Captain America: The Trial of Captain America Omnibus

Captain America (2004) (Collected Editions) #12-15

by Ed Brubaker (Writer), Jackson Guice (Contributor), Luke Ross (Contributor)

Bucky Barnes, the once and future Winter Soldier, took on the mantle of Captain America after Steve Rogers' seeming death. But now Steve is back, and the two Caps must decide which one of them will wield the shield! As the Grand Director, Baron Zemo and Sin make life difficult for the heroes, Steve settles into a new role as head of S.H.I.E.L.D. - and Bucky's secret past is exposed to the world!...

COLLECTING: CAPTAIN AMERICA: WHO WILL WIELD THE SHIELD? 1, CAPTAIN AMERICA (2005) 602-610 , STEVE ROGERS: SUPER-SOLDIER 1-4 , CAPTAIN AMERICA (2005) 611-619, 615.1 , CAPTAIN AMERICA (2011) 1-10

Genres: Comics, Marvel, Graphic Novels, Comic Book, Fiction, Superheroes, Graphic Novels Comics

928 pages, Hardcover

First published December 16, 2014

About the author

Ed Brubaker (born November 17, 1966) is an Eisner Award-winning American cartoonist and writer. He was born at the National Naval Medical Center, Bethesda, Maryland.

Brubaker is best known for his work as a comic book writer on such titles as Batman, Daredevil, Captain America, Iron Fist, Catwoman, Gotham Central and Uncanny X-Men. In more recent years, he has focused solely on creator-owned titles for Image Comics, such as Fatale, Criminal, Velvet and Kill or Be Killed.

In 2016, Brubaker ventured into television, joining the writing staff of the HBO series Westworld.

Reviews

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great entry. Starts with the imposter 1950s Captain America resurfacing and gathering up followers in a small town to try and “take America back”. Bucky and Falcon infiltrate this movement to take down this 1950s Cap. Nice story there. Bucky’s identity as the Winter Soldier/New Captain America has gone public with Bucky being on camera. This brings the new Zemo out to breakout Sin from jail to get information ok Bucky so he can go after him. Some wild ish Zemo had planned. We get Bucky’s trial for what he did as the Winter Soldier. Steve Rogers’ old GF, Bernice, ended up being Bucky’s lawyer. While the trial was under way is when Zemo put his plan into action. Then of course you have some Russian officials come and take Bucky away for crimes he committed in Russia supposedly. He ends up in a Russian gulag prison. Pretty brutal stuff Bucky had to go through there. Bucky’s ally’s find out the Russians claim to Bucky was not on the up and up so they go to get him out. Another dope story arc. Steven takes up being Captain America again and gets mixed up with the Machinesmith. The flashback to 1944 with Agent Bravo and the kid, Jimmy Jupiter was pretty cool too. Jimmy can create another realty and control everything there and send people in there and out in other places. Bravo and company got stuck in there. No one knows how long. He finally gets out and comes after Cap with the help of Queen Hydra and an old Jimmy Jupiter. That whole story bit was a great time. Brubaker continues to weave a fun action packed story that I’m still digging. A bunch of different artist throw their pencils around in this volume but my favorite is as Steve McNiven. On to the final volume!!

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bei diesem Omnbibus hat so ziemlich alles für mich gestimmt: tolle Artwork und spannende, klasse erzählte Stories, die sich zum großen Handlungsbogen fügen.
Zu Beginn ist Bucky Barnes der Captain America, aber seine Vergangenheit als Winter Soldier wird von alten Erzfeinden an die Öffentlichkeit gezerrt. Buckys Situation wird immer auswegloser und führt ihn aus dem amerikanischen Gerichtssaal direkt ins russische Gulag.
Da die Welt - naja, zumindest die Vereinigten Staaten - einen Captain America braucht, übernimmt Steve Rogers wieder die Rolle und tritt gegen eine beachtliche Zahl alter und neuer mächtiger Feinde an.

Die Story ist komplex und mitreißend, wie man es von Brubaker zu recht erwartet, und hat mich absolut überzeugt.
Sehr schön auch, dass es neben den männlichen Helden auch die inzwischen bei Marvel etablierten starken Frauen gibt, Black Widow und, absolut überzeugend, Sharon Carter, die den Supergaunern mächtig die Leviten liest.

Sharon Carter früher ...


und heute:


"I´m going to get you out of here" - Sharon Carter ist kein Deko=Artikel, sondern rettet "unserem" Helden mehrfach das Leben.


