Sam Wilson: Captain America #6 - Review

With Misty Knight occupied and poison coursing through his veins, things are looking bleak for Sam Wilson. His only back-up is a new Falcon, who is greener than Kermit The Frog. Will the new Captain America - who is still a wolf-man at the moment - meet his end at the hands of the newly formed Serpent Solutions and their dark corporate masters?


Joe Bennett and Belardino Brabo are the third art team to tackle Sam Wilson: Captain America since it started. Personally, I find their work here to be the best of the series to date. This is not to say that the other artists were bad - far from it! But there is a smooth precision to the pencils and inks this time that just feels right. And the colors by Romulo Fajardo continue to be excellent.

Some have complained that the politics of Nick Spencer's scripts are not subtle. That seems an odd complaint given that the very first issue of Captain America had him punching Adolf Hitler on the cover, at a time when there was serious debate over whether or not the United States might enter the war on the sides of the Axis Powers. Captain America has never been anything but direct.. In in a time when failed businessmen turned reality TV shows can be serious contenders for The Presidency and state governments get away with acts that, had they been committed by ISIL, would have resulted in large portions of the Middle East being turned into glass, Sam Wilson: Captain America is a comic we need. And this Captain America is the hero we need.

Captain America: Sam Wilson #5 - A Review

Sam Wilson's in the clutches of Serpent Solutions!  Misty Knight is on the case but even she's hard pressed to save Captain America in the nick of time now! Thankfully, help is coming form on high, in the form of a victim turned hero, who has unwittingly formed a special bond with Sam Wilson. Could a new Falcon be taking wing?  Perhaps... if he can survive the night.


I've praised Nick Spencer as a writer of comedy and political commentary before. This issue includes plenty of both (I particularly love Viper's speech about how a background in advertising is a natural fit for organized villainy) but it also showcases Spencer's talent for economy of storytelling.

There's several subplots going on in the background, ranging from Joaquin Torres's spirited retelling his life's story (which just so happens to give us a recap of the series so far) to the mostly silent flashback depicting Diamondback's downfall and return to supervillainy. Both are gripping tales for different reasons and the whole issue is a wonderful read.


The artwork by Paul Renaud and Romulo Fajardo perfectly matches the script, beat for beat. The action flows smoothly from panel to panel, even as it switches between multiple scenes. The action is well choreographed and the colors are well chosen.

Sam Wilson, Captain America #4 - A Review

Sam Wilson has big problems. And not just getting turned into a wolf-man, though that is annoying and Misty Knight's jokes aren't helping. No, the new Captain America's biggest problem is that The Serpent Society is going legit, offering their services to big Wall Street firms as Serpent Solutions. Because money can make anything respectful. Even human trafficking and illegal medical experimentation.

This month sees a new art team which proves to be the equal of the previous one. Paul Renaud proves more than capable of matching Daniel Acuna in terms of quality. And the palettes utilized by Romulo Fajardo are well-chosen and look great!

One would never accuse Nick Spenser of being subtle in his politics or his storytelling. Indeed, it's hard to imagine how less subtle a comic could be, featuring a werewolf Captain America and Viper of the Serpent Society playing golf with a bunch of CEOs - his mask still on under his jaunty golfing cap! No, this book is not subtle. But it makes its points well and is a laugh riot to boot. Yet we also get some good action sequences as well. In short, its everything you could hope for in a Captain America comic.

Astonishing Ant-Man #3 - A Review

The good news is that Captain America wants Scott Lang's help with a mission. The bad news (or at least, the bad news Scott is aware of) is that said mission is less about superheroics and more about stealing something and annoying SHIELD - both things Scott REALLY cannot afford right now. And unbeknownst to Scott (but knownst to us), his life is about to become even more annoying and dangerous, as his sworn enemies at Cross Technological have launched their own henchman-recruiting app.


Nick Spencer continues to deliver the funny, as he skewers both modern technology and the Marvel Universe. I found myself laughing out loud more than once as I read this issue. This was due to both the interplay between Sam Wilson and Scott Lang and the mock commercial for Lackey.


The artwork proves equally excellent. Ramon Rosanas is a perfect comedic partner for Nick Spencer and his work here reminds me of Kevin Maguire's work on Justice League. And the colors by Jordan Boyd are well chosen, with the tints used to simulate a phone screen being particularly noteworthy.

Sam Wilson: Captain America #3 - A Review

Captain America is on the trail of Dr. Malus - one of many mad scientists using captured refugees fleeing to America as test subjects for their twisted experiments! But Malus is cannier than most and had a trap set for any heroes who came after him. Now Sam Wilson has become another of the bad doctor's experiments... and The Cap-Wolf has returned!

After two mostly serious issues dealing with current events, Nick Spencer delivers a story more in line with his usual comedic flair. Spencer revels in the lunacy of the Marvel Universe like few other writers and the humor takes center-stage this time around. After all, if you can't laugh at a flying werewolf Captain America, what can you laugh at?

