Captain America 25, Thor 1

Captain America 25

The gathered heroes and villains wait below while Falcon brings the bomb into the sky, detonating away from everyone else. Iron Man catches Falcon's falling body before he hits the ground and, while Cap lauds him for his bravery and calls him more than just a hero, he opens his eyes again, saying that he got Tony to whip him up some vibranium wings that took the brunt of the blast. All isn't entirely well though, as Zola tells Jet that these people don't see her as a hero and that she won't change their minds only to be almost instantly proven right as Sharon begins to accuse her of teaming up with her father to enact this plan. Furious that even Steve won't stand up for her, Jet leaves with her father back to Dimension Z (why is no one stopping him??). One week later, Steve calls together all past and present Avengers to Avengers Mansion to announce he's taking on a leadership/behind-the-scenes position and handing off the Captain America mantle to Falcon. An epilogue also shows that one of those Avengers is a double-agent for Hydra and the Unknown Council. The traitor reveals that Falcon is taking over the position and Madam Worm and the Drain, from Remender's WINTER SOLDIER: BITTER MARCH series, believe they're ready to break the new Captain.

Sam says it himself in this one as he's introduced: "You guys all knew it was me, didn't you? There's literally no drama left in this reveal." I recognize that that's something of a tongue-in-cheek (or perhaps just blatant announcement) bit of dialogue from Remender, who voices what the audience is thinking. As I said last issue, Falcon's heroic sacrifice isn't made meaningless by the fact we, as the audience, all know he's going to survive (though the vibranium wings take something of the heart of it, even if it makes more sense that he survived because of them, though ostensibly less sense because where did Tony get vibranium and...you know what, tangent, whatever). Falcon didn't know he was going to when he chose to sacrifice himself, so it's still just as meaningful. It's the argument for characters dying in stories even if we know they'll come back: these keeps some level of stakes on the table and the hero's death is still meaningful because they still sacrificed their life without the intention of being reborn. ANYWAY, all that isn't to say that this issue isn't still predictable and a bit slow for it. As a special size issue (and primarily as a big, undoubtedly high-selling book), it costs $4.99 and, for the first time in this series, I can't say it's particularly worth it. We know what's going to happen, the Zemo storyline wraps up so anticlimactically (the climax was really last issue when Falcon took the bomb up, then things just kind of peter out this issue as Zola straight up just leaves the area with Jet), and there's an extended scene at Avengers Mansion that's played for laughs but doesn't quite hit (a little baffling since Remender certainly can be funny, I've seen it plenty). Pick it up if you're interested in owning a big moment in Cap/Marvel history, but if you're looking for an entertaining and compelling story, there are other places to look.

Total Score: 3/5


Thor 1

Thor has been sitting on the moon with an inert Mjolnir for some time now, not sleeping, not eating, and not talking to anyone but his beloved hammer. All the Asgardians have come out to see and learned that not only can Thor not lift the hammer any longer, no one can. The Warriors Three have all tried to no avail and even Odin himself cannot lift the hammer he once enchanted. Thor is only coaxed from the hammer when he learns that Midgard is under attack by awoken Frost Giants in the sea. He gets Jarnbjorn out of the armory and heads back to Earth, where he runs afoul of Malekith, who relishes in the unworthiness, defeating Thor handily and cutting off one of his arms. Meanwhile, back on the moon, a shadowy figure prompts the writing on the hammer to change to say "Whomsoever holds this hammer, if she be worthy, shall possess the power of Thor." As the inscription changes, the mysterious woman picks up the hammer and is instantly imbued with just such power. It is hinted that the figure is Freyja, or at least that it is she who is behind changing the inscription, but no firm details are given.

I think the story is an interesting one; something out there has changed Mjolnir's enchantment in some way and now Thor isn't the only one who can't pick up the hammer (woulda been weird if an elderly Steve Rogers went up there and grabbed it, imbuing himself with Thor powers now that his super soldier serum is gone). The mystery around the new Thor could remain interesting for some time but it'll have to be played right (or just revealed quickly, which would be the easier path to take). Still, it does feel like something is missing in this book and, like with the new CAPTAIN AMERICA reveal, I think that this massive and interesting twist is underhanded by the solicits and the press junket for the whole thing. In today's day and age, perhaps it's impossible to keep this a secret, particularly for a market that is, inexplicably, dependent on pre-orders, but this issue (and CAPTAIN AMERICA) certainly suffer for the lack of a twist in what would have once been a huge, huge shock. Though I do rather like the new THOR logo design.

Total Score: 3/5

Sam Wilson to pick up the shield in ALL-NEW CAPTAIN AMERICA

After revealing recently that Steve Rogers, now serum-less, will be hanging up his spangly boots and beautiful shield, it's just been announced that Sam Wilson, currently the Falcon, will be taking over the role in Rick Remender and Stuart Immonen's ALL-NEW CAPTAIN AMERICA. It's a pretty straightforward switch, perhaps to be expected, but still a massive one and well-deserved. Now, between this and the THOR reveal, we are set to have at least two thirds of Marvel's "big three," Captain America, Thor, and Iron Man, be a black man and a woman, respectively. Pretty big deal, you guys.

http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=54124 (sorry, can't embed links from my phone)

Captain America: Homecoming 1, SPECIAL REVIEW: Captain America 117

Captain America: Homecoming 1
Van Lente (w) and Grummett and Hamscher (a) and Sotomayor (c)

