In the wake of “Secret Empire,” Ta-Nehisi Coates and Leinil Francis Yu have created a “Captain America” #1 that moves forward from the events of that series, while still dealing with that series’ aftermath. Read on for the rest of our review!
Written by Ta-Nehisi Coates
Penciled by Leinil Francis Yu
Inked by Gerry Alaguilan
Colored by Sunny Gho
Lettered by VC’s Joe Caramagna
IT IS WINTER IN AMERICA.For over 70 years, he has stood in stalwart defense of our country and its people. But in the aftermath of Hydra’s takeover of the nation, Captain America is a figure of controversy, carrying a tarnished shield…and a new enemy is rising! Who are the Power Elite? And how do they intend to co-opt and corrupt the symbol that is Captain America?
Both “Captain America” #1 and the previous volume of the title exist in response to the events of “Secret Empire.” It would be almost impossible for them not to. The twisting of the face of Captain America into the leader of HYDRA and turning Steve Rogers into a fascist ruler of America was such a fundamental change to the character and his place in the world that anything coming after must exist in relation to “Secret Empire.”
For the previous volume, the solution was to turn both Cap, and the comic, into something from a different era. It was a hard-left turn from the direction of “Secret Empire,” a response to that event in the way that it almost completely ignored it. It seemed like this might be the way Marvel dealt with Steve Rogers for the foreseeable future. That while the image of him with HYDRA, ruling over America was still firmly planted in readers minds, the comics themselves would just pretend it never happened, moving Steve Rogers back to an uncomplicated bastion of good. This current volume, though, takes the almost completely opposite track. While Captain America is back to his traditional self with “Captain America” #1, it is clear this series is going to be dealing with the aftermath of “Secret Empire” in a serious way, not ignoring the events of that series but making them integral to the plot. It is a response to “Secret Empire” that does not hide from the facts of that series but instead embraces them.
I wrote in my “Black Panther” #1 review that Ta-Nehisi Coates had come into his own in regard to comic writing. With “Captain America” #1 that continues to be true. But while that first issue of “Black Panther” was almost a complete departure from what Coates had been doing before, leaving behind political intrigue for heart-racing sci-fi, the goals of “Captain America” #1 seem more in line with that first “Black Panther” volume. However, while those first issues of “Black Panther” were a bit slow, and frankly a bit boring, Coates has figured out how to combine political machinations with high paced action and intrigue, making something that is as thoughtful as it is fun.
The reason the action works so well is mostly because of Leinil Yu’s pencils. Yu’s work is highly detailed, and brings a feeling of gritty realness to the art. But, even while feeling gritty, the action is clean and easy to follow. Yu keeps the pace of the issue moving, Captain America’s shield flying across the page in such a way that it draws the eye from panel to panel, each punch or kick from Cap landing with a solid impact.
The inks from Gerry Alanguilan and the colors from Sunny Gho help give a particular mood to all of this action. Alanguilan uses heavy inks, creating thick black lines on many of the characters faces, giving the impression that they are spending much of their time in deep shadows, lending the story an air of gravity. Gho’s color compliment and contrast the heavy lines, by using a sundrenched palette, which works to show that the issue both takes place in the middle of the day, while still allowing the colors a slightly washed out look to them. These together work to set a tone for the story, one that isn’t exactly the poppy brightness of the last volume of “Captain America,” but isn’t completely darkness and gloom.
Continued belowThere is something to be said for the move back to traditional Steve Rogers, and in this first issue, the team has started to create a world of murky politics while still presenting Captain America as good. “Captain America” #1 uses single page spreads for this purpose, with two of them in the issue. The first comes when Cap is saving a child, the second after the action, when Steve and Bucky are helping save survivors and cleaning up after the mess their battle made. It makes the priorities of the character clear in a way that, even in the moral shades of grey that he is operating within, he comes off as a hero.
And yet, this issue also subtly questions whether Captain America is all that heroic. He spends much of this issue fighting a series of Nuke clones. Nuke, a character that used to be a fascist, unquestioning version of Captain America, a commentary on what an American super solider could be. But now, what is the difference between these two characters? Where is the line drawn between a Captain America that has ruled America with Hydra, and a character like Nuke? These seem like the kind of questions this series wants to ask, and they are the kind of questions that need to be asked for Captain America to continue forward. It’s impossible for Cap to simply go back to who he was before the events of “Secret Empire.” This story understands that and seems ready to handle the rocky ground this topic will surely bring up.
Final Verdict: 9.0 – “Captain America” #1 explores the character’s “Secret Empire” status quo to great effect, asking important questions about who Steve Rogers is and what he stands for.
