4. Captain America: Living Legend #2 by Andy Diggle and Agustin Alessio (Marvel)
Like the Trial of the Punisher, Captain America: Living Legend sees the more famous artist leave early and another artist take over. In this case, Adi Granov has ceded art duties to Agustin Alessio after just one issue, instead going back to cover art, which is a shame as I'd have liked to have seen more of Granov's amazing panel-work. But Alessio's work is still pretty damn good, and I'm not sure if this is his usual style, but he's doing an awfully good job of mimicking Granov's art. I don't mean to put Alessio down, the art in this issue is utterly terrific, especially the fight scene at the end between Cap and... whatever that was! Fans of Granov's will be disappointed not to see more of his art but Alessio's stuff is just as good. The story jumps from 1968 to present day, as a Russian astronaut called Volkov sabotages a Russian space mission only to somehow survive to present day, destroy a space station, and hole up in the middle of nowhere in the Russian wintertime, waiting for Cap. The issue opens brilliantly with Cap doing a halo jump from ten miles up - and no parachute (something Cap's doing a lot of these days if you've seen The Winter Soldier trailer)! The monster fight at the end is something I don't think I've seen in a Captain America comic yet, and also feels appropriate for the character as in it's threatening and a challenge but not too overpowered. Great fight scene too and the panel where Cap's protecting the lone surviving astronaut with the shield is ridiculously cool. If you haven't picked up
the first issue, go and get that and this second issue because Andy Diggle, Adi Granov and Agustin Alessio are killing it with one of the best Captain America stories in years. Truly a Living Legend, this mini-series rocks!