The King Falls And The City Riots In Captain America #17
by Josh Davison
Mild Spoilers Ahead
Mayor Wilson Fisk is dead, and New York City is falling into chaos. However, Steve Rogers and the Daughters of Liberty must focus on stopping the new Scourge of the Underworld. Steve and Misty Knight go find Tony Larimore, Angel’s brother, to see what he knows about Scourge and the cop-killings. Tony reveals how bad the corruption in the NYPD has gotten and how Mayor Fisk exacerbated the problem. Unfortunately, the conversation is cut short by the arrival of the Watchdogs.
Captain America #17 continues Steve’s investigation into the return of the Scourge of the Underworld. He’s just killed Mayor Wilson Fisk (possibly), and this new Scourge needs to be stopped if the city is to survive.
Much of the comic is Steve and Misty’s encounter with Tony Larimore. He gives Steve and Misty the rundown on what’s been going on with the NYPD. He intones darkly about corruption. The comic hedges its bets in regards to whether it wants to indict the law enforcement system or just say that Kingpin brought in bad people to be cops. It doesn’t seem to want to be all that controversial one way or the other.
That aside, it’s still a fun comic. We get a nice, meaty showdown between Steve Rogers and the Watchdogs, and we get another threatening cameo from the Scourge of the Underworld.
I do find myself curious if the comic will ever draw the obvious comparisons between Scourge and the Punisher. I know Cap and most of Marvel’s heroes hate Frank Castle anyway, but Frank has always been an “anti-hero” while Scourge is safely a “villain.”
Obviously, I don’t really believe that Fisk is dead. That said, the comic doesn’t even hint that he might still be alive.
Jason Masters puts in another issue’s worth of good art. The action sequence between Cap and the Watchdogs looks good and has a definite flow to it. The shading on the Watchdogs’ masks does look a little odd at times, but that’s my only even minor complaint. Also, I do love the return of Scourge’s 1920’s gangster look. Matt Milla’s color work is lively and great-looking as well.
Captain America #17 continues the hunt for Scourge and the Watchdogs just keep making things harder for Steve Rogers. It’s a well-written issue with plenty of action and good visuals. As such, it earns a recommendation. Feel free to check it out.
Captain America #17 comes to us from writer Ta-Nehisi Coates, artist Jason Masters, color artist Matt Milla, letterer VC’s Cory Petit, cover artist Alex Ross, and variant cover artist Iban Coello with Morry Hollowell.
Final Score: 7.5/10