Auch wenn der Titel CAPTAIN AMERICA für deutsche Ohren ziemlich sehr vaterländisch (und vielleicht gerade in diesen Zeiten wenig attraktiv) klingt, bietet Brubaker dem Leser sehr viel mehr als platten Patriotismus. Anders als im Golden= und Silver Age ist hier Raum für Zweifel und Graustufen - auch wenn´s am Ende natürlich immer heldenhaft zugeht.

[Drew Canole · Rating 4 out of 5]

Whoof this omnibus contains a ton of stories!

Captain America: Two Americas
Steve Rogers: Super-Soldier
Captain America: No Escape
The Trial of Captain America
Captain America: Prisoner of War
Captain America (2011), Vol. 1
Captain America (2011), Vol. 2

Best to give each story arc its own review. Overall, while it does have some weaker stories, I thought the complete package was pretty incredible. Brubaker spins some very interest yarns and partners up with some great artists.

The main story arc is Zemo releases information that shows that Bucky Barnes, the new Captain America, was the cold war super agent Winter Soldier. Barnes goes to trail and has to fight to clear his name. Afterwards he gets set free in the USA but the Russians come forward and claim him for crimes - so he's for some odd reason taken to Russia and gets to spend time in a brutal gulag there.

I found the 2011 Captain America series to feel a bit out of place. On its own, it's pretty good stuff. I assume it was made for readers who may not have read the previous books but it's disappointing that it doesn't reference much of what came before.

[Sookie · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 (very biased) star rating.

Ed Brubaker's run on Captain America is a love letter to Bucky Barnes. In the past Brubaker has admitted to writing Winter Soldier was an ode to his own childhood. I am glad he decided to give Marvel Universe its Winter Soldier.

Bucky Barnes is lost to the world after the plane he was on explodes. Captain America sees that and declares his partner dead in action. Brubaker uses the same trope used on Captain America to revive Bucky. Only Bucky gets the Russians. He has lost his memory and Russians get their own brand of super soldier an assassin who attains legendary ghost status. Bucky loses agency on his body and becomes a weapon to the highest bidder. He comes back stateside to assassinate the captain but ends up regaining all his memories - both the one before he became Winter Soldier and the ones after.

This volume starts with the established notion that Bucky Barnes is alive and is now has picked up the shield to become Captain America after Steve Rogers dies during Civil War. Bucky struggles with guilt and the weight of choices he has to make as Captain America. Violence comes easily to him, slipping into the soldier mode but exercising restraint during hostility is the first thing he re-learns after wearing the cowl. Along with Natalia Romanova, he does his duty the way Steve Rogers would have done, refining his own identity as Bucky Barnes and reclaiming the respect he deserves. Of course the government and country doesn't know that it is Bucky Barnes who was also an assassin for the KGB.

When he gets exposed as an ex-assassin, media shitstorm hits a different level. Taken into police custody, the investigation is thinly veiled reference to the way the suspects get treated in prisons that have very less federal intervention. The torture, the violence and the neglect that goes into these places has Bucky in a submissive state. When he exercises patience while dealing with bullying jailers, he calls upon his "inner Steve" to be patient.

Brubaker isn't subtle with Steve's moral absolutes. They are what Bucky decides to implement during his stint as Captain America. It isn't so much as being a hero that makes him want the job but to absolve himself of the guilt he committed while being brain washed. He enters into a stable relationship with Natalia and their dynamics isn't something that's seen often in comics. They are natural, work great together and its refreshing to see Bucky letting Natalia be. The affection and respect they have for each other is quite nice in the occasional below average stories.

Its not a stellar story. It isn't story about Steve Rogers' Captain America but re-evolution and life of Bucky Barnes; the prisoner of war who tries to make a person out of himself with what limited resources he has on his hands and cares for what few people he has left in his life.

[Aaron · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finally, after a huge gap, Marvel has put out the remaining Ed Brubaker Captain America stories, collected here and in Captain America: Return of the Winter Soldier Omnibus. Brubaker's early Cap run, including his original Winter Soldier storyline and its extended aftermath, was utterly incredible. Some of the best stuff ever done with the character. So it's a little disappointing to read this and realize that he's not quite performing at that level anymore.

