The current Captain America monthly book is just off the wall bonkers. Cult writer Rick Remender has hurled the character out of his comfort zone, placing him in an other-worldly war zone in another dimension. The book has been more unpredictable and wildly entertaining than ever before. With the arrival of Carlos Pacheco, Cap looks to be coming back to Earth, but the hits won't stop coming.
I have enjoyed Pacheco's art since his time on the Fantastic Four and followed him to Superman, X-Men and beyond. He's an excellent artist and will bring a vibrant new life to the book. The creative team met with ComicBookResources to give a quick preview of what's to come...
Via CBR.com (click for additional info and more preview art)
Rick Remender: I'm a big fan of Carlos' work going back to his work on books like "Starjammers" and "Avengers Forever." He has a very crisp and clean style and is very versatile. He's a great fit, because when we come back to Earth in this next arc, I want there to be this crisp and clean aesthetic. Editor Tom Brevoort and I spent a lot of time looking at the work of a lot of artists and decided on Carlos to get the book back to a classic Captain America feel. Issue #11 will be sort of a brand-new day for "Captain America."
Plus, Carlos is an amazing storyteller with a dynamic style. We've got a lot of exciting stuff coming up in this arc, including the Weapon Minus Program, Doctor Mind Bubble, the Iron Nail, and in the center of it all is Nuke. I think when people see what Carlos has been doing, they'll be blown away. I know I have been.
Carlos, What's it like working with Rick? Which elements of his scripts do you find especially appealing as an artist?
Carlos Pacheco: He does a wonderful job with characterization for Cap, who comes from the first half of 20th Century. He's a man that comes from a different era, different time, different way of living -- and you cannot change this easily. His present identity is marked profoundly by all his sentimental education.
And Rick loves Zola! [Laughs]
I think we are in a new artistic direction for the character. He has been a superhero in an American flag. Those red, white and blues are the colors of a No-Doubt-He-Is-The-Good-Guy character, but Cap is also a soldier -- he wore a Marine outfit during the Second World War. Now, he's still a Marine. A modern one -- and he will need to look like this. To be a soldier is his job. We cannot forget he's a "Captain" and not on a baseball team.
Captain America is definitive authority incarnated in a man. This has to be shown in every panel where he appears. He was born to be a leader. There are no questions after his orders are given -- except if you are Hawkeye. That's why I love Clint Barton so much [Laughs].
Rick, you mentioned that Nuke, the rogue super soldier created by Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli, will play a significant role in this arc. What do you find intriguing about the character? What kind of potential do you see in him?
Remender: Tom Brevoort and I worked hard to find a new angle for Nuke. He is sort of a Captain America of a different era who was abused and his mind was shattered. So he's still a soldier and a patriot, but he's absolutely lost the plot. His mind is so fried and he's been through so many experiments and taken so many of these drugs that give him all of his strength.
He's almost like a Captain America from the Iran-Contra era; a time when the government was doing things that they maybe shouldn't have been. He was a victim of that. I like playing with the patriot who is misguided, but at the same time truly believes that the mission he is on is a sound one.
Secret government programs and rogue super soldiers suggest a shadowy tale. Carlos, what can you tell us about the overall look of the story? What kind of feelings are you hoping to convey with your art?
Pacheco: As an artist, my definitive objective is to show all the emotions and visual events the writer needs to show. Honestly, I want to be capable of drawing everything!
Remender: This is classic "Captain America." The country and our standing in the world is at risk. There is a fellow super soldier out there doing some terrible things. He's completely misguided, but he isn't necessarily evil. Then, we've got a new villain in the Iron Nail, who will be revealed. We've got a new assassin in Doctor Mind Bubble, who will also be revealed. We'll also see a lot of other familiar faces from Cap's past, and we'll see Cap dealing with the ramifications of Dimension Z, which are many.
It's almost like a "Bourne Identity"-style story involving a rogue agent that needs to be taken down. Nuke is the Bourne character and Cap is the guy coming after him to take him down.
Tonally, it's going to be similar to that as well. I did a crazy, sci-fi epic and now I'm going to take things back to ground-level and focus in on a classic Captain America story.
Artist Carlos Pacheco joins continuing writer Rick Remender on "Captain America" with September's issue #11.
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