Captain America: Steve Rogers #3

Writer – Nick Spencer
Artist – Jesus Saiz
Colours – Rachelle Rosenberg
Letters – VC’s Joe Caramagna

Nick Spencer delivers a taut and suspenseful tale featuring Steve Rogers in conversation with the Red Skull, the villain who has turned him into an agent of Hydra. It is against everything that he believes in and the image of Steve with the emblem of that terrorist organization painted on his chest is quite frightening. As we already know, the only reason for this turn is due to Kobik at the Red Skull’s insistence and while it seems a very disturbing turn of events, it is making for a very entertaining story. Even better and quite hilarious is the general public’s reaction to all of it and yet, if they took the time to read the book, they would find that not everything is as it seems. Spencer weaves in and out of the title’s most recent events and continues to delve far back into Cap’s past and that of his mother’s. We find her still a member of Hydra – a community group that helps out charities and the like and is essentially a force for good, at least as far as she knows. It is more than interesting to see these early moments in Hydra’s history, something that has not been shown until now. Sure, it might only be a local chapter in America, but seeing how they do things from the ground up makes for a great story, especially as it almost mirrors how the Red Skull is getting his Hydra off the ground. The conversation between the Skull and Rogers is one of master and servant and it provides a perfect framing sequence for the book, one that has you completely hooked from start to finish because you know there has to be something more to this relationship then just what is on the surface. Spencer of course, never disappoints and he leaves the book in a good place, one that has you clamouring for more and anticipating the next issue greatly. Continuing on art is Jesus Saiz, a man who is no stranger to action and intrigue having worked on books like Manhunter, The Brave and the Bold and many more. His work has come a long way over the years and you can see it in these very pages and proves he is the perfect man for the job. It is a good time to be reading Captain America with the book delivering one of its most exciting stories in years, one that is not only excellent, but one that has caused controversy and one that will be remembered for it.

4.5 out of 5

Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps #1

Writer – Robert Venditti
Artist – Rafa Sandoval
Inker – Jordi Tarragona
Colours – Tomeu Morey
Letters – Dave Sharpe

Still missing from the universe is the Green Lantern Corp and Hal Jordan has made it his mission to find out just exactly what happened to them. To that effect, he finds himself on a planet where the populace is none too forthcoming and while he tries to make them see things his way, in another part of the universe, Sinestro is setting forth his plans. Those plans, in part, require him to be the leader everyone expects him to be which includes regaining his strength and virility. So it is that Robert Venditti and Rafa Sandoval bring Sinestro back from the brink, making him more powerful than ever it seems and sending his Corps off into the universe to spread his message and cause as much fear as they possibly can. Venditti starts the series off on a powerful note, one that establishes the status quo for its star, as well as for Sinestro who it looks like will be Hal’s main antagonist. That in particular is a good thing as Sinestro has always been the yin to Hal’s yang and one of the better relationship’s to take place in all of comics. Sometimes friends, sometimes enemies, the two can never seem to really get along and it makes for fantastic reading when they are at odds with each other. There is one moment in the book that is quite intriguing and that is the reaction of Soranik, Sinestro’s daughter, towards his power-play and his message to the Yellow Lanterns. You have to question if she will remain a Yellow Lantern for very long with Hal Jordan back in the picture and with that fantastic ending that Venditti left the book on. One scene that really stands out and is a lot of fun involves the denizens of the planet that Hal is on who had thought Hal and the Green Lanterns gone and the fact that he is back is shocking to them and even more so, very surprising to the Yellow Lanterns who show up later. You can see this playing out throughout the next couple of books at the very least and even better will be how the ending of this tale is incorporated as well. So far the book is off to a great beginning and you can be sure that with Venditti guiding the ship, that will continue.

3.5 out of 5