written by Mark Waid
drawn by Chris Samnee
colored by Matthew Wilson
In my review of one of the final issues of the Mark Waid/Chris Samnee run on Black Widow, I wondered aloud what the pair's next collaboration would be. I was honestly afraid that they'd be split up, considering that Waid works on something like four or five different books for Marvel and even Archie Comics, and that Samnee would be shunted off to some Avengers or X-Men book with one of Marvel's writers du jour.
It was to my utmost shock and delight, then, when Marvel announced that not only were they not breaking this wonderful creative team up, but that they would be putting them on a book that was an absolute perfect fit for their combined talent: Captain America. Waid has written Cap many times before, dating back to the 1990s, and Samnee drew five issues of "Captain America and Bucky" for writers Ed Brubaker and Marc Andreyko, in which Cap basically took a backseat to Bucky Barnes, his one-time sidekick and now the Winter Soldier. This issue marks the first time these two superstar creators have worked on this character together.
The book opens with a one-page recap of Captain America's origin, followed by a brief six-page action sequence in which Cap saves a small town in Nebraska from a gaggle of white supremacists. Ten years later, and following the highly turbulent events of "Secret Empire" in which an evil version of Cap basically tried to take over the world, Cap returns to that same town, where he makes a few surprising discoveries, and runs into several familiar faces.
As first issues go, I have to say, this was a bit more subdued than what I was expecting. It's not that Waid and Samnee scrimp on the action (as there is plenty of it), but as far as establishing an interesting new status quo for the lead character goes, it seems decidedly timid. The fact that the events of "Secret Empire" have established Cap as a widely-hated man is utterly disposed of in this issue with a single line of dialogue. It's clearly a conversation Waid and Samnee want to save for another day. Given that this run was hyped up as exploring Cap's new situation, and given the caliber of this creative team, this issue disappoints ever so slightly, even though the issue was a pleasant enough done-in-one affair.
When Waid and Samnee relaunched "Daredevil" back in 2014, with Matt Murdock's first adventure in San Francisco, they hit the ground running, with a fast-paced adventure that saw Matt embracing his brand new status quo as he took on a threat with his skills and quick thinking. When they relaunched "Black Widow" last year they delivered a brilliantly staged 20-page chase sequence. That series may have tapered off pretty quickly in terms of quality, but Waid and Samnee made one hell of a first impression with that one issue. In contrast, Waid and Samnee don't make quite as strong an impact with this first issue. It's not that this issue is bad by any means; it's just that I know that these guys are capable of so much more. This is a far cry from their best work.
That's not to say they don't deliver at all; although the first six-issue action sequence is a little minimalist for Samnee, he quickly picks up steam and manages to deliver a solid visual experience. Also, even though Waid delivers a somewhat muted script given Cap's current status quo, he still manages some memorable dialogue, such as Steve's conversation with a hotdog vendor who is convinced that Captain America being pulled out of ice by the Avengers was nothing more than a PR stunt and that it's really a "modern" person in the suit. I could be reading too much into it, but the scene vaguely feels like a subtle jab at the era of "fake news" in which people make up, and live by, their own truth.
In any event, this issue, while not quite up to the usual Waid/Samnee standard, nonetheless delivers in ways that count, and if nothing else definitely has me looking forward with bated breath to the next one.
7.7/10
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