Daniel Acuna does his usual fantastic job on the artwork, with an assist from Mike Choi this time around. Acuna's style is well suited to the stories Spencer crafts, being gritty and rough in design yet brightly colored.  Symbolically, it's as if the hope and idealism of America is shining through into the dark world that Sam Wilson inhabits.

Sam Wilson: Captain America #2 - A Review

Sam Wilson's never been one to turn away from a fight but he may be taking on more than he can handle as the new Captain America. From publicly opposing SHIELD's reported plan to use Cosmic Cube fragments to secretly alter reality to protecting illegal immigrants from human traffickers, Sam's been stirring up controversy in the press with his every action. But when he backs the work of a secretive whistle-blower known as The Whisperer, Sam will find himself fighting the man he respects most in the world - Steve Rogers!


You can say this for Nick Spencer - he is not one to shy away from controversy. Though his script is filled with metaphorically equivalencies, his real-world targets are clear. To Spencer's credit, he does not stand upon a soapbox but does allow for some reasoned discussion of differing viewpoints. Of particular note is the discussion between Sam and Steve Rogers, where Sam argues that sometimes you have to work outside the system to do the right thing while Steve argues that one still has to be held accountable to the laws regarding exposing corruption within a system.


Whatever your opinions on the story itself or the politics involved, it cannot be denied that the artwork is top-notch. Daniel Acuna draws some powerful figures. And his colors, mostly a variety of reds, white and blues, subtly reinforce the visual theme of the series.

Sam Wilson: Captain America #1 - A Review

Confession time, kids. I've never been a big Captain America fan.

I don't dislike Captain America. I just never really connected with Steve Rogers the same way I did Peter Parker or Dick Grayson. I preferred heroes I could relate to rather than ideals to live up to.

As such, the new Sam Wilson: Captain America title didn't hold much interest for me. Most of the Marvel Now! campaign has left me cold and the idea of Sam Wilson taking up Steve Rogers' shield just seemed like a cheap publicity stunt. It was the sort of event that would be quickly ended as soon as the next Captain America movie hit the big-screen.

Then the controversy started. And various media outlets began waxing wroth about this book. And it wasn't because of a black man bearing Captain America's shield.

No, it was because this Captain America marched in a gay pride parade. And sympathized with the Black Lives Matter movement. And dared to stand against a white-supremacist group that was killing people they suspected of being illegal immigrants along the United States' southern border.


This is hilarious to me on multiple levels. Any reputable scholar of American comic book history can tell you that Captain America's origins are steeped in New Deal liberalism. Steve Rogers was the original social justice warrior, punching Nazis not because they were enemies of America but because they were enemies of everything America stood for - Freedom, Equality and Justice.

Here's a fun fact - the famous cover of Captain America #1 where Steve Rogers is punching Hitler? That came out a year before the USA joined World War II. Joe Simon and Jack Kirby got death threats from conservative groups such as The German-American Bund because of it. In fact, the Timely Comics offices received so many bomb threats that New York City Mayor Fiorello La Guardia saw fit to give Captain America's creators round-the-clock police protection.

So if anyone tells you that Captain America has always been a proponent of conservative values - at least what we define today as conservative values - they're ignorant at best and disingenuous at worse. Yes, Captain America always tried to uphold the Law of the Land. But when the law conflicted with the ideals America stood for, Captain America always backed the ideal. And it's hard to believe that anyone could defend the actions of The Sons Of The Serpent in this issue - threatening unarmed civilians with torture and death - as being in line with any system of morality worthy of consideration.

Politics aside, this is a damn good comic.  Nick Spencer's script quickly establishes the new status quo for Captain America, who is now free of SHIELD and free of direct government influence over his actions. Daniel Acuna is a fantastic visual storyteller and the action of the story flows naturally from panel to panel.

I'm not sure if I'll keep picking this book up. I'm still not that big of a Captain America fan. But this issue did make me think and lead me to a greater appreciation of what the character and The American Dream means. And that's something I can't say about a lot of modern comics.

All-New Captain America #1 - A Review

When it was announced that there would be a new Captain America, there was a goodly amount of public outcry.  Even when it was revealed was that this "new" Captain America would be Sam Wilson a.k.a. The Falcon, there was still some trepidation among fans of the series.  It was not that anyone doubted Sam's ability to take up Steve Rogers' shield but more that the entire move seemed little more than a cheap publicity stunt on the part of Marvel Comics.


Unfortunately, the first issue of All-New Captain America does little to refute this idea.  After an opening in which we learn a little of Sam's background and how he came to believe in The American Dream, the rest of the issue is strictly business as usual.  All the talk about things never being the same proved to be just that - talk.  Doubtlessly this will be a relief to those who were enjoying Rick Remender's work on the recent Marvel Now! Captain America series but those hoping for an exciting new direction will be sorely disappointed.


The artwork is similarly competent but unremarkable.  Stuart Immonen's characters look artificially posed but at least the action sequences are well blocked and easy to follow.  The inks by Wade Von Grawbadger are erratic, being limited on some pages to simple black outlines around the characters and so heavy as to obscure the artwork completely on others!  All in all, there is little to recommend this series to those who aren't already reading Captain America.