When Steve Rogers was restored to his natural age, he chose one of his closest and most trusted allies to take up his shield. Now formerly the Avenger known as Falcon, carries on the fight for liberty and justice as the all-new, all-different Captain America!
The Good
Art- Daniel Acuna’s art is on point and is well suited to the more grounded happenings in Captain America than what was found in the last Uncanny Avengers series (The less we say bout that mess the better). He finds a good balance between action and normal scenes that really hits all the sweet spots.
Characterization- Samuel Wilson has always been a bleeding heart and Nick Spencer gets that and has Sam behave more like a social worker in a cape than a typical superhero. His community and religious connections were brought out and dealt with well. Sam’s stance on breaking from SHIELD touches on the Trayvon Martin shooting and a host of other issues that blacks are currently facing in America. By saving the immigrants from South America he also spits in the face to the anti-immigrant crowd of America who clearly don’t realize why such a stance is hypocritical when their ancestors did the same damn thing. By bringing in Mister Gideon Sam’s older brother it also reminded us that Sam is different than Steve in many ways, he does have family with issues smoldering underneath each interaction. I remember this poignantly as I wrote our very in depth biography for Sam. He has emotional baggage and so does just about every member of his family which has made them more interesting and more human since let’s face it every family has issues. While Cyborg felt hollow and lifeless Sam Wilson Captain America found an emotional resonance second to none this month!
Romance– While I ship Misty and Iron Fist for life I must say I’m excited that Sam and Misty will share this dalliance no matter how fleeting or long lasting it turns out to be. Also with that cover of All New Captain America and All New Thor locking lips in the pages of Avengers Sam may finally be getting the romance he’s been lacking in his life. Bring it on!
Redesign- D Man was never the most popular or liked Avenger but I’ll be damned if his redesign isn’t sexy as f**k. I’m feeling it and digging it. I give this redesign two thumbs way up!
New Tech- Red Wing has this slick new sonic attack device that makes you wonder how did we live without it for so long?
Cover- Illustrated by Daniel Acuna the standard cover finds Sam Wilson in a stylized flight pose with his trusty bird Red Wing. The new logo is neatly stacked on top. I like it!
Humor– Despite everything that took place Nick Spencer managed to squeeze some humor into the mix. When D-man makes that quip about finally looking cool I almost fell off my chair. Spencer also has the main villains of this issue spout off an over the top anti-immigrant speech in the same vein as Donald Trump. I found this topical, humorous and just right.
Possibilities– No more orders from SHIELD or the government means Sam, like Steve during Civil War is pretty much a rogue agent/compass being guided by his own sense of morality.
Cosplay Variant– The cosplay variant cover features someone we know 😉 It’s awesome how Marvel is embracing the cosplay scene in all it’s diverse vivid glory,kudos!
Fox News– You know your book is all the rage when your getting free publicity across all media. Fox News..yeah them are up in arms about Sam standing up from South American Immigrants. Call it conservative (I’m not American so I don’t get it) all you want but this book is a talking point and that’s something not many comics are nowadays!
The Bad
First problem is that this book was very exposition heavy. It took me two days to make my way through the whole thing despite being excited at the prospect of Samuel breaking away from SHIELD and the American Government. New readers are used to the more cinematic and less narrative focused tales. This one may put some off.
D man- Yeah the most useless Avengers of all time, the one everyone is always laughing about is now one of Sam’s supporting cast. Not sure what to think just yet but….it happened!
Gap- So this issue is set eight months after Secret Wars…it makes me wonder how much of the last All New Captain America series still happened? Is Red Wing still afflicted by that Vampire Bite? (See All New Captain America for details)
The Ugly
I enjoyed the opening issue of Sam Wilson Captain America highly enjoyable in that t establishes the protagonists’ voice and his stance on topical issues in modern day America. By doing this upfront the reader is left to form their own opinions as this book progresses. This coupled with Acuna’s art, cutting humor and a budding romance I can’t help but give this issue 4.5/5 stars.
