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ULTIMATE COMICS: CAPTAIN AMERICA #1-4


ULTIMATE COMICS: CAPTAIN AMERICA


JASON AARON (WRITER), RON GARNEY (ILLUSTRATOR)

3.51
794 ratings75 reviews
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Captain America meets his ultimate nemesis: the Captain America of the Vietnam
War! As new enemies face off, old secrets from the Super-Soldier project are
revealed. From the superstar Wolverine: Weapon X creative team of Jason Aaron
and Ron Garney, get ready for a hard-hitting story of one man's quest to serve
his country - and the sacrifices he must make.

Collecting: Ultimate Comics Captain America 1-4

GenresComicsGraphic NovelsMarvelSuperheroesComic BookFictionGraphic Novels
Comics

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112 pages, Hardcover

First published June 8, 2011

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

JASON AARON

2,253 books1,586 followers
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Jason Aaron grew up in a small town in Alabama. His cousin, Gustav Hasford, who
wrote the semi-autobiographical novel The Short-Timers, on which the feature
film Full Metal Jacket was based, was a large influence on Aaron. Aaron decided
he wanted to write comics as a child, and though his father was skeptical when
Aaron informed him of this aspiration, his mother took Aaron to drug stores,
where he would purchase books from spinner racks, some of which he still owns
today.

Aaron's career in comics began in 2001 when he won a Marvel Comics talent search
contest with an eight-page Wolverine back-up story script. The story, which was
published in Wolverine #175 (June 2002), gave him the opportunity to pitch
subsequent ideas to editors.

In 2006, Aaron made a blind submission to DC/Vertigo, who published his first
major work, the Vietnam War story The Other Side which was nominated for an
Eisner Award for Best Miniseries, and which Aaron regards as the "second time"
he broke into the industry.

Following this, Vertigo asked him to pitch other ideas, which led to the series
Scalped, a creator-owned series set on the fictional Prairie Rose Indian
Reservation and published by DC/Vertigo.

In 2007, Aaron wrote Ripclaw: Pilot Season for Top Cow Productions. Later that
year, Marvel editor Axel Alonso, who was impressed by The Other Side and
Scalped, hired Aaron to write issues of Wolverine, Black Panther and eventually,
an extended run on Ghost Rider that began in April 2008. His continued work on
Black Panther also included a tie-in to the company-wide crossover storyline
along with a "Secret Invasion" with David Lapham in 2009.

In January 2008, he signed an exclusive contract with Marvel, though it would
not affect his work on Scalped. Later that July, he wrote the Penguin issue of
The Joker's Asylum.

After a 4-issue stint on Wolverine in 2007, Aaron returned to the character with
the ongoing series Wolverine: Weapon X, launched to coincide with the feature
film X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Aaron commented, "With Wolverine: Weapon X we'll
be trying to mix things up like that from arc to arc, so the first arc is a
typical sort of black ops story but the second arc will jump right into the
middle of a completely different genre," In 2010, the series was relaunched once
again as simply Wolverine. He followed this with his current run on Thor: God of
Thunder.
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COMMUNITY REVIEWS

3.51
794 ratings75 reviews
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4 stars

256 (32%)
3 stars

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Displaying 1 - 30 of 75 reviews
Stephen
1,516 reviews12k followers
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July 12, 2011
A brief introduction to MY THREE CAPS (all 3 sitting in a diner in Heartland,
USA):

Captain America #1 (Steve Rogers): iconic, idealized version of the best aspects
of America, created to be the perfect American soldier and a symbol of American
freedom and decency to the world. After politely turning down your offer of a
beer, this Cap takes another bite of “Mom’s” apple pie and comments, “Golly
Ma’am, this here is some really swell pie.”


Captain America #2 (Ultimate universe Steve Rogers): iconic, grizzled hero of
World War II who passionately loves America, just as passionately hates France,
and rains a torrent of ass-kickings on the enemies of America because ‘the U.S.
may not be perfect, but we’re more perfect than you.’ After turning down your
offer of some apple pie, this Cap takes a big swig of beer and bitch-slaps some
war protestor in the next booth for bad-mouthing America.


Captain America #3 (Ultimate universe Frank Simpson and Cap during Vietnam): a
pill-popping, steroid-addled, cyber-soldier who had his love for America spent
in the corpses of the 1000’s he was ordered to kill in Vietnam, passionately
hates America (not sure how he feels about France) and wants Cap #2 to see the
TRUTH about the country he serves so faithfully. After throwing your offered
apple pie across the room, this Cap kills an American soldier sitting in the
next booth, grabs his bottle of Jack Daniels off the table and pisses on a photo
of Richard Nixon holding the American Flag.


