All-New Captain America #2 Review: Some Bad Decisions

No one probably expected it would be simple for Sam Wilson to take over as Captain America, but man, he’s having a rough first outing. His first mission seemed pretty straightforward, as he had tactical support from Steve Rogers and Nomad as an inisde man to aid in his efforts to infiltrate a Hydra base. Everything going his way, right?

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As of All-New Captain America #2, not so much. Sam has lost touch with Steve, and in their efforts to save a young boy from Hydra’s clutches, they stumbled into a den full of super villains. Rick Remender keeps the mix of action and plot twists coming (why coouldn’t AXIS be this tightly plotted?) as Sam has to make some difficult decisions, most of which turn out badly. Bring Captain America is a more difficult gig than it looks.

Along the way, Sam has to face off with another one of Cap’s most enduring villains and has to get bailed out again, just as he did last month fighting Batroc. It’s sort of understandable that Remender wants to show how tough it is taking on the usual suspects without the benefit of the Super-Soldier Serum, but hopefully Sam gets a chance to show how capable he is before too long. Otherwise this is going to read like one long, very dangerous hazing session.

The revelations of who is around to help Sam and how deeply Hydra is entrenched are both well done, and it’s interesting how all of the developments in this issue get things closer in the comics to the way they are in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. I’m guessing that’s no accident.

All this and we even get one page that gives us more insight into what helped shape Sam into the hero he is today. It’s early days, but so far this series is a good read for both longtime and relatively new fans, and it’s hard to quibble about that.

SPOILERS PAST THIS POINT!

A flashback shows us Sam’s dad get killed in front of him when he was a kid. With his last words, Mr. Wilson still managed to get in one last lesson: “It’s not just what we do in life that matters, it’s the evil we don’t confront that defines us.”

In the present, Sam and Ian are in big trouble, surrounded by at least seven villains. Nomad sees an aerial exit, so even though he doesn’t feel good about it, Cap makes for the window with the boy and leaves Nomad hopelessly outnumbered, figuring he’ll be back as quickly as possible.

That turns out to be impossible for two reasons: one is that they’re in Bagalia, a country where anything goes, including super villainy. The other is that the kid actually didn’t need saving, and he pulls a gun and shoots Cap in the shoulder. Zemo sends Crossbones after Sam, and they end up duking it out inside a club where people are wagering on the outcome. One in particular takes an interest in the fight, and just when it seems Crossbones has the upper hand, she arrives with one heck of a head kick to save Cap’s bacon.

His rescuer has good news and bad news. The good news is that she’s Misty Knight, who was in Bagalia undercover. The bad news is that they can’t call for help, because Hydra has infiltrated everything, including the Avengers, and even though Steve Rogers is obviously clean, they can’t know if he’s with someone who might actually be a mole.

Ian isn’t faring so well, getting captured and strung up by his feet by the bad guys. Zemo does spill his plan, revealing that the kid is actually an Inhuman, and his blood can sterilize regular humans. The villains have given the antidote to every Hydra agent all over the world, so they can sterilize everyone, decrease the world population and leave a more manageable world for Hydra to world. That’s actually a pretty devious plan.

Zemo also feel comfortable sharing it because he slashes Ian (in the throat?) with his knife before taking a cellphone pic to send to Steve. Cold-blooded …

Stuart Immonen gets plenty to sink his teeth into in this issue, doing really powerful, dynamic action scenes. Some of the fight in the club is a little difficult to follow, but you can really feel the impact of each blow that Captain America and Crossbones trade. Bone-crunching goodness.

Favorite moment: That panel where Misty kicks Crossbones in the face … good grief that’s awesome.

Final thought: I don’t think I’m alone in hoping that Ian isn’t dead. Exploring the change between Sam as the junior partner to Steve and having to be the senior partner to Ian would be fun, in much the same was as when Dick Grayson took over for a time as Batman with Damian Wayne as his Robin. Also, Steve has been through enough having to give up the shield and getting forced to his own age, does he really need a dead adopted son on top of that?