieces fall into place, as Brian Posehn, Gerry Duggan and Tony Moore dished on "Deadpool" while Matt Fraction and Mike Allred talked about "FF" and Fraction and Mark Bagley's "Fantastic Four."

The latest Marvel NOW! confirmation is Rick Remender and John Romita Jr. taking over "Captain America" in November. iFanboy has the first word on the series, speaking with Remender about his plans for Marvel's Sentinel of Liberty, from creating a "Year One"-style story arc focusing on pre-super soldier serumed Steve Rogers to building up Cap's rogues gallery with names like the Green Skull and a reinvigorated Arnim Zola, all while balancing his take on the character with the version appearing in Jonathan Hickman's "Avengers."

"One of the mandates I have to myself is, I don't want to touch the World War II stuff," Remender told iFanboy of his plans for the title's first major story arc. "I think that that has been done, now, and it's been done perfectly. To go back and to keep focusing on Cap in World War II at this point, again, would be following too closely to what Ed has already done. What I'm doing is spending a lot of time in the Lower East Side of Manhattan in the 20s and 30s, showing Steve grow up. The first arc is 10 issues, and it's called 'Dimension Z.'

"I don't want to give away too much, but a big portion of it is Cap dealing with Arnim Zola in Dimension Z. I'm trying to take Zola and do with him, what we did with Apocalypse over in Uncanny X-Force. Where we take what's there, re-imagine it, build a new mythology and really expand Zola, and try and build Zola into a very, very big and important character.

"The other half of it is going to be a lot of flashbacks to a young Steve Rogers growing up in Depression-era Lower East Side, and getting to know his family and his friends, and how this 98-pound weakling became such a tenacious, strong person; focus on the fiber and the integrity of who he is, and really develop that for the first time."

Via CBR.com