Everybody knows Captain America. But if you were in a coma for most of your life, he is a Marvel 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 series 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 Captain America is available in the omnibus Collection.
- Captain America By Ed Brubaker Omnibus Vol. 1
Collects Captain America (2005) #1-25, Captain America 65th Anniversary Special (2006) #1, Winter Soldier: Winter Kills (2007). - Captain America: The Death Of Captain America Omnibus
Collects Captain America Vol. 5 #25-42. - Captain America Lives! Omnibus
Collects Captain America vol. 5 #43–50; Captain America #600–601; Captain America: Reborn #1–6 - Captain America: The Trial of Captain America Omnibus
Collects Captain America: Who Will Wield The Shield?; Captain America (2005) #602–610; Steve Rogers: Super-Soldier #1–4; Captain America (2005) #611–619, #615.1; Captain America (2011) #1–10 - Captain America: Return of the Winter Soldier Omnibus
Collects Captain America and Bucky #620–628, Fear Itself: Captain America #7.1, Winter Soldier #1–5, Captain America (2011) #11–19, Winter Soldier #6–14. - Winter Soldier by Ed Brubaker: The Complete Collection
Collects Fear Itself #7.1: Captain America (2011), Winter Soldier (2012) #1-14.
Captain America by Ed Brubaker Reading Order
What follows is only about Captain America 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 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: Winter Soldier Ultimate Collection
Collects Captain America vol. 5, #1-9, 11-14. - Captain America: Red Menace Ultimate Collection
Collects Captain America vol. 5, #15-21; Captain America 65th Anniversary Special.
As I was saying, we’ve got a Civil War (Reading Order) 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.
- The Death of Captain America: The Complete Collection
Collects Captain America vol. 5 #22-42; Winter Soldier: Winter Kills. - Captain America: The Man with No Face
Collects Captain America Vol. 5 #43-48.
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 chose to change the numbering of the series which can be confusing.
- Captain America: Road to Reborn
Collects Captain America Vol. 5 #49-50; Captain America #600-601. - Captain America: Reborn
Collects Captain America: Reborn #1-6. Steve came back during this miniseries.
III. Captain America: Bucky Barnes
After Steve Rogers’ death, Bucky took his place as Captain America. When Steve came back, 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 series, but he also worked on his own or with a team.
- Captain America: Two Americas
Collects Captain America #602-605; Who Will Wield the Shield? - Steve Rogers: Super Soldier
Collects Steve Rogers: Super-Soldier 1-4, Annual 1, Uncanny X-Men Annual (2006) 3, Namor: The First Mutant Annual 1. Steve is on a solo mission! - Captain America: No Escape
Collects Captain America #606-610. - Captain America: The Trial of Captain America
Collects Captain America #611-615 & #615.1; material from Captain America 70th Anniversary. - Captain America: Prisoner of War
Collects Captain America #616-619.
Steve decided to lead a new kind of Avengers Team, one doing black ops. Ed Brubaker wrote the first two storylines of the series. You can read them during or after the last three Captain America Storylines.
- Secret Avengers by Ed Brubaker
Collects Secret Avengers (2010) 1-12.
IV. Captain America Vol. 6: Steve Rogers
Ed Brubaker didn’t write the Fear Itself event (except for the prologue “Book of the Skull“), but this is quite an important story for Captain America. This is when Bucky stopped being Captain America and Steve picked up the shield once more. For more on the event, here is the full Fear Itself Reading Order.
- 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 books are the last written by Ed Brubaker.
- Captain America by Ed Brubaker, Vol. 1
Collects Captain America Vol. 6 #1-5. - Captain America by Ed Brubaker, Vol. 2
Collects Captain America Vol. 6 #6-10. - Captain America by Ed Brubaker, Vol. 3
Collects Captain America Vol. 6 #11-14, Captain America (1968) #328. - Captain America by Ed Brubaker, Vol. 4
Collects Captain America Vol. 6 #15-19.
With Steve Rogers back in action under the flag, Bucky takes back his Winter Soldier identity in order to fix past errors with the help of Black Widow. You can read it after or during Captain America Vol. 6.
- Winter Soldier: The Longest Winter
Collects Fear Itself #7.1: Captain America; Winter Soldier #1-5. - Winter Soldier: Broken Arrow
Collects Winter Soldier #6-9. - Winter Soldier: Black Widow Hunt
Collects Winter Soldier #10-14.
Also available in one book called:
- Winter Soldier by Ed Brubaker: The Complete Collection
Collects Fear Itself #7.1: Captain America (2011), Winter Soldier (2012) #1-14.
After Captain America by Ed Brubaker
Ed Brubaker was succeeded by the creative team of Rick Remender and John Romita, Jr. The duo took Captain America 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.