It has been quite some time since I’ve reviewed an issue of Rick Remender’s ‘Captain America’ because I lost interest in the series when the slow burn was entirely too slow for me. However, I have been keeping up with what’s happening and it’s hard not to catch up when you hear that Steve Rogers is no longer Captain America. And it’s a good thing that I caught up too because I’m just in time to see the reveal of the brand new Sentinel of Liberty.
After Cap faced off with the Iron Nail, he was left without the Super Soldier Serum and aged rapidly. Unable to don his uniform against an invading Arnim Zola, Steve takes a more tactical role while Ian, the Falcon, and the rest of the Avengers take on the mutates of Dimension Z. During the climax of the battle, Zola’s true intentions were revealed when a powerful bomb was brought into play. But without thinking twice, Sam Wilson flew the bomb into the atmosphere just as it detonated and plummeted back to Earth. Now, in the final issue of this volume of the Star Spangled Avenger’s solo series, the iconic shield is passed on to an all-new Captain America in front of the entire assembly of Avengers.
In my opinion, this is one of the best issues of the entire run. For all the flack that I’ve given Remender throughout the series (along with the unwarranted controversy from fans who didn’t read carefully enough), he definitely wrapped things up nicely and gave us an excellent introduction to Sam Wilson as the new Captain America. My favorite part had to be the full-page reveal of Falcon’s new costume. His line about no drama left in the reveal was golden. Not only did everyone in the Marvel Universe see this announcement coming, but those of us in the real world knew about it too since Joe Quesada appeared on ‘The Colbert Report’ to share Sam’s new mantle a few months ago. This way, the reveal was fresh, fun, and exciting even though we knew it was coming. All the jokes from the Vision, Hawkeye, and Spider-Man probably helped too.
The one thing that I wasn’t too on board with was Jet Black’s storyline. The whole thing was predictable and cliché. I would have preferred to see her stick around with the Avengers and fester while she built up to rejoining her father. Instead, we got a rushed conclusion to her story. She had come so far with Steve and Sam, but it all unraveled so quickly that it all had little effect on the reader. Hopefully Jet pops up again in ‘All-New Captain America’ because it’s clear that Sam’s feelings are still in play when it comes to Zola’s daughter.
Overall, besides the Jet thing, Rick Remender, Carlos Pacheo, Stuart Immonen, and the whole creative team were in great form. It’s too bad that it took until the end of the run to get me fully on board with the title, but I can honestly say that I’m excited to see where it all goes next. We’ll see where things go in ‘All-New Captain America’, but I’m confident that Sam Wilson will do nothing but add even more awesomeness to the Captain America legacy.
Final Score:
CAPTAIN AMERICA #25
Written by Rick Remender
Art by Carlos Pacheo, Stuart Immonen, Mariano Taibo, Wade Von Grawbadger, Dean White, Veronica Gandini, & Marte Garcia
Cover by Stuart Immonen, Wade Von Grawbadger, & Marte Garcia
