Captain America #12 (Marvel Comics)
Hello there! Padawan J here, the resident Star Wars expert from the ODPH! This week I'm going to be reviewing the 12th issue of Captain America from Marvel Comics!
Victor Von Doom is dead. Latveria is in the midst of a power vacuum struggling for power, and Captain America is out of commission! So what happens when Steve Rodgers confronts Victor Von Doom himself? Let’s jump into it!
Credit: Marvel Comics // Captain America #12 by Chip Zdarsky (Writer), Valerio Schiti (Artist), Romulo Fajardo Jr (Color Artist), VC’s Joe Caramanga (Letterer), Valerio Schiti & Romulo Farjardo Jr (Cover)
*** POSSIBLE SPOILER WARNING ***
The Story
Things are not going good for Steve Rodgers lately. Despite his best efforts in Latveria, Steve is lying unconscious in a hospital bed recovering from his injuries. The issue takes the story in a very interesting direction that adds a level intrigue to the story I didn’t expect.
The story picks up with Tony Stark trying his best to get Steve the help he needs, when none other than Sharon Carter appears. From there the story takes a twist I didn’t see coming, and that is Steve Rodgers is in Hell. He’s not dead, but he’s still in the underworld. He’s now having to team up with Doom and some of his associates in an impending confrontation with a certain ruler of Hell in the Marvel Universe.
The issue still feels like a Captain America issue, but it’s got a twist to it that feels like something you’d expect around Halloween. It’s a twist that works incredibly well and is a little bit of a tension break that is much needed. Things in the Marvel Comics universe are at an incredibly tense point. From a storytelling perspective you can’t have things that tense constantly, you need to break the tension up and this issue does just that.
There’s a couple of moments towards the end of note that I found very interesting. The first is with Doom and his companions, the way they’re presented is done in a very interesting way and I can’t help but wonder if it's been done deliberately. Is it setting up for something? Maybe, it would be very interesting if Marvel did that with those characters. The other is the very last panel that is going to have everyone talking. I’ll be honest, I should’ve seen it coming once the issue started and certain characters came into play. However it still caught me by surprise and left me extremely excited to see where Chip takes the story in the next issue.
The Artwork
Valerio Schiti & Romulo Fajardo Jr are in charge of the artwork for this issue and the job they’ve done with the artwork is simply spectacular. They’re able to keep the same look fans will be familiar with, but they put a very interesting twist on it to go with the change of scenery. Like I said, it’s the similar style readers will be familiar with but with a hint of horror comics to it. I really dug the the way they did the artwork and how detailed it was.
Overall Grade: 8/10
The series’ fantastic storytelling continues with a twist that most will not see coming. An interesting team-up and some appearances from very well known characters make for a standout issue in the series.
