Review: Captain America #18

STORY

As is standard for most Marvel comics, this one has an info blurb to give you some backstory into what has gone on in the current story arc. Unfortunately this one starts off with a bit of false information claiming that Hydra conquered the US with a leader with Steve Roger’s face until the real Capt America returned to set things right. This is already a bad start and a red flag for me. Either the writer doesn’t know recent comic history, or this is a retcon of a story for just two years ago. Either is a fail, and I’m left wondering where is editorial on this? The original Capt America had his history rewritten by the Red Skull with a cosmic cube, and the current Capt America is a creation of the same cube from what it remembered Cap to be and thought he should be. If you are going to retcon your continuity it should take more effort than in info blurb.

I recently praised Coates for his portrayal of Black Panther and Storm in a recent review. I’d found the scene between these two to be powerful and moving, in this case though, I find Cap to be a bit flat and boring. The centerpiece of this comic is Cap quelling a riot before going after Scourge of the Underworld. Coates tries to give us an epic Cap moment, the kind we have seen more than once in his long comic history. It should be a scene that stirs both the reader as well as those within the pages of the comics, an incredible sort of William Wallace or Henry the 5^thspeech that rouses the heart and soul to patriotic action. I want to like it because of my love for Cap as a character and live for these moments from him when he manages to take chaos and bring out the best in us. While Coates gives it a good try it just doesn’t work and frankly, given the recent history of the character, it all comes to easily. I know this is Cap and all but I’m just not feeling the sort of stakes here that this story deserves. I would direct the author to how the WB handled Superman when he was used as a pawn by Darkseid. On the plus side Coates demonstrates Cap’s expertise as a tactician.

ART

The art in this book is part of what has become a very disappointing trend in the industry but in Marvel comics in particular. That is an over reliance on photo-reference in comic art. I have my suspicions as to why this is but the main issue is that it makes for lifeless and boring pages. There are serious problems throughout this comic with perspective, layout and page flow. Characters and objects often are not in proper scale with one another nor do they appear to be on the same plane. The sequential aspect from panel to panel is often broken because the artist is force to find images that fit the flow of the story. Another problem with this approach to comics is a poor presentation of facial expressions, they always seem forced to fit the dialogue instead of actually fitting the moment in the story. Even Greg Land, who is the VERY best of the artists who abuse photo-reference in their art, struggles with this particular issue. But, unlike Land, Master’s work had none of the pop or dynamism that Land is able to inject onto the page. Land’s work at least still looks like it belongs in a Marvel comic while Master’s comes across as a poor imitation of Alex Maleev.

FINAL THOUGHTS

The story is a little on the average side but it does set up future subplots. It is muddled by poor art and some confusing word balloons in the texting moments.

SCORE: 2 out of 5

Writer:Â Ta-Nehisi Coates
Art:Â Jason Masters
Colors:Â Matt Milla
Letters:Â Cory Petit