Captain America: Living Legend #3 - Marvel Comics

CAPTAIN AMERICA: LIVING LEGEND No. 3, January 2014

It probably came as no surprise to editor in chief Axel Alonso that this mini-series' audience only slightly fell to 23,537 readers in November 2013, at least according to “Diamond Comic Distributors”, as Andy Diggle and Eddie Robson’s script for Issue Three of “Captain America: Living Legend” surely provided its audience with an incredibly engrossing experience. Indeed, whilst the comic’s opening simply consists of a hapless bespectacled scientist talking to a seated Soviet cosmonaut, the gripping nature of the scene’s increasingly dramatic dialogue and spine-chilling atmosphere is extremely well-penned, and resolves itself in one of the most traumatic ways imaginable; “I don’t know how to make it stop. But perhaps… Please, I just need more time…”

Equally as enthralling though is the introduction of Colonel Gridenko, who somehow survived the extra-terrestrial based slaughter in Siberia during the early Seventies, and returns to the freezing cold wilderness for an ill-advised rematch. It’s quite clear that the veteran soldier fully understands his orders are little more than a death sentence for him and his troops. Yet somewhat honourably, if not stupidly, the military officer plans to follow them through as best he can - even if it means attempting to arrest the Sentinel of Liberty for “trespassing in a restricted military facility on Russian soil.”

The co-authors also appear perfectly able to provide Captain America with a somewhat disagreeable partner, in the guise of Doctor Fox, who despite repeatedly owing her life to the titular character, continues to question her protector’s patronisation. It’s highly probable that the clearly ‘out-of-her-depth’ astronaut means well. But when compared to even the politely spoken though deadly serious Gridenko, she appears particularly sharp-tongued, and even seems to chide Steve Rogers for throwing his shield at Layland’s mechanically-infused corpse when it results in the Avenger losing his weapon. 

Packing this twenty-two periodical with plenty of prodigiously-pencilled panels is Agustin Alessio, whose ability to turn even a semi-abandoned scientific research facility into a truly disturbing centre-piece of nail-biting terror without resorting to buckets of gore, speaks volumes. In addition, the physical merging of the alien intelligence with both the poor Soviet troopers and their vehicles is incredibly well envisaged, with Cap’s own disconcerting transformation at the book’s conclusion debatably being worth the publication’s cover price alone.

Script: Andy Diggle & Eddie Robson, Illustration: Agustin Alessio, and Lettering: VC's Joe Caramagna