FCBD – Steve Rogers: Captain America Review!
Jondee here at Pleasant Hill, Connecticut,
Changes have come to the Captain America in comics! Free Comic Book Day brought a Steve Rogers: Captain America issue by Nick Spencer and Jesus Saiz. They are the team on the regular title. Cap was drained of the Super Soldier Serum by Iron Nail in “The Tomorrow Soldier” by Rick Remender in the Captain America title. Sam Wilson took up the shield and mantle of Captain America. He had his own Falcon partner rescuing Joaquin Torres, a hybrid from an experiment by Karl Malus who can fly and has a healing factor. Nick Spencer has restored Commander Steve Rogers by Kobik, a sentient Cosmic Cube made into a human girl, in Avengers Standoff: Assault on Pleasant Hill. Rick Jones, a one-time partner of Cap (and other Marvel heroes) took the hacker name the Whisperer and released the S.H.I.E.L.D. files on Kobik. Whew! The comic book features a cover by Saiz has Cap bringing his shield down (the design is based on his original shield) to stop the gunfire from Hydra soldiers with the shadowy face of Red Skull behind him. The art by Saiz works with the previous artwork by Steve Epting and Mike Perkins.
Now we are ready for the comic! Commander Maria Hill is testifying about the new Hydra activities and the lead senator asks about Graz, Austria. There, Captain America is mobbed by Hydra soldiers while Rick Jones is on audio. He breaks through a wall with his photonic energy shield. Cap confronts a Hydra operator and gets the next target, the Chrysler Building. This goes to the responders, Sam Wilson: Captain America and the Falcon (Torres). They take down Hydra soldiers, but a van peels away. The Falcon sheers through the tires, but the van falls on him. They discover a bomb and Sam flies the bomb to the sky. This was a diversion since another bomb was set off in Brussels. The lead senator is angry at Commander Hill. They are interrupted by Captain America who takes responsibility for the deaths from the bomb. There’s a clever Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil, See No Evil gestures from the senators. Cap notes the training by Hydra with Crossbones training the soldiers. Then, we have Red Skull’s daughter, Sin, offering her father a drink while he watches Cap ask the committee for a declaration of war. It’s great to have Steve Rogers back as Captain America, but there is some heavy story lines to cover to get up to speed. Three Captain America Shields out of Five!
