This universe's Captain America began his career not during World War II, but during the Civil War as Corporal Stephen Rogers of the Union Army's special Redlegs under Colonel Buck Barnes -- known affectionately by his men as "Bucky." Unfortunately, Bucky doesn't share Cpl. Rogers's idealism about the war. While Rogers sees it as a war to free the slaves and reunite the Union, Bucky takes an amoral approach that includes slaughtering Confederate women and children. When Cpl. Rogers tries to save a few of the town's children, Bucky shoots him before he's dragged away by errant horses. When a black soldier raised by Indians nurses Rogers's wounds, he passes on a gift given to him by the medicine man of his adopted tribe. Unfortunately, that gift affects the nearby Col. Barnes as well. One becomes the future Captain America, and the other becomes the hateful White Skull -- an embodiment of the dark soul of the South (and yet, a northerner). Our diligent hacker-narrator reveals that this first Captain America was the first of many descended from him that would continue to fight until the present of this alternate world.
Tony Bedard uses WHAT IF: CAPTAIN AMERICA as a meditation on two different views of military conflict -- amoral and money-driven versus principled. He uses Cap to plead with the reader to look beyond government and politics and embrace a nobler vision of war. It's fairly liberal stuff, albeit moderated and with more bravado than most antiwar activists would embrace. Bedard doesn't preach pacifism -- only an America united for freedom. It's not a bad message, but unfortunately, it overlooks the many unpleasant particulars that drive war.
Anyway, Carmine DiGiandomenico and John Stanisci provide serviceable artwork pleasantly reminiscent of Keith Giffen. Lovern Kindzierski did a nice job on the colors as well. All in all, WHAT IF: CAPTAIN AMERICA isn't bad, but it's probably better for Captain America and WHAT IF? devotees.
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