Captain America & Hawkeye #629-632

I’ve been checking out the Sixth Gun trades from the library and really enjoying them. Then I spotted Cullen Bunn’s name on a bunch of Marvel books that I enjoy or want to check out, like Captain America, Wolverine, and Fearless featuring Valkyrie. So I figured it was time to buckle down and actually buy some of his books, rather than wait and get them from the library.

I’m also a sucker for team-up books. Marvel Two-in-One and Marvel Team-Up remain some of my favorite comics ever, so pairing up two cool heroes against a classic villain is always a recipe for success with me. Bunn’s run on this title actually picks up the classic Captain America numbering, so really, this is just picking up an old series I used to collect. (Of course, now I buy it digitally, but hey, wave of the future and all that.)

This is a plot-heavy escapade that honestly could have featured any two characters. Bunn brings out “classic” villain Stegron the dinosaur man in a new plot to bring back the age of dinos. Of course, to modernize things a bit, these dinosaurs are symbiote-influenced with some weird ties to the Dire Wraiths too. So basically, Stegron, Dire Wraiths, and symbiotes. So I’d say we’ve got our classic villains about locked. I would have appreciated a tad more focus on Stegron rather than generic dinos, but I appreciate that Bunn didn’t feel the need to kill the guy off at the end of the story.

Hawkeye is fully in his movie-jock role, rocking the shades and muscle shirt. He’s not quite as fun in this incarnation, although there are moments when the “real” Hawkeye shines through. Hawk has a line about not liking Spider-Man, and boy, I’m amazed at how amused I am with the little rivalry that’s sprung up between the two recently. It makes sense that not all heroes would get along, so this is a great relationship. Cap is muscle-y and brave, and gets to fight smart a bit too. There’s not a lot of real character-time, so the jury is still out on how well Bunn has his voice down.

The book also introduces a new scientist named Kash who is going to be a recurring thorn in Cap’s side. We know she gets along with villains and carries around tiny Pym-particle firearms, so she’s got some potential.

I’m still not a huge Alessandro Vitti fan. Everyone has these hulking bodies and furrowed brows. He’s much better on action scenes than dialogue; most of the conversations seem awkward. He’s pretty light on backgrounds, and sometimes the characters’ faces do odd things. That said, he does deliver during the action sequences, and I enjoy his dino-monsters too. I’m afraid we need to add him to the list of people who can’t draw Hawkeye’s muscle shirt. But really, Gabriel Hardman is the only artist who has been able to make that look good.

Good