So You Want to Start Reading: Captain America

Welcome to the first installment of  So You Want to Start Reading, a regular feature that will hopefully help you indulge your comic book curiosity and figure out how and where to jump into a title.

By the way, just to make this clear: I receive absolutely no compensation from any comic book publisher, writer, illustrator, editor, intern, etc. for featuring books. If I recommend something, it's strictly because I like it. I'm not a promoter, just a fan. The end.

I'm going to start you off with one of my favorites: Marvel's Captain America. The first Cap comic was published in 1941, and stories about the star-spangled super soldier have been released on and off ever since. But fear not, True Believer: you don't have to read 7 decades worth of comic books to understand what's going on right now.

A lot of comic book characters have been around for a long time. To keep it that way, and to keep their stories fresh, publishers often reboot and/or retcon their books. Sometimes, when one of these things happens or even occasionally when a new writer steps in, a new volume will be created. Basically, this just means that the numbering reverts to 1 and you get to start fresh (with established canon in mind, of course).

The easiest way to pick up Captain America is to start with Ed Brubaker's run on the book, which spans all of volume 5 and into volume 6. Brubaker is often credited with reestablishing Cap's popularity, and his influence is seen heavily in both of the appearances the character has made on the big screen.

The most cost effective method of reading would be to pick up the issues in trade - that is, collected in a paperback or hardcover edition, like a graphic novel. You can find these pretty much everywhere, from libraries to bookstores to Amazon. I encourage you to track down your local comic shop. It's always great to support them, and a lot of shops have awesome sales pretty regularly. Just visit comicshoplocator.com and plug in your zip code.

Here's a list of Brubaker's Cap titles, in trade, in order. For those of you who are looking to start collecting, I've included the issue numbers with each volume.

Captain America, vol. 5

Winter Soldier (#1-9, 11-14)
Note: Winter Solider was originally released in two volumes, but is now available in one paperback as Winter Solder: Ultimate Collection. The two-volume version is out of print but may still be found in some stores or libraries. If you have any doubts, just look at the cover or see if there's a number on the spine.

Captain America #10: This issue was released as a part of Marvel's House of M event. It is not vital to the continuity of the rest of the story, so you can skip it. However, if you'd like to read it, you can find it in House of M: World of M Featuring Wolverine.

Red Menace (#15-17, Captain America: 65th Anniversary Special, #18-21)
Note: Like Winter Soldier, this was originally released as two volumes in trade. Same rules apply.

Civil War: Captain America (#22-24, Winter Soldier: Winter Kills)
Note: These issues are tie-ins for Marvel's Civil War event. You may want to check that out for additional context.

The Death of Captain America, vol. 1 (#25-30)
The Death of Captain America, vol. 2 (#31-36)
The Death of Captain America, vol. 3 (#37-42)

The Man With No Face (#43-48)

Road to Reborn (#49-50, #600-601)
Note: To commemorate 600 issues of Captain America, the numbering of the individual issues reverted.

Reborn (Captain America: Reborn #1-6)
Note: This was a Captain America event, released outside the regular title but still within its continuity, hence the separate numbering.

Two Americas (#602-605, Who Will Wield the Shield?)

No Escape (#606-610)

The Trial of Captain America (#611-615, 615.1)

Prisoner of War (#616-619)

"Prisoner of War," was the final installment of the 5th volume. I'd strongly recommend reading Fear Itself #1-7 (also available in trade) and Fear Itself: Shattered Heroes, a Marvel event comic by Matt Fraction that A) is incredible in its own right and B) ties into the beginning of the next volume.

Captain America, vol. 6

As of right now, there is one trade for vol. 6, simply called: Captain America, vol. 1. It collects issues #1-5 of the current run. Issue #17 just hit stands yesterday.

If you have any questions, just leave them in the comments, and I'll do my best to answer them.

Happy reading!