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All-New Captain America #1 Review: Sam’s First Flight

By Nick Tylwalk

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Replacing a legend is never easy. That’s true in sports, business, public office, whatever. It’s even tougher to do for a super hero because the issue that introduces him or her needs to cover a lot of ground.

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Rick Remender and Stuart Immonen manage to take care of that in excellent fashion in All-New Captain America #1. Right up front, we get a few pages that explain what drives Sam Wilson, and then we dive right into one of his first missions as Captain America. They blend together seamlessly thanks to Sam’s internal thought process while he takes on Hydra.

Wilson isn’t doing it alone either, as he’s got Steve Rogers and Sharon Carter on support and the new Nomad, Ian Rogers, for help on the ground. The interplay between Sam and Ian is fun in the “Are they serious or joking?” way, and new readers, especially, are going to be curious about where it goes.

There’s also a confrontation with a classic Captain America villain that touches on several pertinent themes, including how bad guys will react to Sam as Cap (pretty disrespectfully, by the looks of it), how Sam handles the shield (he still needs some practice) and whether Sam and Ian will have to work out some kinks in terms of how they fight crime (they will). The last page cliffhanger, if it’s on the level, make it clear that the new Captain America won’t be able to ease into his job. And that’s good, because it would be boring if he could.

It’s a great debut, and it helps that Immonen draws Wilson’s version of the Captain America costume better than anyone I’ve seen so far, including some very talented artists who tackled it in AXIS.

There are always going to be fans who clamor for Steve back right away, but to them I say this: give Sam a chance, because it looks like his adventures are going to be worth reading.

As for the details …

SPOILERS AHEAD!

Sam Wilson thinks back on what got him into the hero game in the first place before his thoughts snap to the mission at hand. He’s to invade a secret Hydra base, rescue an informant, blow the place up and get out. He loses contact with Steve and Sharon but does have help on the inside in the form of Ian. At least he’s helping when he’s not criticizing Sam’s shield-throwing form. Ian also wonders why he wasn’t chosen to take over as Cap, so it looks like he might be a difficult sidekick/partner.

While both men expect a doomsday weapon of some sort inside the base, it’s actually a kid Hydra has stashed away. Resucing him means defeating Batroc the Leaper, who exchanges some banter with Sam while making it clear he has little regard for his fighting skills. Just when it looks like Batroc has the upper hand, Nomad bails out Cap, possibly sending the villain to his death in the process. Guess Sam couldn’t activate his wings in time? Anyway, Sam lectures Ian about not killing, though Nomad is somewhat dismissive about it, saying that in Dimension Z, such considerations were unimportant.

Our heroes and the boy try to escape but end up in another part of the base, where they end up seemingly face to face with Zemo, Crossbones, Taskmaster, Armadillo and four other villains. Yeah, that doesn’t look good.

Favorite moment: The unconscious Hydra agent the heroes use to gain access to the inner par of the base is identified as Bob Dobalina. The question is whether Remender is a fan of the Monkees or Del and the Hieroglyphics crew.

Final thought: I never really thought about Ian thinking Steve should have made him Captain America. Sam’s been Steve’s friend for years, but Ian is his “son” and they were together for quite some time in Dimension Z, so who’s to say he doesn’t have a right to feel slighted? I just hope that Remender doesn’t turn him into a villain because of it, as that would be a little too cliché for my taste.

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