Steve Rogers races against time to prevent Machinesmith from putting the legendary Super Soldier serum on the black market.
The Good
As a long-time Cap fan, I got special enjoyment from the treatment of Machinesmith in this issue. Brubaker not only nails the insufferable jackass' personality, he also gives him probably the most satisfying comeuppance you can imagine. Seriously, having long been frustrated by the character's cheating immortality, I was tremendously pleased to see him thwarted in the way he was here.
The Bad
I'm ambivalent about the ending of this mini. It sets up what could be an interesting future storyline - - or even years of story lines - - so it makes this whole four issue story basically amount to being a long prologue. Also, if they actually do go through what they're hinting at here, it'd be yet another genie of Cap's mythos to be let out of the bottle; and I'm not sure if every stone should be overturned.
The Verdict - 3.5/5
This mini is further proof that things are a lot more interesting with Bucky keeping the Cap mantle and Steve Rogers staying at the head of SHIELD. I'm sure that the status will eventually be re-established (just as the Super-Soldier serum will eventually be duplicated) but, for the time being, this is the most interesting situation the character's been in for years