Well forget about Cappy #1 as he is pretty much gone and living in the Old
Anachronisms Home. We all can have different opinions of this and I am not
making any judgments, but I do think it is time we accept that old Cap is gone.
This story is all about Cap #2 (now, simply Captain America) and Cap #3 (aka
Nuke aka angry bad guy aka Frank Simpson).

So DukeNuke’m (long thought dead) turns up peddling super-soldier serum to the
North Koreans until Cap shows up to stop him…..and proceeds to get the
flag-loving snot beat out of him by Mr. AngryAtAmerica. I mean Cap gets
P..U..M..M..E..L..E..D like a narc at a biker rally.

So after waking up bruised and battered and a wee bit pissed, Cap goes after Mr.
Flagface, which, of course, is exactly what Nuke wanted. You see, he wants to
teach Cap the error of his ways before he bleeds him. He wants Cap to “break”
and see America as the evil, imperialist empire that Nuke believes it is. So he
takes fun little torture-filled history lesson through some of America’s darker
deeds.


I will leave it there and let you discover how it ends, but it is certainly
worth picking up. The writing was excellent, the plot was well thought out and
the art was terrific. I do want to give the writers some special kudos for
avoiding one pitfall had the potential to be a real disaster (at least for me).

This story, when you boil it down to its essence, is really a classic
confrontation between the soldier that “still believes” and the soldier who has
been “irrevocably disillusioned” as a result of the things he has done for God
and Country. In framing the contrast between Cap and Nuke, the writers initially
have Cap looking A LOT like a Government stooge who blindly follows the “party
line” in his unshakeable allegiance to America. Despite how much I really liked
the rest of the story, this would have been a complete miss for me if they had
stuck with that image of Cap.

Fortunately, and without spoiling the story, the writers were able to flesh out
“who Cap is” in the climactic scene and I thought they did a terrific job with
it. All my fears were put to rest and I became a fan of their version of
Ultimate Cap. He is a compelling, nuanced character that I will be interested in
reading more about in the future. Of course, I still love Cappy #1 too, but
after over 30 years with him I am happy to see him get an update. 4.0 stars.
Recommended!!

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Scott
2,036 reviews238 followers
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May 22, 2019
3.5 stars

"Peace and security don't come easy . . . and wars are never pretty, no matter
the era. But we do what we can, for the greater good." -- Steve 'Captain
America' Rogers, between punches to the villain

I guess the Ultimate Marvel imprint is sort of like DC's Earth One, where
established characters are reimagined, updated, and/or tweaked - you'll
recognize him or her, but something is just a little bit different. Here we have
a story that, if it was a feature film, would be a 'Quentin Tarantino & Brian
DePalma production.' Get ready for a dark, gritty, uber-violent, and
profanity-laden Cap adventure.

During a U.S./U.K. secret mission into North Korea (related to that country's
military attempting to duplicate the Super Solider formula) Cap encounters the
hulking and very powerful Frank Simpson. Simpson - earlier given a similar
formula, though it produced psychosis - was briefly put into action as 'Captain
America' by the U.S. government during the Vietnam Conflict (as Steve Rogers was
still hibernating in ice from his WWII days) before walking away in disgust and
simply disappearing.

After being on the losing end of a severely knockdown, drag-out fight (the only
type in this volume, actually - bloodshed and bone crunch galore) Cap pursues
Simpson into the jungles of Cambodia. What happens right after Cap is captured
involves copious amounts of implied and depicted physical and mental torture
with also a fair amount of bloodshed. This is one extremely graphic
rough-and-tumble tale involving pain, but it's done about as tastefully as
possible given the subject matter.
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Chelsea 🏳️‍🌈
1,836 reviews6 followers
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September 17, 2018
What's interesting about this series is that Aaron took a concept a lot of
ignorant, MCU only, Marvel fans misunderstand about Captain America.


Captain America fought in the last war Americans collectively agree we entered
for the right reasons. Sure, some of it was still steeped in selfishness but
it's largely believed that we stepped in because of the human rights violations.
WWII is not Vietnam, a highly debated war. Captain America wasn't involved in
this war and he was unfrozen at a time when there was a lot of public protest in
this country.

Sure, you had some ignorant conservative writers writing him as a racist,
xenophobic patriot. There's an arc in Theater of War I had to skip completely
because it made me nauseous. But, what's important to remember about Captain
America (and what a lot of people seem to misunderstand): Captain America
doesn't stand for America as it is; he stands for what it could be. Steve sticks
up for the little guy, for the downtrodden and the oppressed. The son of Irish
immigrants that grew up in a poor neighborhood, he knows America isn't perfect.
That's where people get lost.

616 Steve has a history of speaking out against the unjust policies of the
government and even put up the stars and stripes and went as Nomad for a while
there. Steve isn't a blind, government lapdog.

