Captain America #1: The New Early Days

Readers will not get very far into Captain America #1 before they start questioning what they are reading. Zdarsky’s run on Captain America begins with an…adjustment to the titular character’s early days out of the ice. It may take some readers most of the issue to settle into what Zdarsky is doing. Indeed, neither the story he’s beginning, nor the themes he seems to be playing with are entirely clear until the final page. In this way it may be critical that readers read this issue a second time, perhaps immediately following the first time. Curiosity and even, possibly, a search for understanding might overwhelm the first reading.

Captain America #1 may be looking at Steve’s early days, but this is far from a retread of established story threads. Zdarsky’s story doesn’t assume readers know who Steve Rogers or Captain America are. Much of Captain America #1 is spent finding ways to connect readers with the humanity at the character’s core. Is this redundant? Longtime readers might think so. But it’s equally likely that what is essentially a first time introduction to the character will reconnect longtime readers with everything they liked about Rogers in the first place.

Zdarsky spends the remaining space in Captain America #1 on David Colton who, as a young man, stood on a street in New York City on 9/11 and watched the towers come down. The issue touches on David in brief, infrequent scenes, following him as he effectively copies Rogers’ journey but in the 21st century. This is a complicated story choice. Zdarsky is clearly trying to create a character who will eventually be comparable to Rogers but native to the present day. However, the years since 9/11 have added ambiguity to the military actions taken in its aftermath. World War II, on the other hand, has no ambiguity–neither in why Americans signed up to fight in it, nor in the practical and moral stakes involved. A big question going forward will be whether Zdarsky paints over the ambiguity to effectively create a present day clone of Steve Rogers, or whether he will build that ambiguity into the character as he develops and create conflict via these differences.

Colton’s story is told essentially in flashback, not yet reaching the present by the end of Captain America #1. Consistent with the idea of looking at something older, Martin fades and yellows every page Colton is on. This is most noticeable on pages that have any blank space between panels or around page edges–it is not at all white. Indeed, there is no white on any of Colton’s pages. Everything else on the page is dull and faded, The only exceptions to this persistent style choice are two panels in a sequence when Colton’s boot camp sergeant is beating him. Martin uses an all red palette for those panels. Though still dull compared to most of the book, these two panels are explosively vivid for Colton’s scenes.

Unlike Martin’s coloring, Schiti’s art is no different for Colton’s sequences than for the rest of the book. Linework is largely conservative with only slight accents around characters’ eyes and mouths (and foreheads if they are under heavy stress). The exception when it comes to characters is older ones, both male and female. In those cases Schiti is more liberal with his lines, heavily emphasizing their age. Steve and Colton’s faces in particular are drawn with a light hand. Colton is easily explained by his youth. In Steve’s case, the extremely youthful quality that Schiti’s light hand imparts reinforces the inherent goodness that Zdarsky is establishing in his writing.

Most of the depth and detail in Schiti’s art in Captain America #1 comes via softer shading or very slight outlines to delineate spaces where Martin can shift shades of a color–for example, to imply a different angle of an implied light source. This is especially true with locations and backgrounds. It’s also very useful for characters’ clothing, making it feel like it has an actual presence atop whoever is wearing it.

Schiti and Martin’s work largely combines to create the sensation of each page of Captain America #1 having been painted. The colors throughout are generally soft (though not in the dull, faded way they are during Colton’s scenes). Color contrast between different people, objects, backgrounds, etc. is low, with a slightly thicker line proving to be a greater separator of the aforementioned.

The heaviest contrast comes from Caramagna’s lettering. Compared to the softness surrounding them, white dialogue bubbles practically explode off the page. The caption boxes used for Steve’s internal monologue are the only time Caramagna uses something other than white. Instead he employs a dull sky blue. These boxes still pop when set against Martin’s overall color scheme, but they feel far more of a piece. It’s unclear what Caramagna’s alternative to white would have been, but at times the brightness is disruptive.