Captain America #15 (Marvel Comics)
Hello there! Padawan J here, the resident Star Wars expert from the ODPH! This week I'm going to be reviewing the 15th issue of Captain America from Marvel Comics!
Victor Von Doom is dead. And Steve Rodgers is fighting alongside him in Hell! So what happens when Rodgers situation gets even more precarious? Let’s jump into it!
Credit: Marvel Comics // Captain America #15 by Chip Zdarsky (Writer), Ton Lima (Artist), Romulo Fajardo Jr (Color Artist), VC’s Joe Caramanga (Letterer), Valerio Schiti & Romulo Fajardo Jr (Cover Art)
*** POSSIBLE SPOILER WARNING ***
The Story
This story is about as nuts as it can possibly get from start to finish. Captain America is in Hell, he’s fighting along side the spirit of Doctor Doom, and they’re both going up against the Red Skull AND Mephisto. When you put it that way, it sounds like a situation you might’ve put your action figures in on a Saturday morning while watching cartoons. However this is no action figure excursion, and is seriously the situation Cap presently finds himself in.
Chip Zdarsky does an amazing job making this feel like a Captain America story in the most un-Captain America like setting for the battle that’s taking place. Cap is deep into the battle and it isn’t clear who is going to come out on top. What’s worse is that with Red Skull’s partnership with Mephisto it appears that he has a certain amount of control over the residents of Hell. It makes for a seriously visual moment that makes you sit back and marvel at the scope of the situation presently taking place.
It all culminates with the inevitable confrontation with Mephisto and the question/declartion, “Did you really think you could win here Steve Rodgers?” While this is going on we get a glimpse at the real world and see that Steve’s physical body is not handling the present situation well at all. And it all ends with quite possibly the most shocking end to a Captain America issue in quite some time. I will absolutely NOT spoil what it is, as always I feel you should read it for yourself. However what I will say is that it’s going to be very interesting to see how this plays out and what kind of lasting impact this might have for not just Captain America, but the larger Marvel Comics Universe.
The Artwork
Ton Lima & Romulo Fajardo Jr are in charge of the artwork for the issue and it’s truly spectacular to look at as you’re reading the story. The visuals of the battle in Hell with the two sides are particularly spectacular and really give it a sense of grandeur that you would expect when you’re taking on the forces of Mephisto. The last 7 pages really stand out with a sense of tension and increasing drama that really leave you on the edge of your seat reading it as the stakes increase for our hero. The artwork in this issue really does a great job working alongside the story in a way that help enhance each other.
Overall Grade: 9/10
A fantastic issue that is the one of the best issues of the series so far. Chip Zdarsky pens one of the best stories of the year, and really raises the stakes to new high’s for Captain America. Together with artwork that is the best work the team has done so far, this really is an issue you don’t want to miss out on.