A lot of the international intrigue mixed with Golden-Agey storylines that made his early stories so great is still here. It's just a little watered down. The stories don't seem to connect and build quite the same as they used to. There are a lot of one-off stories that prove to be a little underwhelming. The thing is, though, Brubaker clearly just loves writing for Cap, and it shows in the storytelling. Even Brubaker at his "worst" with Cap is still a ton of fun, and well worth the read.

I also really appreciate his attempt to bring the Winter Soldier storyline full circle in this volume. Bucky has filled in for Steve Rogers for years at this point, and with Steve returning in the last volume, things get thrown a little out of whack for him. He has to come to grips with the fact that he isn't the Captain America Steve Rogers always was, even though he's been a great one in his own right. It's a solid character arc, which unfortunately reaches its zenith in the stupid Fear Itself crossover, which isn't even collected here. It almost feels unfair to let Matt Fraction write that climax, seeing as he's had nothing to do with Bucky as Cap, and Brubaker's been handling all of it for years, but whatever. Marvel gon' do what Marvel gon' do.

In any case, part of me is sad to read this, since it kind of feels like Brubaker on his way out. There's one more (much smaller) omnibus to go, but I just can't see Brubaker ever topping what he's done on Cap with another Marvel superhero. His work with Sean Phillips is fantastic and I hope it goes on forever, but it's just different. This feels like the end of an era to me.

[Fluffyroundabout · Rating 3 out of 5]

To be honest I'm a bit disappointed with this. I've never read any of Ed Brubakers cap run or any cap in general so maybe due to my lack of knowledge about the character and all that im missing something here but it just wasn't that great.

This is the 4th in the 5 omnibus run covering all of Ed's cap but I didn't think it was a big deal what order I read them in because there aren't any numbers on the omnibuses and the first 3 are out of print. I felt like the stories in this were all good but none of them were great. I think a big part of this is the villains. Sin, baron zemo, machineman, queen hydra and all the others are not that interesting to me.

I guess I expected too much from this omnibus, good not great. I'll still check out the others, I've heard too much about this run to turn back now and if I'm going to read Captain America apparently this is the run to read.

[Emmett Spain · Rating 4 out of 5]

The fourth omnibus collection of Brubaker's epic and award winning Captain America run struggles through a metamorphosis of sorts here.

The volume picks up from the Captain America Lives collection, continuing with the same high quality of writing and art that readers have come to expect from Brubaker's run. Then, somewhere around the middle, Brubaker changes things up a little. Instead of interweaving stories in each collected issue, each issue is broken into 3 discreet storylines, focusing upon Cap, Bucky, and Black Widow respectively. These storylines interweave to some small extent, and converge toward the resolution, but cannot help but make a reader feel like they are reading 3 books at once. This is also where the art styles begin to diverge, moving from the heavier inked pencils of Lark & Co to a spate of artists whose styles range from 'sketchy' to 'cartoony'. Only Brubaker's writing keeps the disparate pieces from unravelling entirely.

In the final pages, we are introduced to the Cap relaunch, where he gets a new number one and a fresh stylistic approach. It is also where the wheels begin to fall off. Brubaker's run on Cap has embraced pulp sensibilities of mad German scientists, sci-fi trimmings, and righteous fisticuffs, but here the mix feels like it's been tampered with. The wackiness of it all seems more pungent, the madness more flagrant, and the entire mix less cohesive. No longer are the stories more than the sum of their parts. The parts--particularly the defective ones--are more visible than ever. This is made more pronounced by a marked shift in the drawing style--darker inks are all but banished for bright, splashy colours. Some of the inks are reintroduced via Mark Bagley, who is a fantastic artist, but who doesn't feel like a natural match for Cap and his cohorts--the pencils are fine but the character and style don't feel like a natural marriage.

Overall this is a worthwhile collection for Cap fans to purchase, though it's likely that many will find their enjoyment tainted by the gradual metamorphosis from a title they loved to something which doesn't quite come together.

[Shannon Appelcline]

A merger of the final BuckCap stories and the return of Steve Rogers. The BuckCap stories vary between good to great espionage with terrific painted art to go with it. The SteveCap stories are still well-written, but the four-color superheroics just don't have the same depth (though Brubaker somewhat makes up for that with great continuity).

Notably missing from this story is any mention of Fear Itself: we just suddenly get discussions of the world thinking Bucky is dead.