I preface this review with that so I can say: Ults Steve has quite a few decades
less of history. We're essentially seeing his first days in the future and he,
unlike 616, appears to believe in America blindly. He's every white military
supporter with a pair of patriotic balls handing from the back of his pick up
truck. He goes to church every week, expresses some views that skew just a
little racist and he behaves how those ignorant of the comics believe him to
behave. That's not quite a slight against Aaron but more a sign of just how
different Ults is from 616.

In this comic, we get Steve coming into contact with a super soldier that
realized he was being used by the US and turned against them. He was the perfect
soldier but his viewpoint changed after seeing how corrupt the government was.
In response, he used his blood to help empower the people he'd been sent to
harm. He then tries to force Steve to come around to his point of view. It's a
twisted arc, some of the methods he resorts to are just abhorrent, but I'd be
lying if I said I wasn't intrigued. It was an interesting concept and moderately
frustrated that Steve appeared to shut it all out.

In the end, we see that Steve wasn't completely unaffected and there's that's
almost... compelling(?) about this version of Steve. He's the most stubborn and
the gruffest of all the Steves but he finds himself in situations that lay him
lower than any other version I've seen in the films or other universes.

So, it's a very, very, tentative recommend. The execution wasn't perfect but
this is a story I found very interesting.
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Kemper
1,390 reviews7,470 followers
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July 3, 2011
Marvel’s Ultimate line of comics was a great idea. With their original titles
showing their age and groaning under the weight of decades of stories, a reboot
of some type was needed. But if you just blow up your existing continuity and
start over like DC does every six months or so, then you anger the fan boys and
ignore the legacy of the characters. Launching a second line that would reboot
and update the biggest names in the Marvel universe would attract new fans who
could just jump right in and allow needed updates to happen without losing the
original history either.

So instead of radioactive spider, Peter Parker gets bitten by a genetically
engineered spider. The Fantastic Four get their powers from an experiment in
teleportation instead of being bombarded by cosmic rays while trying to beat the
Soviets into space.

Where Marvel and the creators of these new titles got really clever is that they
didn’t feel the need to just update old stories. They put new twists on things.
For example, there’s still a Dark Phoenix storyline in the Ultimate X-Men books,
but it’s both completely different yet oddly similar to the classic Uncanny
X-Men storyline. The original Nick Fury is a one-eyed cigar chewing old white
guy wearing a bodysuit with white gloves. The Ultimate Nick Fury is a one-eyed
black guy in a leather trench coat modeled on Samuel L. Jackson. (And Jackson is
now playing Nick Fury in the new Marvel movies.) So even if you know the Marvel
stories, the Ultimate line is full of surprises.

One the best examples of how the Ultimate universe is kind of a funhouse mirror
of the old Marvel universe is with Captain America. The original Cap is an icon,
respected and revered by most of the other heroes, and he manages to be a symbol
of the best of America that is bigger than politics and government. The Ultimate
Captain America is still a legendary hero of World War II, but he’s also kind of
a grumpy old bastard with right wing tendencies. (In the afterward of this this
book, there’s a line that creator Mark Millar said that Ultimate Cap looks like
Brad Pitt but smells like your grandpa.)

Another twist to the Captain America mythos is brought into this collection. In
the original recipe Marvel books, the character known as Nuke was a patriotic
but psychotic and drug addicted killer used with disastrous results by the US
government. In Ultimate world, the character is Frank Simpson, a patriot who
undergoes a form of the super-soldier treatment. He was sent to Vietnam were he
killed thousands under orders, but then he became disgusted and pulled a Colonel
Kurtz and then vanished for decades.

When Simpson starts trying to sell a super soldier serum based on his blood to
North Korea, he clashes with Captain America, and Cap gets the shit kicked out
of him. Later when Cap follows him back to a stronghold in southeast Asia,
Simpson captures and tortures Cap while regaling him with the dark history of
the US while Cap was frozen after World War II. Simpson believes that America is
inherently corrupt and evil, and he desperately wants to break Captain America.

This was some great storytelling and a nice way to flesh out the Ultimate Cap as
well as introducing a new version of one of my favorite villains.
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kim hannah
356 reviews54 followers
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May 24, 2018
Woah. That was intense.

You have the original Captain America of WWII and the copy Captain America of
the Vietnam War!!!

But who is right? Cap WWII or Cap Viet? Are they being used? Who are they
fighting for? Is it truly for the greater good of man kind?
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Lost Planet Airman
1,260 reviews89 followers
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December 28, 2016
Gritty, stark, and edgy, this is The Ultimate Universe Steve Rogers one step
behind a disillusioned super-soldier of the 1970s.


