After last months’ reveal of Sharon discovering a Steve Rogers-looking dude floating in a tank in the Red Skull’s hideout, it was impossible not to put the new issue right to the top of my reading pile. Luckily, Brubaker knows not to string this kind of thing out, and almost immediately gives us some advancement of that plot. Someone get this man a writer’s position on Lost.

Of course, before we find out anything about the floating Steve, we get to see a little more of what the Skull’s actually up to. Brubaker is keeping the readers and characters largely in the dark about what exactly the Skull and his group of Nazi-associated villains are up to, but by meting out small piece of information here and there, a bigger picture is starting to emerge – and from the look of it, he’s aiming to put himself in charge of both the US presidency and economy. This time, he might just have the patience to go through with it, too.

With Bucky’s career as Captain America now public, we see some fairly high-profile reactions to it. The man on the street doesn’t seem to be taking much notice, but in the hero community, there are understandably some ruffled feathers. Falcon has a bash at Stark, and then Hawkeye turns up at Bucky’s apartment to talk things out Superhero style – with a fight. Having Clint show up wearing a purple T-Shirt was a cute touch, and helped me immediately recognise the character when, let’s face it, with the blond hair and blue eyes, he could easily have looked like Steve Rogers.

Elsewhere Sharon has apparently snapped out of Faustus’ control, though she isn’t letting on just yet. While her captors prepare to unleash their version of Steve Rogers, she sneaks in for a look… and it gets a little confusing. Steve wakes up, and he seems to remember who he is, claiming “yes, Steve Rogers was my name.” but on the other hand… he appears to be a robot. Once again, Brubaker has ended on a good mystery cliffhanger, and I can’t wait to see where it’s going – which, if we’re lucky, will be revealed next issue.

Oh, and while I’m thinking about it – Epting is back on art, and inking himself it seems. Anyone know what the situation is here? Are Epting and Guice sharing duties issue-to-issue? On the writing side, Brubaker has, over the last year, crafted Cap into a brilliant monthly read, and each issue brings both new answers and fresh mysteries to pursue. The emphasis on espionage over superheroics might not entertain everyone, but personally, I can’t get enough.