NUCAP = NEW COKE? YOU DECIDE!!

As a follow-up to my last post, Marvel Comics' big 10.11.07 announcement was the re-emergence, re-design and re-introduction of the recently deceased Captain America (see Captain America, Vol. IV, #25 for all the lurid details.)

Alex Ross designed the new look which incorporates the design of Cap's original triangular shield, as well as arming the NuCap with a gun and knife. Marvel's staying mum on who is taking up the mantle of the Sentinel of Liberty, but with Ed Brubaker writing, I am pretty confident it will be a fun ride.

As for the new costume, the verdict is still out for me. I like the general idea of a more urban combat-looking costume. It's more functional, less "costum-y." The metallic effect, while it works great with Ross's paints, is going to be hard for many artists to pull off without it looking cheesy.

Ross used a similar technique for the re-design of DC DC Comics' Citizen Steel (formerly Commander Steel) in that company's JSA title.

In that book, Dale Eaglesham and Ruy Jose, have done an admirable job of keeping Ross's metallic design while still staying true to their own style of art. I credit the colorist here too, but I don't have an issue handy to see who that is.

One colorist that comes to mind who's always done an admirable job with metal surfaces is Laura Depuy - certainly over John Cassiday's pencils on the character Danger in Astonishing X-Men.

I'm confident in Steve Epting's abilities as penciller and painter to stay true to Ross's redesign, it's just that with the way Marvel handles it big events, you just know that NuCap is going to be appearing in every title from Iron Fist and New Avengers to Moon Knight and Ghost Rider. With that wide range of artists handling the appearance of the difficult to nail effects of the costume, readers are going to get a lot of less than stellar interpretations of the new duds.

Whatever the eventual treatment of the costume is, there are going to be many purists who can't stand the idea of a NuCap in a new outfit. Personally, I have really been enjoying the storyline of Cap's death and the aftermath. Besides World War Hulk, its the best thing Marvel is doing right now. Also, I am not a diehard Cap fan, so the changes effect me that much less.

One of the first Cap stories I read and loved, however, was Mark Gruenwald's 12 or 14 part story that started with Steve Rogers quitting as Cap and a new more ruthless person taking over the roll. So, I'm already partial to NuCap stories.

And anyway, this is comics and the original Cap, Steve Rogers, will be back from the dead soon or later.

My money's on sooner.

images courtesy of Marvel Comics via Newsarama