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Baba
3,875 reviews1,360 followers
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July 10, 2020
Captain America meets his ultimate nemesis: the Captain America of the Vietnam
War, we're talking the Ultimate version of Nuke! Rogers and Danvers get caught
up in a Super-Soldier project conspiracy! 7 out of 12.


avengers-assemble-verse ultimates-we-made-the-mcu


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Nicky
4,138 reviews1,087 followers
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August 24, 2013
I'm new to the Marvel Universe, really. Or essentially so, anyway: I used to
watch X-Men and Spiderman cartoons and so on, but I didn't grow up with the
comics as my bread and butter. But my induction (back?) into the Marvel Universe
was with Chris Evans' Steve Rogers, who I adore, so Ultimates Cap is really not
my thing at all. Still, I recognise the sense in this depiction of him. He's not
an idealistic version of a soldier who is barely touched by the war: he's a
grizzled veteran, and a bit of a bastard -- which, in reality, a lot of people
in the army are. I don't imagine idealism really lasts long in active combat for
most people. I'm not so fond of how dumb the guy is.

The storyline itself is interesting, though I think the outcome is predictable:
the love of America, the belief in a just cause, that's very much something I
don't think can really be separated from the character of Steve Rogers. MCU
Steve might say, "I don't want to kill anyone, I just don't like bullies," but I
don't think even knowing all the shit about the USA's actions would stop him
loving America and fighting for it -- even if that came in the form of opposing
the current government.

Oh, and one final point: I love that Hawkeye and Cap are bros.
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Sam Quixote
4,694 reviews13.3k followers
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April 23, 2013
Cap finds out that while he was frozen in ice for 50 years, a new super soldier
was made, a new Captain America for the Vietnam era, and that this other Cap has
gone crazy and become anti-American. While tracking him down to bring him in for
the murder of American soldiers, Cap is caught by Vietnam Cap and the darker
side of American military history is expounded on and the torture begins...

Jason Aaron takes on scribe duties in this book and I've enjoyed his work on the
new Punisher Max series, Kingpin and Bullseye, and the darkness he brings to
those books is definitely present here. Cap is drained of blood day by day and
finds that the Vietnamese villagers that are being injected with his blood are
becoming super soldiers themselves. The torture of Cap is quite shocking
(literally in one instance - in a very sensitive place!), and while the
viciousness is righteous given the brutality which America has conducted wars in
the last 60 years, it still seems strange to see this in a Captain America book.

All to the good really to try new things with such a safe character, though what
bothered me was the religious angle. I've never seen Cap as religious in any
books so to see him doing things in God's name and reading from the Bible was
disturbing, especially as I'd always thought he was agnostic/atheist.

The artwork is quite shabby and lets the book down. Cap doesn't look like Cap,
he looks like an impersonator in some panels, and overall the shaggy inking
doesn't lend itself well to crowd or action scenes which just look messy.

While I thought it was an interesting and contemporary take on a well known
character, the artwork and ending let it down for me, though Aaron is savvy
enough to throw some doubt into the mix. A decent book but there are better
Captain America books out at the moment, particularly Mark Millar's New Avengers
and Ed Brubaker's The Marvels Project if you're interested in the origins of Cap
and Bucky. "Ultimate Captain America" is ultimately disappointing.
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Thom
22 reviews3 followers
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August 22, 2015
So, "Ultimate" Captain America is nationalistic and xenophobic, which is kind of
what people unfamiliar with Captain America would probably expect anyway (being
named "Captain America" and all.) Normal Captain America struggling with his
ideals and what his country has become added a little depth to a superhero whose
description otherwise amounts to "blast from the past who runs really fast and
punches really hard." Turning him into an apologist for the atrocities America
committed in the twenty-first century takes away his depth and makes you kind of
hate his politics.

Okay, I can accept that since the Ultimate universe, when it works, works
because of subtle tweaks in established backstories while still respecting them.
The problem is that that character doesn't really need his own title, or if he
has one it shouldn't glamorize and focus on his jingoism and small-mindedness.

Ultimate Comics Captain America vol 1 does exactly that, and it sucks. The story
doesn't feel believable or relatable and it just sort of keeps in line with the
more annoying theme constant in the Ultimate universe: bigotry.

If you're looking for a Captain America title I would recommend something by Ed
Brubaker.
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Emmett Spain
Author 2 books61 followers
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November 15, 2024
Ultimate Cap is kind of a jerk. This book does little to change that impression,
but it was short, and had a point to make, and a couple of good fight scenes, so
can’t complain too much.


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Alasondro Alegré
384 reviews16 followers
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September 14, 2022
★★★½


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Alexander J. Angel
53 reviews1 follower
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August 19, 2024
Kinda falls into "we know the system is broken but we choose to uphold it
anyways". The villain was interesting though.


