Captain America #25 – (New Comics)

Captain America #25 On Youtube

New Comics: Captain America #25 Recap

We open right where the last issue left off. Everyone looks on in horror as the bomb explodes high above New York City. Iron Man catches Falcon’s limp body as it falls to the ground.

Jet and Zola watch from afar as they discuss recent events. Zola claims he still loves her and that she can’t trust the Avengers.

The mutates are defeated but everyone is still upset about Falcon. Steve Rogers and Sharon Carter discuss Falcon’s self-sacrificing actions. Without hesitation, Falcon was willing to give his life for everyone else. That’s just the kind of person Sam Wilson was.

Which is nice because it turns out Falcon is alive! Yes, it turns out that Falcon’s vibranium wings absorbed most of the damage and he is just fine. Jet arrives and embraces Falcon but Sharon Carter quickly turns on her, pointing out that Jet cannot be trusted and is a traitor. When Steve Rogers suggests she come with the Avengers in handcuffs, Jet feels threatened and escapes. She finds Zola and flees before the heroes are able to stop them.

One week later, the Avengers are having a celebration at the mansion. As Steve Rogers no longer has the super soldier serum and is too old to remain as Captain America, a new soldier will take up the mantle.

Sam Wilson appears, no longer as the Falcon, but as the Captain America. Taking up the Shield, Sam commemorates the event not with a speech, but a single phrase:

“Avengers Assemble!”

In the epilogue, HYDRA convenes. They state Sam Wilson is not up to the task. He has no super soldier serum. He doesn’t have the same experience. They are confident they can make Sam see the true message of HYDRA

Marvel Comic Books: Captain America #25 Recap

Okay, so this wasn’t really an AXIS issue but it was worth covering anyways, because, hey, it’s our new Captain America. Of course, no big surprise here, as Marvel announced this a while ago, and even the comic can’t hide the fact that nobody is surprised Falcon is becoming the new Captain.

Unfortunately, I really don’t like this comic. Almost every joke falls flat for me, and the story is pretty ridiculous. My favourite part is that the metas – genetically engineered super soldiers that made up Zola’s army, all basically stopped fighting and are immediately defeated after Falcon blows up. That’s just dumb. Why would the soldiers care about Falcon? And it’s awfully convenient that the bad guys who were totally stopping the Avengers last issue, are all defeated easily moments later in this issue. That’s lazy writing, just like having Falcon allegedly die in last issue only for him to turn out to be just fine, surprising nobody.

Speaking of lazy writing, the conflict that makes Jet leave feels totally forced. It’s completely out of character for Steve to force Jet into handcuffs and it doesn’t feel very logical for Jet to totally trust Zola but not at all trust the Avengers. I do like the art, by and large, but I just can’t get past this dumb story. Yep, that’s Jet slipping out of Thor’s hands. That’s awfully clumsy for a battle hardened Asgardian…

Oh well. As an intro to the new Captain America, this isn’t bad. It shows why Falcon is a cool character and it does feel like a big moment when he finally gets the shield. But they should have just ended the issue there. The HYDRA epilogue is nice build up, but it isn’t as strong a moment as the cheer and feels like it is just there to sell future comics.

Still, I am interested to see how this all plays out in AXIS. Next up, for every bad Rick Remender comic, there must also apparently be a very good Remender comic. And, oh boy, this is an excellent, excellent comic. I’m really looking forward to my next review, Uncanny Avengers 25, as we continue the March to AXIS.

TAGS: Marvel comic books, new comics, AXIS