Essential Captain America Vol 5

I don’t normally read graphic novels but I’ve been watching The Big Bang Theory so have become curious because the characters love them. Ideally I would start from the start but this is the one I found so I’ve started with Vol. 5. I don’t know the back story of Captain America and his crime-fighting partner The Falcon but that didn’t really matter as they are stories that you can read by themselves but there is also references to past issues that you would get if you’d read them but it doesn’t matter if you haven’t.

I have tried to read graphic novels before but never really got into them. I found myself quite enjoying this one though. They are fun and don’t take themselves seriously. It does mostly consist of baddies turning up and Captain America and The Falcon having to find a way to defeat them but that’s okay. Some of the story lines last for several issues so you can learn a bit more about the characters and their lives. It also means the baddies can have more of a back story and be more evil than they would be otherwise.

Captain America fights all sorts of baddies that have powers that mean they can’t be killed by more conventional methods. Cap and Falc are conveniently very strong and agile, but I suppose that is the definition of a super hero. The costumes are obviously very important in a super hero too and the Cap and the Falc look pretty good. The pictures are really detailed and have a lot going on in them when there is fighting going on and close-ups of faces at moments of realization. You can see how these comic book drawings naturally lead themselves to becoming cartoons. You can feel the movement in the pictures.

The comics are set in the 1960’s but there are evil geniuses who are able to create technology that can wipe minds, send people between dimensions and alter people’s minds to believe whatever the person wants them to. It’s not just humans that have advanced technology. Sometimes the baddies come from other worlds, either by accident or on purpose, and they have all kinds of weapons available to them. It’s sort of like Dr Who in the sense that there are an infinite number of potential foes for the super heroes to fight. The writers can imagine anything and create technology to make it possible.

I think I would definitely read more of the classic comics. I wouldn’t necessarily go back and read more Captain America straight away, I would probably try a different super hero. If anyone wanted to try a comic or graphic novel who hasn’t really read any before, I think this is a good starting point as the stories are easy to follow and the characters are familiar from cartoons and films, so you have an idea of them before you begin.

It exceeded my expectations and I think people tend to look down on comics and graphic novels because they have pictures in them. In the same way that some children’s books are better than adult books, there are some really good comics and graphic novels out there; and of every genre too. Captain America would perhaps be the graphic equivalent of James Patterson or Nora Roberts, they’re fun books to just lose yourself in and don’ try to be anything they’re not.

Overall rating 5 out of 5.