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Fugo Feedback
4,600 reviews162 followers
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July 14, 2012
Sencillamente: un asco. Resumamos el argumento: un Capitán América rebelde que
peleó en Vietnam secuestra al clásico y le hace ver todas las barbaridades que
el ejército estadounidense hizo en el mundo. El Capi clásico (mejor dicho, el
Ultimate, que había aprendido a querer en cierto modo en Los Ultimates), le dice
que ya sabía todo y aun así no se avergüenza de todos esos crímenes aberrantes
cometidos por el ejército con el que él trabaja. Y después le dice que crea en
Dios. Y otras hipocresías y lavadas de mano más. Aaaron, ¡seguí escribiendo
acción vos!
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Ian
1,189 reviews4 followers
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February 14, 2021
A secret mission in North Korea reveals that a new version of the super soldier
serum has been created. During the mission Steve Rogers battles another super
soldier and discovers that he is none other than Frank Simpson, the man who
operated as Captain America during the Vietnam War.

The Ultimate version of Steve Rogers is fiercely patriotic, wilfully obnoxious
and strongly jingoistic in almost a caricature of how the world sees America
and, to a certain extent, how it sees itself.
I was therefore really interested in the idea of a version of Captain America
whose faith in the U.S. Government was shattered by the complex morality of the
war in Vietnam, in a way that couldn't have happened with the more clear-cut
morality of the war against the Nazis.

Frank Simpson here is a brilliant character (in the mainstream Marvel Universe
he's the villain Nuke and even appeared in Netflix's Jessica Jones), who
genuinely still loves America but is infuriated by the holier-than-thou myth
propagated by its government and embodied in Steve Rogers.
The scenes where Simpson tries to bring Rogers to understanding of the lie he
represents were some of this book's best scenes. This felt like a really strong
and interesting deconstruction of what Captain America means as a symbol and how
that symbol, and by extension America itself, means very different things to
different generations.

Unfortunately in the latter half of the book it feels like Aaron chickened out a
bit of the deep moral quandaries he introduced.
Simpson suddenly stops making very valid points and devolves into a cliched
'psychotic former operative', becoming a very obvious villain. Meanwhile Steve
Rogers, who could have actually been somewhat reflective of the lessons Simpson
represented, doubles down on his American patriotism and says that he's well
aware of the shady stuff the US got up to in the Cold War but it's okay because
everyone makes mistakes.
It's such a hideous brushing aside of the interesting points being made that I
can't help but feel like Aaron was editorially reigned in and told to make the
story more pro-American at the end.
Murica!

This book, which started so strongly and was doing a good job of tackling some
pretty weighty real-world issues, is totally let down by its failure to have Cap
learn anything or even really acknowledge that Simpson had a point at all. A
really disappointing ending.

* More reviews here: https://fsfh-book-review2.webnode.com *
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Mitch Kukulka
138 reviews2 followers
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April 22, 2021
Ultimate Captain America is definitely one of my guilty pleasure characters. If
the Steve Rodgers of the mainstream comics and MCU films is a Boy Scout,
Ultimate Cap is the quarterback of a Deep South high school football team — the
type of good ol boy who’d deck you if you didn’t stand for the pledge but still
wouldn’t swear in front of an old lady. If Cap is typically meant to be the
embodiment of everything America wants to be, his ultimate form is everything
the America actually is.

Jason Aaron has an interesting way of writing the character, mixing Wolverine’s
grumpiness with the type of self-righteousness you might expect from a Punisher
who hasn’t quite accepted himself as a damned man yet. This mini-series’ short
length plays to Aaron’s strengths, setting simple foundation on which to build a
tightly-wound, emotionally effective story.
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Michael J.
904 reviews25 followers
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February 18, 2022
Marvel's Ultimate Universe provided an opportunity to make some changes to
familiar character personalities without upsetting the main continuity in the
regular Marvel U.
Captain America/Steve Rogers as envisioned by Jason Aaron is much less
empathetic and actually exhibits some disdain for others not sharing his
beliefs, like the British commandos with him on his mission to Korea. Cap was
actually insulting and condescending to them, not his usual behavior over in the
Marvel U. He also utilizes guns and doesn't hesitate to kill.
What the Ultimate Cap and the Standard Cap share is common is their love for the
United States of America and their profound faith in the righteousness of
government. Contrast that with Frank Simpson/Captain America of the Vietnam War,
whose mission to kill 1,000s of innocent civilians hardened his heart and
disillusioned his belief in the United States.
So they meet in Korea where Simpson is attempting to sell a new super-soldier
serum to North Korean forces. Simpson proves too strong for Cap and escapes,
although the serum is kept out of the wrong hands. The trail leads Rogers to
Vietnam, where he is promptly beaten down a second time and imprisioned, where
Simpson attempts to worm his way into Cap's brain and teach him the TRUTH about
America.
A very entertaining read, with plenty of graphic fights and engaging dialogue
between the two moralizing Captain Americas.
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Sarah
791 reviews14 followers
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June 4, 2021
Not sure I really like it but did have a lot of merit. And fair balls to Aaron
for writing it.

