Writer: Ta-Nehisi Coates / Artist: Lenil Francis Yu/ Marvel Comics
Captain America #1 starts a new run for one of Marvel’s greatest heroes with a highly anticipated creative team at the helm comprised of Ta-Nehisi Coates and Lenil Francis Yu.
Not only does this combo represent two people of color telling the story of America’s favorite hero, but it gives Coates another opportunity to use his extensive experience covering politics and social thought in comic book form alongside his work with the Black Panther.
If you’re like a lot of us who didn’t read Secret Empire for… reasons… Captain America #1 does a good job catching you up to the story and washing the taste of the run out of your mouth just in case you did happen to check it out.
An event as massive as HYDRA taking over control of the United States, then losing that power, is sure to have some major consequences. With HYDRA mostly out of the way, the world is out of balance and a power vacuum has appeared, with plenty of contenders throwing their names in contention for the spot as the next potential conquerors of the world.
Meanwhile, Steve Rogers is dealing with a country full of people who look at his face and see the same face that led HYDRA during the hostile takeover. Sure, it wasn’t him and most of them know that. But their perceptions are what they are and he’s mostly helpless to change that.
A lot of players are introduced in Captain America #1, but the supporting characters are especially used well to move the story forward. Nuke, a symbol for right-wing extremism, is the first person we see Cap put hands on in this run. This can likely be viewed as a way to show where he stands. And an appearance from Sharon Carter, a.k.a. Agent 13, is all the fan service you could possibly need (and you even get Bucky on top of all that). She’s perfectly used to represent the pain that HYDRA put the world through and how difficult it is to disassociate Steve from it all.
Coates writing Captain America feels like a no-brainer, given his background and how he’s proven he can translate his skills into comic book storytelling with Black Panther. This series could give him the chance to tell both sides of the same story—crossover, anyone?
This first issue is promising and I expect the same for the rest of this series as it goes on. With another title on his plate, hopefully, Coates can keep them both going at the high levels we’ve come to expect.
P.S. As a personal sidebar, since Sam Wilson’s title was mishandled then cancelled, let’s see if we can bring his and some of his supporting cast (especially Misty) into the fold down the line.
8.2 defused Nukes out of 10
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