Quick Thoughts:(im putting this here because I want to review the entire series rather than each individual book)
This is always my favorite thing about comics. When something unexpected happens and it is just perfect for you. I started reading comics 11 months ago and I just so happened to see a LCS while running errands for my mother. I had a few extra dollars in my pocket and decided to stop and take a look. I did not know I would immediately fall in love with the medium and the culture but I am exceedingly happy that I made the decision to stop at that shop. That's how I feel about Captain America: Living Legend. I went in the shop yesterday to pick up Justice League 3000 (don't even bother with it bro.....) and I saw issue 4 of Living Legend sitting on the shelf. I opened it up saw the amazing art and I said to myself "Its only four issues in and I have wanted to read more about Cap." so I decided to buy all four issues of a four issue mini. Right place right time right? This book made me go from really liking the character to loving the character. Lets find out why....
The Review:
Starting off with issue one we are in the Bavarian Alps, Where it is the final year of World War II and a squad f Russian soldiers are scoping out a German military bunker with a rocket scientist inside. The squad of about eight men, including the commander, has seemingly been through hell just to get to the point of scoping this bunker out. We are almost immediately introduced to Sergeant Volkov, a young patriot who seeks to do anything for the advancement of mother Russia, even attacking a German military bunker with few men and even less preparation. At first glance it seems as though Volkov is the antagonist of the story but when you really get into it, he's not. Volkov is something much more sympathetic. Il touch on this again at the end of the review. The basic plot here is that Volkov and Cap are tied together by government conflict lasting over 70 years. The Cold War never really ended in this story--it just got colder. Cap and Volkov are a sort of star-crossed prongs in this cold war as well. Cap is a representation of Light while Volkov is seemingly the representation of darkness. But what this story illustrates best is that even the worst men cannot compare to the darkness of war and the men who would order it. Volkov is a pretty bad dude when you first meet him. He even kills his Captain in cold blood but even after all of that you end up seeing that the government is the true culprit. Volkov is infected by a dark energy entity that is capable of doing some pretty gnarly stuff. transforming men into monstrous machines and forcing them to kill themselves. The best thing about this Dark entity is that, like the true motives and actions of governments the world over, it is shrouded in ambiguity. So how can Cap hope to fight against something like this? How You'll have to read it to find out my friends. In the end you'll find that this is a decades long war. Soldiers vs War. Beautifully done in my opinion. Speaking of beauty I think it important to stress to everyone that this is likely the best looking series I've read all year. Adi Granov is one book 1 and then Agustin Alessio takes over. This series is worth the money just for the art but the story holds up as well and delivers a valuable message to boot.
The Verdict:
Captain America: Living Legend gets a 5......out of 5.
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