Not your usually chill cap in this book - not chill for ultimate Steve either.

Don’t think 616 cap would like like this one v much. A right wing nut, a brutal
solider accepting America as it is and has been and doing evil in the name of
God and the greater good. No escapism here!

He meets the defected super soldier and though he’s also a nut you can totes see
why he defected like he did. The evil done in Vietnam by the Americans was just
unspeakable. Official statement tolls 2,000,000 civilians and some 1,100,000
North Vietnamese and Viet Cong fighters. And they were invaded. And that’s not
rolling
the about 400,000 Vietnamese that were killed by the toxic effects of Agent
Orange.
Or the birth defects emerging in the next generation.

So, yeah, cap is not on the side of the angels here as Hawkeye also raise the
question on. I’d say that’s Arron speaking through Hawkeye - he gets it, and
that’s why he wrote cap like he did.

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Dr. T Loves Books
1,440 reviews11 followers
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April 7, 2019
What it's about: In Marvel's "Ultimate" universe, when Steve Rogers was lost
after WWII, the government tried to create a replacement. Frank Simpson became
the Captain America of Vietnam, and it broke him. Now the original Captain
America is back, and the two enter a deadly clash about what "America" truly is.

What I thought: Meh. I do not like the Ultimate version of Captain America. He's
okay with being rude and mean, and he leans heavily on Christianity. These are
not qualities I associate with Steve Rogers; I think of him as Marvel's version
of Superman, the Big Blue Boyscout.

I know the Ultimate universe is a chance for Marvel to show their heavy hitters
in a different, grittier light, and I can get behind that kind of story; but in
this case, it just feels like a corruption of an ideal.

Why I rated it like I did: See above. I also felt like, story-wise, there wasn't
much to it.

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Práxedes Rivera
438 reviews11 followers
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March 2, 2014
A very interesting twist on the 'Super Soldier' thread. It turns out that after
Cap was lost during WWII, the project to create an ultimate soldier continued.
Captain America meets one of them and the result is, well, violent. I don't want
to be a spoiler so this is as far as my review will go. Do check this out!


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John
466 reviews28 followers
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October 13, 2015
For a comic book comprised of two men essentially beating the crap out of each
other for four issues, this is a surprisingly entertaining read. Aaron is great
at gritty, no frills storytelling, and doesn't disappoint, while the art is
suitably bold & kinetic. A fun alternate take on Cap.

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Christian
424 reviews25 followers
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August 9, 2023
Captain America is in North Korea to kill their super soldier program when he
runs into an American soldier who bears him into the ground. He wakes up in
Paris which angers him, because we're going to run that one terrible joke into
the ground. There he learns that the super soldier is a defector from the
Vietnam War named Frank Simpson.

It was at this point that I became hopeful. Ultimate has an Imperialism problem.
Steve Rogers is an imperialiatic xenophobic bully who is so convinced of his own
righteousness that any means, including using children as a human shield are
acceptable. Fury is a megalomaniac who will do anything to fit his agenda for
American hegemony. Hawkeye is a psychopathic torturer. The defense has always
been that it's satire but the framing always seems to me to be that I'm supposed
to like these guys. And if you judge by reviews here, most people thought they
were super cool.

So, I thought there could be something to this cap being confronted with the
truth of American Imperialism. So Cap follows him to Cambodia where he finds a
village. Cap is really mad that Simpson would hide behind children ignoring that
living somewhere doesn't equatw hiding behind the people there, and three fact
that a few weeks ago Cap used kindergartners as a human shield. The village
turns out to be occupied with only super soldiers anyway, and he is captured by
them. Frank them reads him about American Imperialism while torturing him. This
goes on for days. We're occasionally read dry statistics about American
atrocities.

There's a criticism in left wing circles that I personally think gets over blown
that MCU villains are given left wing views and then depicted blowing up
buildings or something to show that it's wrong. Kilmonger and Hels are common
examples and, in my opinion, bad ones as the movie does actually try to grapple
with their perspective. A better one is the Flag Smashers who want open borders
and better treatment of refugees but are also bad actually. Our here, where the
sole voice explaining US Imperialism is also a psychopath torturing cap brutally
while saying it. It starts to feel like US propaganda.

Eventually Cap escapes and manages to beat Simpson up which he does while calmly
explaining "Peace and security don't come easy, Simpson, and wars are never
pretty, no matter the era. But we do what we can, for the greater good. Has
America made its share of mistakes? Obviously." The thing with American
exceptionalism is that everything great about American becomes evidence of it,
and everything bad an aberration that it would be unfair to count. The founding
documents have some great ideals and promises, which is of course because
America is exceptional. The men who wrote them own slaves and the country had
legal slavery for another hundred years? Product of their time. Not fair to
judge them by it. This speach of the same thing. It's not easy doing the right
thing and mistakes happen. The problem there is that Cap is assuming any of
those were mistakes, and that all wars are fought for peace. Peace and security
DON'T come easy, but claiming American wars are for either is naive at best.

The comic plays some final lip service to whether Simpson was right, but our
noble hero is unshakeable and so should you be, dear reader. I'm u being unfair.
Maybe. I think Aaron didn't set out to write US propaganda. I think he did it by
accident.

It's funny how 616 captain america is accused of being this idealistic naive
vision of American exceptionalism, but he does struggle with America as an
institution. This is true of the 1610 universe in general; rarely does 616
marvel feel like as blatantly like military propaganda as this.
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Sean
229 reviews6 followers
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January 29, 2021
While the classic Captain America tales from the 1940s by Joe Simon and Jack
Kirby are probably the definitive Cap stories, this one certainly surpasses
anything else from the modern era that I've read. Faced with a psycho
super-soldier disillusioned by the Vietnam War and a poster boy for the
counter-culture version of America, Cap must wrestle with his faith in himself,
his God, and his country. Frank Simpson (Nuke from Frank Miller's immortal
Daredevil story, Born Again) is a formidable foe who challenges Cap not only
physically but psychologically. The climax dares to go where most other
contemporary comic books fear to tread, and proves why Ultimate Cap may be the
finest, most admirable super hero in the industry today. Well-written and
illustrated, and highly deserving of the prestige hardback format. An instant
classic of its kind.
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Bob Solanovicz
Author 1 book9 followers
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July 29, 2020
Ne znam kaj da mislim o ovome stripu. Prvo me živciralo što su uopće ubacivali
Nukea iz Millerovog Born Againa u Ultimate univerzum, al zapravo mi je taj lik u
ovom stripu ispao najsimpatičniji jer je osuđivao sve američke vojne
intervencije po cijelom svijetu. Iskreno, navijao sam za njega. Ne znam je l' to
i bila Aaronova poanta... Ne znam je l' poanta da je "pravi" Cap douchebag...
Definitivno mi nije drag, pogotovo s onim čitanjem biblije na kraju. Srećom,
strip se jako brzo pročita, i Garney je solidno nacrtao sve, a akciju pogotovo.
Malo mu bježi ponekad faca od Capa, al to je valjda zbog brzine kojom je nacrtan
album. Kolori su na mjestu. Kričavi, ali ništa strašno. Sad bih najradije čitao
avanture Franka Simpsona, ne Stevea Rogersa.
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Brian Rosenberger
Author 98 books39 followers
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December 19, 2021
Meet the Captain American of the Vietnam War
Jason Aaron has a great take on the Ultimate version of Cap. Intensely patriotic
and despite being frozen in ice for decades, he's quick on the uptake.
Steve winds up combatting an updated version of himself, the Captain America of
the Vietnam War. Meet Frank Simpson, better known as Nuke in the 616 universe.
American flag tattooed on his face, Frank is as much a zealot as Steve is but
Simpson is selling the super-soldier serum in his blood to the highest bidder.
Great action sequences by artist Ron Garney. This one is a pier six brawl with
weapons.
Some surprises in this 4 issue series. It’s an action packed, fun read.
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Scotty Cameron
18 reviews
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May 30, 2020
Ever wonder what it would be like to see Captain America go toe to toe with an
evil Captain America? Well, Ultimate Captain America answers that question. Here
we see World War II's Captain America fight Vietnam's Captain America in an epic
graphic novel written by Jason Aaron and illustrated by Ron Garney. Ultimate
Captain America tells a compelling story between two very interesting characters
and it is coupled with amazing artwork.

Story
Ultimate Captain America begins with Captain America and SHIELD agents storming
a North Korean facility. They are there to stop the sale of illegal samples of
the Super Soldier Serum. When Captain America encounters another Super Soldier
who just so happens to be American he begins to seek answers. Captain America
goes rogue to find answers about a secret SHIELD kept from him. Captain America
goes to Vietnam where he finds Nuke and his band of Viet Cong Super Soldiers.
Captain America is captured and becomes Nuke's prisoner and learns about
Vietnam's horrors and war crimes carried out by the United States over the
years. That is until Captain America breaks free and fights Nuke to end his
reign of terror. I really like how Nuke gives Cap a history lesson though about
the horrific crimes carried out by the Johnson and Nixon administrations. I like
how Nuke describes Vietnam and all it's horrors and calls Richard Millhouse
Nixon as the evilest person ever for ordering operations that killed innocent
civilians in Vietnam. Nuke should have included Henry Kissinger in that lesson.

