It’s nice to read a Captain America comic where the writer isn’t afraid to be unabashedly liberal. Brubaker always keeps it on the back burner a little, like he’s not willing to alienate. Waid is willing to alienate.

This issue might feature Molina’s best art so far, only because at one point I thought they might have brought someone else—someone competent onto the book. They haven’t, but for a few pages it seems like they do.

Waid’s updating of Cap’s origin, if updating is what he’s doing here (it’s still not clear), leaves him far more alone in the present than any other telling before has done. Even the Avengers are just sort of a distraction for him, not something he particularly cares about (or leads—Iron Man’s the leader in Man out of Time).

It’s a strong issue, with Waid doing fine work. And the cliffhanger’s got potential.

I hate how I dull so quickly to bad art. Molina hasn’t gotten any better, but because I know what to expect (what not to expect, more like), I’m comfortable.

This issue gets a lot more traditional. It’s not about Cap moving through time, it’s a retelling of him waking up; this time it’s when Obama’s President and Rick Jones has a gang of cyber-buddies helping him track supervillains. I’m not sure the Rick Jones and his Internet flunkies works though… Waid should have used Twitter.

So, in other words, it’s not the awesome thing I thought it would be from the first issue. Instead, it’s reasonably solid. Waid can write this stuff—he even writes a lot of it quite well (though he does have Cap thinking in a report to his commanding officer again). And notice, I’m not calling Cap Steve… Waid doesn’t humanize.

Still, it’s okay.

Molina’s artwork is truly hideous. It’s goofy and bulky and… it’s indescribably awful. The crisp coloring doesn’t help either.

That complaint made, Man out of Time is actually pretty interesting. Waid makes a serious goof with Cap dictating a report to his superior in his head during his first encounter with the Avengers, but otherwise… huh.

I had no idea what to expect going into the series, but the first issue suggests it’s Cap unbound in time, moving from point to point; Waid’s dealing with the character primarily as an icon. The issue opens with him and Bucky and Bucky’s definitely the one doing the heavy lifting as far as protagonist duties go. It’s post-Brubaker revisionist WWII Bucky, but Waid brings a lot of welcome levity to the character.

It’s like Waid tries to surprise every two pages. He succeeds.

Art aside, I’m looking forward to reading this one.