GRAPHIC NOVEL REVIEW: Captain America: The Trial of Captain America Omnibus – Guilty or not guilty

Marvel Comics just released another omnibus that is worth to serious comic book collection — Captain America: The Trial of Captain America Omnibus by Eisner-winning comic scribe Ed Brubaker and illustrated by a smorgasbord of talented artists, particularly Alan Davis, Steve McNiven, and Steve Epting. Just like virtually all Marvel Omnibuses/Omnibi, this is no different for the spine is well-sewn and a truly readers’ friendly one, despite clocking more than 900 pages! This volume has the Variant Cover Gallery which our very own Harvey Tolibao has an exclusive cover art! Furthermore, it reprints three Marvel Spotlights articles that tell readers some of the behind-the-scenes in the creative process of Brubaker and other artists involved.

Basically, this is technically the third volume of Brubaker’s highly critically and commercially successful Captain America run. This follows the intertwining and separate adventures of two Captain Americas—Bucky Winter Soldier Barnes and Steve Rogers. The former continues his role as the new sentinel of liberty upon Steve’s request while Rogers assumes the top secret security position in the mold of SHIELD upon the President’s executive order (obviously, Barack Obama though portrayed in shadow). Not only that, readers are treated with appearances of the Sam The Falcon Wilson, Natasha The Black Widow Romanov, Sharon Agent 13 Carter, Nick Fury, Hank The Beast McCoy and other members of the Avengers since both Captain Americas obviously need a hand or two (or many) when things get out of the way, as the stories progress. And since the hero has an impressive rogue gallery, we expect an impressive number of opponents like Baron Zemo, Hydra, Sin, and even a couple of Captain America wannabes.

This Captain America omnibus has overall seven chapters. The first is Two Americas, where Bucky has to stop a deranged Captain America from exploding a nuclear warhead. Then No Escape follows, which Baron Zemo returns to challenge Bucky that not everyone is expecting of. Then, Steve Rogers investigates rumors of the replications of his super-soldier serum in, well, Super-Soldier. After that, the main course, The Trial of Captain America, commences that finds Bucky himself in actual public and court trials for his past sins as Winter Soldier, and Steve Roger’s uncovering the conspiracy. But Bucky’s problem is far from over in Gulag, where he must survive the harsh Siberian-Russian prison system while Steve again tries to uncover a greater cover-up but in the end, Rogers has to don his Captain America suit once again. However, in American Dreamers, a former World War II ally who is still jealous over Steve’s romantic conquest; that neatly follows-in Powerless, Steve is literally depowered while Baron Zemo and Hydra commence their latest scheme. There are some side-stories like in Who Wields the Shield? that kicks-off the entire story, and Black Widow’s and Agent 13’s spy adventures to assist Steve in helping Bucky in the Gulag-run. Also, in issue #615.1 that shows another Captain America replacement and the 70th Anniversary special issue #616 that showcases some historical background stories of Captain America written and illustrated by some of the comic’s finest.

In true Ed Brubaker fashion, readers and fans alike are treated with some of the writer’s finest detective, espionage, conspiratorial, and twists-and-turns-suspense storytelling. There are couples of red herrings and cliffhanging moments that surely make readers turn one page to another without getting bored at all. Similar to the previous two volumes, these stories have Easter eggs littered in the details that true detective and noir readers and Brubaker-fans would really want to scrutinize with. Moreover, Brubaker makes sure that his Captain America tales have some socio-political commentaries to make his stories more grounded and updated with the present realities that transpired in the United States, particularly the controversial Teabag Party rally that forced Marvel to reedit a particularly protest sign, and the emergence of the so-called “real” news vis-à-vis to actual news that presently still continues to exist (and even believe by many viewers despite the obvious). And upon rereading this massive opus, I come to realize that the word “TRIAL” is beyond the main story arc of Bucky-Cap, but also presents a bigger tale of the sense of worthiness of him and even Steve Rogers in their new respective roles; and the challenges they must confront, particularly in psychological tussles both Captain Americas have to endure.

My serious misgivings here are the following. Again, Marvel uses the same inferior-quality paper that is thinner than the previous omnibuses. There are pages that are unpaged, making browsing a bit challenging. Since Brubaker’s forte is in the noir and detective suspense genre, readers should forgive of the writer’s apparent lack of scientific know-how in dealing with Steve-Cap’s depowering moments in Super Soldier and Powerless. At least, Brubaker balances detective with some old-fashioned superhero smack-downs in reaching the climaxes in every chapter of this book. New readers should also look back the first two volumes or earlier issues of Brubaker’s Captain America run (issues #1-601) to get an idea or two on the writer’s style and even some prior developments on Bucky’s choice to succeed Steve as the Sentinel of Liberty. Finally, due to the usual hectic schedule in mainstream comics, there are multiple artists involved that resulted to so many inconsistent artworks even in one chapter that may baffle or irritate some comic beginners/readers. But, there are beautifully illustrations of some femme fatales in the hands of Epting, Guice and even McNiven. So, it is an intricate artistic balance somehow. Nevertheless, this new volume succeeds mostly on fine storytelling and some great artworks, particularly on favorites Epting and McNiven. Let’s march on for the last volume in 2015!
4/5 Stars