A movie-universe tie-in title as Captain America and Black Widow, not too long after the Battle of New York (as seen in Marvel's The Avengers), visit Cap's old neighborhood in preparation of Nobel Prize winning scientist Professor Amanat arrival in the neighborhood. Everything's not as it seems though as a black ops team traces and follows Cap and Widow's footsteps as they tour the area before two agents descend on them as they enter a back alley. Cap and Widow, of course, have been aware of them the entire time and are prepared, easily putting down the two agents and getting to work trying to figure out who's trying to kidnap Amanat. After they beat up more agents and manage to find the location of the agents' base, Cap realizes that the plan to kidnap Amanat is already underway and hurries down to the street to protect her motorcade. He saves her and, with the help of Black Widow, they manage to take down the remaining agents who were hoping to force Amanat to build a bomb for them. Amanat reveals that she chose this neighborhood because, like Captain America, she grew up there and it's long been a haven for immigrants.

The movie tie-in books are rarely anything to really write home about but they give potential new readers a chance to understand the form of a comic book and give everyone a chance to maybe dig a little bit deeper into the movie characters as separate entities from the comic characters. There's not a lot added to this though we get a nice look at Black Widow and Captain America's relationship as they've clearly been working together on ops like this for a while now and we get to see that Cap has grown somewhat familiar with the new world around him, understanding and citing concepts like WiFi and signal jammers and so on. It's not a bad book and it's certainly a decent set-up for the relationship these two are bound to have in the upcoming (ONLY A WEEK NOW, EVERYONE) Captain America: Winter Soldier. STILL, worth a review because it comes with a reprint of the original 1969 CAPTAIN AMERICA 117, the introduction of the Falcon and a TOTALLY GREAT ISSUE that I shall be reviewing AS WELL as a special BONUS REVIEW.

Captain America 117
Stan Lee (w) and Gene Colan and Joe Sinnott (a)

Red Skull has the Cosmic Cube and has used it for his most DEVIOUS of plans! He's swapped his body with Captain America's (FORTY+ YEARS BEFORE SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN) and cast Steve, now in Skull's body, to the Island of the Exiles. The Exiles, of course, are former co-conspirators of the Red Skull whom he betrayed and have been cast to their own inescapable island, meaning that, on top of being Nazis, they're all gonna be really mad to see the Red Skull there and probably won't listen if the Skull explained he was really Captain America (not that it would help matters with them). Of course, they run into each other and Steve is quickly attacked, though ultimately saved by a falcon swooping in and attacking his attackers before flying off to safety. The distraction was enough for Cap to flee and plan his next move. Fortunately, Cap's a soldier and knows how to use mud to make a passable face-disguise that covers his entirely red skull (??). MEANWHILE, Skull is now in CAPTAIN AMERICA'S BODY and we all know what kind of havoc that could mean! What's he up to? Gaining secret information from SHIELD or the Pentagon? Sabotaging missions that would further America's standing in the world? Deleting all the contacts from Steve's phone? No, he's kind of just kicking around, letting the paparazzi take pictures of him and signing autographs. This is a pretty weird plan, Red Skull. Back on the island, the newly-enfaced Steve meets the man behind the falcon attack, Sam Wilson. Sam, a man from Harlem, explains that he and many others came to the island after being promised work only to find that the Exiles are totally evil and no one can get off the island. He does what he can to sabotage them or to help his fellow workers but there's a limit to what he can do, even with his seemingly mentally-linked falcon Redwing by his side. Steve knows a thing or two about inspiring people so he gives Sam a quick course in hand-to-hand fighting and tells him that he needs a costume, something to act as a symbol to his people. Together they design a green and yellow costume and prepare Sam, now named the Falcon, to fight.

Guys, it's impossible to overstate how much I love this issue. Between this and the issues that follow it, we get SO MUCH GREAT CAP STUFF. I've also only ever seen this in black and white in one of the big ol' Cap collections so it's great to see it reprinted in color here and it makes Steve's mud-face EVEN MORE IMPRESSIVE. But seriously, I absolutely love this introduction of Sam Wilson. Marvel seriously botched the character up down the line, retconning some ridiculous twist into this that said he was a pimp in Harlem who was sent to do this job to befriend Cap so he could betray him or some such because apparently some people decided that Sam was maybe too progressive when he was introduced and they'd like to negate some of that. Leaving all that out of it though and looking at Sam as a character in this issue and the issues that directly followed it, Sam Wilson is the first big African-American superhero and here he is, not even ONCE mentioning that he's African-American, just as it never comes up for Steve. It's played EXACTLY the way it should be: as not a big deal. Just two guys coming together and becoming friends after sharing common experiences and personalities. It's perfect, it never feels like an attempt to make a statement or anything like that, and it's completely negated by the garbage Marvel would later try to tack on for literally no reason at all. Ugh. Anyway, let's not forget how absolutely amazing Red Skull's plan is here. He gets in Cap's body and he's like "hey, better stroll around town and let the public adore me for a while!" It's fantastic. He goes on to start trying to ruin Steve's reputation in what might still CONTINUE to be the least diabolical plan anyone, let alone chief Nazi, made-of-evil Red Skull, has ever come up with when he's simply just kind of a jerk to those reporters and refuses to sign an autograph for someone. Guys. Comics are amazing.