Two Americas (602-605). Another OK story, though I'm happy to see Bucky remain as the focus and I'm also pleased by the attention to continuity. None of the Caps have really sung, though, since way back in Death of Captain America. [4/5]

Super-Soldier. A story with nice connections to both the Captain’s origins and the Secret Avengers. It also does well for placing Rogers in a more soldier-like role. [4/5]

No Escape (606-610). Another OK story, but this one is lifted up to the next level by the insight into Bucky's psyche. [4/5]

The Trial of Captain America (611-615). This is Brubaker’s Captain, back at his best, with black dealings, moral dilemmas, and a great cast of characters. [5/5]

Prisoner of War (616-619). Another good volume. Not only do we get Burbaker’s large cast of characters, but we also get a complex, multi-level story from a multitude of points of views that really adds texture to the overall story. [5/5]

Captain America V1 (1-5). A good start to the new Steve Rogers Captain America. I especially like Brubaker’s decision to keep the Captain America supporting cast from the Bucky years and the new dilemmas that Steve faces about how horrifically corporate this country has become. [4/5]

Captain America V2 (6-10). This comic really makes it obvious how much the new Captain America comic has changed — that it’s now a superhero comic again, not the espionage comic that Brubaker wrote in the previous volume. The result is fast-paced and not particularly deep, but it’s well-done superheroism with a continuing nice supporting cast that has expanded to include many Avengers. Overall, a fun book though an overly quick read.

[FrontalNerdaty · Rating 4 out of 5]

Picking up with Steve returning this story sees how the world would function with 2 Captain America’s. However, as to be expected it’s not smooth sailing. Bucky’s past comes back to haunt him and he ends up stripped of the title and thrown in to prison! The stories revolving around Steve Rogers, Bucky, Widow and Agent 13 all intertwine to make a compelling and pulp heavy spy action adventure which was a constant page turner. There’s a string of incredible artists doing work here; Butch Guice, Daniel Acuna, Chris Samnee and Steve McNiven to name a small but excellent selection.
This is a near perfect run of issues, which I feel is slightly less down by the run wherein Cap begins fighting giant robot versions of himself and his adventures veer more in to generic comic territory as opposed to the noir-lite stories we’d had before this.

[Adam Spanos · Rating 4 out of 5]

After the debacle known as the Reborn miniseries, where the entire captain america book floundered while that standalone event hogged all the attention, I was afraid that Bucky Cap would be pushed to the sidelines. Thankfully we get a very solid bucky-centric follow up story here. It both builds on the continuity established in Brubaker's entire run, AND leads right into the next volume. I am in continual admiration of Brubaker's master plan. Besides the Reborn episode, which i feel was mandated upon him, the writer hasn't skipped a beat thus far in rolling out a master story arc for Bucky Cap and Steve Rogers.

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lot happens here. It’s getting more convoluted but I think that’s simply because by the end Brubaker is tying up Steve and Bucky’s storylines with multiple side characters and lots of villains in the background.
I started reading comics around this time and was watching the Marvel movies but it still surprised me to realize how influential this run is to the Cap movies. The art is definitely a product of its time but I’m excited to finish up this run!

[Lance Giuliano]

Was definitely worried that the return of Steve Rogers would mean the sidelining of Bucky and less of his very strongly written character. But this series wisely keeps Bucky as the centerpiece, expanding his character and taking it to its natural conclusion of atonement. The trial stuff is great, but definitely becomes a mess after that. Much less focused than the first 3 parts. Curious to see how it wraps up in the final stretch

[Mohamed Ahmed · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5
I Have to say that this was not as good as the Start of Brubaker Run on Cap, However there Was some arcs here that i enjoyed, the best one is The trial of Captain america, but other arcs was not as good, and the 2010 1-10 issues was okay at best.
The Art Was Very Good Through out Most of it.

[Ojas · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐

[Jordan Lahn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Here's my problem. This is easily the best Captain America series in the character's history. That being said, it's not ending as strongly as it started. The shift is really visible in this omnibus. When Fear Itself ends Bucky's career as Cap, and Steve takes up his shield once again, the change in art style and tone is... disappointing.
That being said, the first part of this collection is still really good. The whole Trial of Captain America arc is quite interesting, and I'm hoping the tone carries forward into Buckt's solo Winter Soldier series. I'll find out in the next omnibus!

[James De Leon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like the title of the second omni “The Death Of Captain America Omnibus”, this one is a bit misleading. The trial in this book is about Bucky’s trial - not Steve’s. Though now that I type this, one could make a case for it being about Steve’s trial as well, given what happens to him in this omni. Anyway, Bucky’s identity as the Winter Solider is exposed to the media and he’s taken into police custody to face the music. Though he gets out of that jam, Russia now wants him.


