Captain America Modern Era Epic Collection, Vol. 3: The Burden of Dreams

Captain America Modern Era Epic Collection

by Ed Brubaker, Steve Epting (Illustrator), Butch Guice (Illustrator)

Agent 13. Bucky Barnes. The Falcon. Black Widow. Iron Man. Steve Rogers was often the glue that bound these heroes together in a common cause. Now, still mourning his loss, they come together again in a desperate attempt to keep his dream alive. But the collapse of Steve’s dream was just the first step in the wicked machinations of the Red Skull, who is determined to see the death of America follow soon after the death of the Captain. As the Skull’s master plan kicks into motion and chaos begins to take hold of the United States, only one man stands in its way — but is he up to the task? In his first major trial as the new Captain America, he will be rocked by a villain from his past — both as Bucky in WWII and as the Winter Soldier during the Cold War — and he’ll have to face his history just as he’s finding his feet in the present.

COLLECTING: Captain America (2004) 31-48, 34 Director’s Cut

Genres: Comics, Marvel

480 pages, Paperback

First published October 7, 2025

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

[Machiavelli · Rating 4 out of 5]

This volume is where Ed Brubaker fully proves the idea that Captain America is bigger than one man. Steve Rogers is dead, and Bucky Barnes has taken up the shield — and the emotional weight of that choice is everywhere.

Bucky’s run as Cap is tense, haunted, and deeply human. He’s trying to live up to a symbol while wrestling with guilt, doubt, and a past he can’t escape. Brubaker leans into quiet moments, moral pressure, and psychological strain rather than spectacle, and it works beautifully.

This is smart, mature superhero storytelling — political without being preachy, emotional without being melodramatic. The shield feels heavy in Bucky’s hands, and that’s exactly the point. One of the strongest stretches of the entire run. 4.5⭐️