Thursday, May 26, 2016

Captain America: Steve Rogers #1

   There are times when I hate Social Media.

   For example, when I opened my Facebook account on Wednesday, the "Trending" list spelled out the event that happens on the last page of this, the first issue of Captain America: Steve Rogers.

   Thanks for the spoiler warning, Zuckerberg.

   Of course, fandom in general is outraged because of... that event. (Of which we shall not speak here, because we care).

   My reaction is simply this: if you're outraged, you're wasting your energy. This is obviously a setup for a story, not a permanent change in Cap's status quo. (At least this is my hope.)

   I'm happy to see Steve Rogers back to normal finally, after a couple of years as a 90-year-old man - though I must admit I don't understand why the Falcon is still going by the title Captain America - and why he still carries the original shield (you'd think it would be cumbersome to fly with that thing).

   I'm most puzzled by the decision to age Sharon Carter - she seems middle-aged here, but until just recently she's been eternally in her 20s (like virtually all the other Marvel heroes). What's the point?

   The story is... ok. It's dusting off Hydra and the Red Skull and Zemo as the big bad guys - and brings back some familiar faces as the supporting cast - but while the art by Jesus Saiz is very good (I'm still on the fence about Cap's new costume - why not use the movie version?), I'm still not sold on the story by Nick Spencer.

   Hopefully upcoming issues will kick it into a higher gear - so far the story is just plodding along, following well-worn paths.

   The star of this year's biggest movie deserves better.

Grade: B

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2 comments:

Chris Kittinger said...

Sharon was aged when she was trapped in Dimension Z (Captain America Vol. 7). To be honest I was surprised that she wasn't de-aged somehow, but maybe that will be part of the story line sometime soon.

Chuck said...

Chris, thanks - I missed out on that storyline.