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Captain America by Ed Brubaker Reading Order: How to read the most celebrated adventures of Steve Rogers and the Winter Soldier

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Everybody knows Captain America. But if you were in a coma for most of your life, he is a Marvel Comics Superhero and the alter ego of Steve Rogers, created in 1941 by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby.

As a young man, Steve wanted to fight for his country against the Nazis, but couldn’t … until he participated in an experiment that transformed him into a super-soldier. Near the end of the war, he and his sidekick Busty were left for dead. Trapped in ice and saved by the serum that changed him, he later came back to fight evil everywhere.

In January 2005, Ed Brubaker started to write the Captain America ongoing comics with the fifth volume. The Criminal author wrote 100 issues (with art by Steve Epting), bringing back Bucky as the Winter Soldier, dealing with Cap’s death and resurrection, and more including the death and life of his greatest enemy, the Red Skull, and the emergences of a new threat, General Aleksander Lukin, the head of one of the most powerful corporations in the world!

It’s the most celebrated run on the Captain America modern series.

Captain America by Ed Brubaker: Omnibus Collection

The Complete run of Ed Brubaker on the Captain America comics is available in the Marvel Omnibus Collection, so let’s start here.

Captain America by Ed Brubaker Reading Order

What follows is only about the Captain America comics written by Ed Brubaker. You can also find the character in other books like The Avengers, but Brubaker didn’t write those.

I. Captain America Vol. 5: Steve Rogers and the Winter Soldier

The fifth volume of Captain America is composed of 50 comic book issues. You can read them from #1 to #50 without any difficulties, but you need to know that there’s a big Marvel event in the middle, the famous Civil War during which Steve Rogers ends up “dead.” You may want to read the full event, but it’s not necessary to understand what’s happening.

Captain America Modern Era Epic Collection

In 2024, through its new Modern Era Epic Collection, Marvel started reprinting Volume 5 of Captain America comics. It’s a work in progress.

The Previous Captain America Vol. 5 Collection

As the Modern Epic Collection is not complete for now, the best way to read the beginning of Ed Brubaker’s run on the Captain America comics is the following:

Civil War Daredevil Reading OrderAs I was saying, we’ve got a complete guide to reading the Civil War event on our hands! One of the most famous Marvel crossover events of the 2000s. After a catastrophe, the U.S. Government proposed the Superhuman Registration Act. Heroes had to choose between rallying behind either Iron Man’s pro-registration forces or Captain America’s opposition.

Captain America by Ed Brubaker Reading Order

II. Captain America: Reborn

A year later, Steve Rogers was ready to come back… This marks the end of Captain America Vol. 5 and the moment when Marvel Comics chose to change the numbering of the series and go back to the “legacy” numbering, which can be confusing.

Captain America by Ed Brubaker Reading Order

III. Captain America: Bucky Barnes

After Steve Rogers’ death, Bucky takes on the role of Captain America. When Steve returned, Bucky kept the shield and Steve became the new Nick Fury in a way. As a spy, Steve Rogers popped up in the main Captain America comics, but he also worked independently or with a team.

Steve Rogers decided to lead a new kind of Avengers Team, one doing black ops. Ed Brubaker wrote the first two storylines of the comic book series titled Secret Avengers. You can read them during or after the last three Captain America Storylines.

Captain America by Ed Brubaker Reading Order

IV. Captain America Vol. 6: Steve Rogers

Ed Brubaker didn’t write the Fear Itself comic book event (except for the prologue “Book of the Skull“), but this is an important story for Captain America. This is when Bucky stopped being Captain America and Steve picked up the shield once more.

  • Fear Itself
    Collects Fear Itself: Book of the Skull, Fear Itself 1-7.

Captain America Vol. 6 starts here. Steve Rogers is Captain America and some old allies and enemies are back in action. Those next comics are the last written by Ed Brubaker.

With Steve Rogers back in action under the flag, Bucky takes back his Winter Soldier identity to fix past errors with the help of Black Widow. You can read the Winter Soldier comics after or during Captain America Vol. 6.

Also available in one book called:

Captain America

After Captain America by Ed Brubaker

Ed Brubaker was succeeded by the creative team of Rick Remender and John Romita, Jr. The duo took the Captain America comics in new and improbable directions: stranded in the upside-down territory known as Dimension Z, facing the fury of Nuke and the machinations of the Iron Nail, losing his powers, and more!

  • Captain America by Rick Remender Omnibus
    Collects Captain America (2012) #1-25; “Winter Soldier: The Bitter March” (2014) #1-5, “All-New Captain America: Fear Him” (2015) #1-4, “All-New Captain America” (2014) #1-6, “Hail Hydra” (2015) #1-4 

For more Captain America comics, go check out our Complete Captain America Reading Order, from the Golden Age era when Cap was fighting the Nazis with Bucky to the present with Steve Rogers and Sam Wilson sharing the mantle.

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