Bucky is transferred to a Gulag - a Russian prison where rules are not followed, etc. In the meantime, Cap is doing his best to get him out of there in a diplomatic way, while Black Widow and Agent 13 are doing the opposite. The Gulag storyline was cool. I hope they do something similar in the MCU for Falcon - him not having powers and all.

Cap also spends some time going against an old friend turned foe. This was ok. The stuff with Jimmy Jupiter was very interesting, though. I wish Brubaker had expanded on him a bit more.

The art in the omni inconsistent, which is to be expected as this volume has many more folks in charge of the pencils.

By this point, I’ll have to take a break and finish the run later. It’s still good, but maybe a short interlude will make me more excited about the last book.

Overall, 7/10 for the story and art.

[Sofia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brubaker's series is one of the best arcs of all time; because he's not writing the story of Steve Rogers, but the story of Captain America. This collection focuses on the role of a symbol in time when those very notions feel almost out of date. Does the world really need Captain America without a war? Does the shield represent a nation or an ideal? Can a symbol persist when the world it was created by is no longer there?

In many ways, the world (fictional and real) have believed Rogers and the Cap mantle to be synonymous with one another, and Brubaker's run with this series has shaken that belief to it's core. From the appearance of the Winter Soldier, the death of Captain America, Bucky's time behind the shield, and of course the trial of Captain America, readers are constantly being asked to return to these questions about the role of that title for both an individual, and a larger collective.

[Ricardo Noronha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brubaker's run on Captain America continues with this "Trial of Captain America" Omnibus.
This book follows up Bucky's story up until the "Fear Itself" event, on which the shield returns to its original owner, Steve Rogers.

After that, and a few short, and unrelated with the main plot, stories, we have the return of Steve as Captain America, where he has to face two new foes, Codename Bravo and Queen Hydra!

Brubaker keeps gifting us with great storytelling, full of schemes against our favourite star-spangled hero.

[Matt Sautman · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent collection of Captain America stories that take place in the lead up to the Fear Itself story arc. While I felt highly invested during various parts of the arcs present here, this omnibus does not always have a clear narrative follow through due to the numerous Captain Americas who are active at this time in the comics. This book is easy to recommend for established Captain America fans, but this book may be less accessible for anyone who only knows of Steve Rogers from the MCU.

[Eric Burton · Rating 5 out of 5]

This volume comes close to the first in terms of quality, which is to say it was excellent. I've been surprised by how many of the stories Brubaker has focused on Bucky, and he has quickly become one of my favorite Marvel heroes after reading this run. The character development is incredible. He also handles Steve as a character really well, and gives both plenty to do, along with a vast supporting cast. I loved almost all of the issues in here, and can't wait to read the final volume.

[Rosaria Battiloro · Rating 4 out of 5]

3,5 stars

I do really enjoy Brubaker's take on the superhero genre! His Cap's run is really good and enjoyable. I'm not quite sure this is the right book for the issues I read (I read them on comixology), but I really loved the story from #617 - #619 with the three entwined storylines of Black Widow, Steve, and Bucky in the gulag! Drawing were also rather good!

[Jacob · Rating 4 out of 5]

Didn't reach the highs of the previous stories but still pretty good. The Trial arc was great, but annoyingly some of the events going on outside these comics at the time would change things up requiring me to look up what happened to get a full picture. These were still fun stories but felt more basic.

[Ja Vi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Toda la parte que protagoniza Bucky Barnes mantiene un excelente nivel. El soldado de invierno es un personaje fantástico y Brubaker escribe maravillas cuando lo utiliza. El resto del tomo es entretenido, sin más.

[Gerky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brubaker's Captain America run continues, and its still great stuff. Though it does read a little strangely with no mention if why some of the issues choseb were chosen.

[B · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked it but it has started to feel very repetitive. Even in this book, Captain America loses his powers three times.

[Derek Moreland · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ugh, this one was a slog. I feel like not only am *I* tired of Brubaker’s Captain America, Brubaker is tired of it too.

And there still one more of these things...

[DayDay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some of the most amazing Cap stories you could read in a cinematic experience.

[boofykins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brubaker Cap Omnibus number four. Another five stars, in my opinion. There's an arsenal, nay, a murderer's row of artists in this one. Compelling and full of action.

[Joshua]

Home stretch!

[Anthony Perazone · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars