“Captain America Living Legend” #3 (of 5) was released recently. The Captain America universe has been an excellent source for some good reading since the Marvel NOW! relaunch. The “Captain America” comic series, first illustrated by JRJR found Cap being transported to another dimension that was wholly controlled by the box-headed villain Arnim Zola, and his family. Critics scoffed at this series saying Rick Remender usurped the character and his universe because he couldn't live up to the storytelling mastery of Ed Brubaker.

Brubaker had an astonishing run at Cap, and did some phenomenal work. Do not let that overshadow the fact that Marvel NOW!'s Captain America in Dimension Z story arc was fantastic. It was different, it was desolate, dangerous, and de-humanizing. Cap was stripped down to the bare bones of his character. He became a surrogate father to Leopold, the son of Zola. He lived ten years in the blink of an eye, and lived up to every expectation we have of Captain America.

It is not justified to expect a writer to carry on any kind of legacy without making it their own. And Remender did that. Kudos.

Now the series arc “Captain America Living Legend” is in its third issue. Penned by Diggle and Granov, and illustrated by Granov, it's fascinating. Stories always seem richer when they include a little history, as this series does. That history itself is enriched when it forms a circle of influence, where the beginning is a meeting between two characters, the middle is heavily influenced by that meeting, and the end repeats that meeting, only things are drastically changed. In this case Cap is staring down a metal/organic morphing machine with such deadly potential that it could prove to be one of his most devastating adventures.

Sure the critics will say that it's played out. That it shares similarities to John Carpenter's The Thing (1982). That the environment is related to the same setting (Siberia vs. Antarctica). But they would not be paying attention to the story, or the excitement being laid out in these pages. This is an infinitely regenerating enemy with murderous intentions. It is tied to a man Cap rescued in the Great War, who went on to become a Cosmonaut. A man named Volkov. But on the dark side of the moon, during what was supposed to be Russia's great Space Race victory, Volkov was possessed by something. He murdered his comrades, and then wreaked some havoc (we assume) on Earth before being locked away. It slept silently beneath the Siberian desolation, until an American team of scientists including one Doctor Lauren Fox activated a device called the d.e.u.s. reactor on a space station. The reactor is able to draw unlimited energy from empty space. It awoke the entity, which mutated the space station, and sent it plummeting to Earth.

Now the final meeting approaches . . . or does it? Because the last couple of panels really give us a ride. Check it out!