Cap, Black Widow and the Falcon race to save Bucky from the clutches of Baron Zemo's imprisonment - - an imprisonment threatening to do more harm to his mind than anything that could be done to his body.
The Good
I've been digging the key differences between Bucky and Cap's personality that Brubaker's focused on, here. Bucky definitely feels believable as a noble solider who's done his share of dirty work... and I'm intrigued to see how he's going to define and reconcile his Winter Soldiers crimes in the forthcoming "Trial of Captain America" arc. Guice is another member of that rare breed of comics artist who always consider composition when rendering panels. Especially when Bucky's chasing after Zemo in the castle - - there's always a palpable sense of place in the framing.
The Bad
Zemo's characterization seemed a bit off from the way he's traditionally been depicted. I realize this is supposed to be a more credible, down-to-Earth take on Cap's mythos and an over-the-top, scenery-chewing supervillain wouldn't probably wouldn't gel with that... but still, this Zemo speaks in a much less refined way than the indomitable egomaniac we're used to. It doesn't seem to fit his M.O. to play these kind of head games with Bucky, either.
The Verdict - 3.5/5
I'd be remiss not to mention that the Nomad back-up feature's actually pretty good. It's a low-key story about Cap and Rikki going bowling, but I was actually pretty impressed by how much you could relate to the human emotion McKeever spins on such an outlandish, complicated, reality-bending situation. It reminded me of a good Astro City story. Overall, I do recommend this book - - even though Zemo seem different enough from how he's usually been depicted that he took me out of the experience a little.
