When We Was Fab

When We Was Fab

Jan 22

I’ve recently initiated a project by which I start with “A” and move through my collection of miniseries and one-shots, reading all those I haven’t read in a while and evaluating whether or not I need to keep them or toss them in the eBay pile.

Last night I finished a four-issue prestige format miniseries from Marvel, The Adventures of Captain America, written by Fabian Nicieza and drawn (mostly) by Kevin Maguire. It came out in 1991, I believe to celebrate Cap’s 50th anniversary, and it retells Cap’s origin before spinning out into his first adventure.

First off, it’s a pretty kick-ass comic.

Second, it’s almost a perfect template for the ideal Captain America movie. It’s period, set in 1940-41, so it has an Indiana Jones kinda feel, and it’s got an epic scope built atop personal moments and character relationships.

Third, and finally, it has made me realize just how underrated Fabian Nicieza is as a writer.

Kevin Maguire’s pretty rad too, although I don’t known if he’s underrated; he could pencil every book that comes out and I’d be happy. But Fab, well…he don’t necessarily get the props he deserves, maybe because he’s spent at least part of his career as a legendary “hack.” I mean that in the most respectful way.

There are some writers who must create, innovate, stimulate, do their own thing or something quite like it. Then there’s writers who WRITE, who just put words on paper because that’s what needs to be done, and that’s what they know how to do. Those are the hacks. (I’m a hack too, by the way.)

Fabian Nicieza is a hack. He’s a writer’s writer. He’s done crap comics, he’s done great comics; they all have serious craft behind them, and they all make you smile at least once. He’s an unsung hero at weaving humor effortlessly into a superhero title.

He can also come in, get a goddamned JOB done, do it well, and then go home without messing up anything. He recently did a two-issue fill-in story for Action Comics, while Johns and Donner and Kubert were busy doing whatever it is they do that takes so freaking LONG. The story was tight, entertaining, even a little thought-provoking. It picked up the reader, gave him a ride, and then put him down right where he needed to be to continue the Johns/Donner run.

That’s in some ways a thankless task—obviously, writing Superman for any comics scribe is a big achievement, but getting two issues squished into a high-profile run doesn’t really give you much chance to soar with the character, and it doesn’t make the fans happy usually either, since all they want to know is when Mr. Hollywood and Mr. DC are gonna finish their Big Important Story.

Nicieza went in, got the job done, did a fine job of it, and got out. That’s gotta be a reason why he’s a go-to pinch hitter for Kurt Busiek as well; I’ve seen their names pop up together lately on some Superman stories, and I can only assume the guy’s an egoless get-the-job-done kind of person (and of course, assume that with no information about him, his working process, or his relationship with Busiek; that’s what the Internet is for—assumptions based on no personal experience whatsoever).

Anyway, if that Cap mini hits a quarter bin in your future, it’s well worth a buck, and if Fabian Nicieza’s name is on a comic, it’s gonna be worth a read. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.