Over at It's All True's Armchair Comicon Coverage, there's a link to pictures of Hasbro's upcoming new Marvel Legends, including Steve Rogers in his Super-Soldier outfit. I wasn't completely excited for that one, since he's back in his Captain America suit already; and I hadn't read a lot of his appearances in that suit.
So, I lucked out finding all four issues of Steve Rogers: Super-Soldier out of the quarter bins. (All right, for a buck an issue.) And...it's not bad. In a nice opening, Steve gets a tip from Britain's Pete Wisdom: the grandson of the creator of the Super-Soldier formula, Professor Jacob Erskine, has 'taken back the family name' and announced he's cracked the formula. Steve realizes he knew the new Erskine's grandparents, but is more alarmed to hear the formula is going up to the highest bidder.
Steve investigates the auction in Madripoor, and gets a surprise when he seems to recognize Erskine's wife: she looks like Lt. Cynthia Glass, a Nazi spy who died to save Cap. After fighting his way through some newly enhanced guards, Steve confronts Erskine, who denies everything, but is killed by a sniper...
I liked the set-up for the first issue, and although the reveal of the bad guy was a nice surprise, there's a few holes and odd spots. Just like the recent Avengers: Prime series, Steve kisses another girl, which makes me wonder where his and Sharon Carter's relationship is now. Steve also gets turned back into his old, 98-pound weakling, pre-formula self...and then back, both of which are a little iffy even for comic book science. And the big bads' master plan is likewise questionable: having re-created the formula, now they plan on wrecking the economy and giving as many candidates as possible a Steve Rogers-style upbringing, so they can put the two together into an army they can control. But--oh, I'm not going to get into it.
It's also odd for me to realize Steve's had multiple costumes over the years, besides his traditional Cap look: the Nomad suit, his black costume that went to USAgent, the terrible no mask/leather jacket/headset thing he had for a bit in 90's Avengers comics, his armor, and now this. Although it's weird to see Steve without a mask, because that makes this outfit seem like Steve's casual wear. While I was glad to see him using his energy shield option, it was also surprising to see Steve using other weapons as well; more of the soldier than usual.
Anyway, good pickup for the price, so keep an eye out. I am a little disappointed Steve doesn't bust out the flamethrowers he has on the cover of #4. Written by Ed Brubaker, art by Dale Eaglesham, color art by Andy Troy.
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