By Matthew K. Manning

Titan, out now

Still justifiably regarded as one of the MCU’s all-time greats, The First Avenger is one of the most distinct movies in the series. It’s also got one of the strongest visual styles and that’s what this book, at its best, explores.

Hydra’s enhanced technology is at the core of the movie and there’s some really clever design philosophy here. Most impressive is the subtle, brilliant move of the aircraft and car designs being based on 1950s vehicles rather than ’40s to drive home just how far ahead of the curve Hydra are. That level of detail goes into everything too, with even the briefly glimpsed Hydra submarine that Doctor Erskine’s assassin tries to escape in having a clear design philosophy and style. There’s some great work looking at the Hydra foot soldiers too and how different divisions are reflected. It’s interesting stuff but crucially it’s also aware. The villains here are still Nazis, still some of the most contemptible humans to ever live. Their toys are just that, toys.

The design of Steve Rogers is just as important and given just as much room. Just like the huge number of designs for Mjolnir we see in The Art of Thor, there are a dozen variants of Steve’s shield here and even more of his uniform. The combination of modern tactical webbing with old school uniforms is especially impressive and sets Steve up as a man out of time long before he actually is.

Other areas aren’t skimped on either. The Super Soldier chamber and the design of supporting characters like the now iconic Peggy Carter get explored in detail and there are some surprising connections that never occurred to me before. The World’s Fair sequence here is in conversation with the Stark Expo sequence in Iron Man 2. Seeing the two different generations of Stark and Stark technology in such similar locales gives you some thematic design depth that reminds you just how good these movies can be and often are.

Verdict: I’ve talked before about how my frustration with these books is often that they don’t go into enough detail. This does not disappoint, and if you’re a fan of the movie, or Cap, there’s a lot to enjoy here. 9/10

Alasdair Stuart