Characters
Ultimate Captain America is centered around two characters Captain America and
Nuke, both are well written and display two different sides of American
soldiers. Captain America is more of a patriotic boy scout who tries to see the
good in humanity. Even when he is held prisoner by Nuke and is tortured by Nuke
and his minions he still doesn't break. Cap watches Nuke kill two SHIELD agents
and that still doesn't bring Captain America to a breaking point. Captain
America also informs Nuke that he knows about the war crimes that were committed
by the US and acknowledges that they were wrong. However, he holds his belief
that there are still good people within the American government and they can
make bad calls. Captain America's rebellious side is also displayed as he goes
rogue to figure out the truth about Nuke. Nuke is the other side of the same
coin. He was once a soldier who loved his country so much that he enlisted to
become the next Captain America. However, after discovering the horrific war
crimes carried out in Vietnam he goes awol and becomes a terrorist who feels
betrayed by his country. Nuke sees America as the bastion of evil he was
fighting against, and therefore he wants to tear it apart and help its enemies.
Not only was he horrified by the war crimes Nixon and Kissinger carried out in
Vietnam, but he is also horrified by CIA operations that overthrew
democratically elected leaders in countries like Chile, Iran, and Iraq (1963).
He also informs Cap about the Reagan-Bush Iran-Contra affair where they backed
death squads in Nicaragua. He also informs Captain America about the Bush-Cheney
torture program. All of which he is right about. This depiction of Nuke is
actually the polar opposite of the mainstream Marvel Universe's Nuke. In the
main Marvel Universe, Nuke is a blind patriot who is easily convinced into
carrying out villainous deads so long as it is the name of his country. The
mainstream Nuke is very much like the archnemesis to DC's Captain Atom, Major
Force. I must say this rendition of Nuke is actually more compelling than the
original version. His motives are pure because they are driven in opposition to
villainous deeds carried out by the US government. Nuke's actions are still
wrong and he is guilty of the very conduct he opposed when the US government did
it. He keeps Captain America prisoner to educate him into joining his cause, it
doesn't end up happening, but that was his goal. This shows Jason Aaron's
ability to create a unique and compelling version of an iconic villain. Hawkeye
and Carol Danvers make brief appearances. Danvers advises Captain America to go
rogue in order to find out about Nuke, and Hawkeye is Cap's close friend who
they trade secrets with. Cap tells Hawkeye about his experiences in Vietnam
while hunting down Nuke. The characters in Ultimate Captain America are very
relatable and as a reader, I can understand their motives, even the villain's
motives.

Artwork
A good graphic novel isn't complete without amazing art. Ron Garney does a
masterful job with illustrating the characters in the narrative. Captain America
costume looks amazing even down to the scales, and the more militaristic look
the Ultimate Universe gave him makes him look all the cooler. Nuke looks great
too. He dawns a standard combat uniform with the American flag tattooed on his
face, pretty much the look of the standard Nuke. However, this looks suits a
deranged soldier who felt betrayed by his nation more than it does a blind
patriot who obeys all orders. The characters have never looked nicer.

With that being said Ultimate Captain America is one of the best Captain America
stories I've read and you should definitely give it a look. Jason Aaron created
a well-written story that centered on two compelling characters that made this a
wonder to read. Pair that with Ron Garney's amazing artwork and you have a
graphic novel that is a blast to read from cover to cover. Ultimately, this is a
must-read for patriots and Captain America fans.
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Todd Pinchevsky
65 reviews1 follower
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June 17, 2024
There should be a rating on this - I picked this up in the library, and a parent
could easily pick this up for their kid, not realizing this is VERY VIOLENT and
Cap is not the same Cap as usual - he is a very unpleasant, violent character .
I guess him holding the machine gun should have tipped me off. I might have
enjoyed it if I had known b4 reading. But I did not enjoy this iteration of Cap.
and will not be picking up any more Ultimate Captain Americas to read. All that
being said, it was a decent story and good artwork, and Cap does redeem his
character in the last scene.
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Ian
175 reviews1 follower
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April 18, 2022
Just another tired storyline of trying to get Cap to sell out his American
idealism. Not sure what I'm more disappointed with, the trite concluding panel
(Genesis 1 isn't in the middle of the Bible, Cap) or the fact that none of the
artists or editors cared enough to make Simpson's flag tattoo follows the
curvature of his head.

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Simon
71 reviews1 follower
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January 25, 2018
Picked this up on sale for $5. Was great bargain find. Cap is taken hostage by
crazed super soldier even stronger than him. Gripping story, with just the right
length (4 issues) Loved the clever references to miracles and faith.


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Eric
1,421 reviews6 followers
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September 26, 2018
Like the Ultimate Thor solo, this is merely fine but doesn't really do anything
interesting. I'm starting to think that the Ultimate version of Captain America
should only be written by Mark Millar because he's the only one who writes him
as likable jerk who's actually likable.

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