When I heard Ta-Nehisi Coates was going to write for Captain America, I was excited. Ta-Nehisi’s run on Black Panther was one of the most fascinating stories I have ever read, to be honest. I didn’t immediately start reading Captain America right away, I started reading Captain America right around when Ed Brubaker brought Bucky Barnes back from the Dead. But now, we’re moving forward to a time where the nation used to love and adore Captain America, but now distrusts him due to the aftermath of the Secret Empire. Who is this new enemy, and what will Cap do to stop them?
One of the things that worked so well for this book is not only the narration, Steve has seen and comes across enemies that are vile and twisted but coming across clones of Nuke, who are brainwashed and opening fire on anyone on sight, a similar allegory for domestic terrorists. If you’re familiar with Nuke, then you know how volatile and aggressive he can get. In this case, the clones are even more aggressive than their predecessor.
“The papers tell us that the people rose up and destroyed Hydra, but I’ve been at war since I was a boy. These things don’t just end. Somehow, the front always comes home; that’s where I come in. These men brought terror to the Capital of the Free World, but they also found me, a soldier at home or away, a man loyal to Nothing… except for the dream.” ~Captain America, Steve Rogers.
Ta-Nehisi’s political journalism fits in for Captain America. He has described Steve Rogers as having a “Lincolnesque optimism” and these Nuke Clones are a perfect allegory for White Supremacists. Captain’s inner monologue does drag on a little bit throughout the Volume but this collection does capture perfectly Rogers’ trouble and the Current Political Climate in America today; the fear of Russia meddling into politics, The Captain isn’t a stranger when it comes to political events. Whether it was fighting Nazis, the Watergate Scandal, or the War on Terror.
The artwork in this volume is great, Leinil Francis Yu’s Pencil work is fantastic in this series if you recall, he has done work for Marvel before and one of the projects he worked on for a couple of years was Wolverine started with issue # 113. The inking was handled by Gerry Alanguilan and Yu, the Colors were done by Sunny Gho, another thing that was working for this book to help set the tone of the atmosphere (the Gloomy despair) that Coates wanted to help bring out was that Yes, it is an espionage book but Leinil and Gerry’s ink and of course Sunny’s Colorwork was the combination to have for this book.
It is one of the best Captain America stories in recent years, the Political angle is strong, and it is one of those espionage stories that can send shivers down your spine.
Final Grade:
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