Who Can You Trust? ‘Captain America #18’ Reviewed
by Josh Davison
Mild Spoilers Ahead
Captain America’s suspicions about Sharon Carter and the Dryad continue to grow, but his investigation is cut short by a riot at Saint Joan’s Fresh Start, a halfway house in the city. Steve Rogers, Misty Knight, Spider Woman, Invisible Woman, and Mockingbird move in to contain the situation. Sue separates the crowd from the cops, Jess uses her pheromones to calm the rioters, and Misty and Bobbi evacuate the building. Meanwhile, Steve has to do what he does best to relieve the tension: make an inspiring speech. After the Saint Joan’s situation is finally resolved, Steve gets a lead on Scourge’s hideout and the team goes to finally put a stop to the new Scourge of the Underworld.
Captain America #18 finally brings Steve face-to-face with Scourge yet again. However, Steve must first restore some peace in the heart of New York City, where panic, anger, and distrust have taken root.
It is nice to see another good old-fashioned Cap speech and it is a good one. It isn’t as long as some of his other ones and the actual message is pretty much just, “trust the cops.” That said, it’s still pretty solid.
Where the comic gets a bit disappointing is the actual showdown with Scourge. It’s a very brief sequence, and we don’t get to see Steve and Scourge actually fight.
Mayor Fisk returns too, which was inevitable–I knew Kingpin wasn’t actually dead. The comic knows that no one actually thought Fisk was truly dead and it comes across in the storytelling. The comic comes off as a bit lazy in the lack of genuine explanation. Toni Ho and Misty Knight pretty much shrug their shoulders and put the onus on the reader to use their imagination.
Jason Masters puts in another good showing in this issue. Steve looks as impressive as ever, and the Daughters of Liberty look downright badass. The action scenes are solid and Masters shows skill in displaying the subtle emotion in characters’ faces. Matt Milla’s color work strikes a somewhat dower and ominous tone, which suits the book well.
Captain America #18 is a decent book, even if the climax is a bit of a letdown. We get a good Cap speech, but the showdown with Scourge is severely anticlimactic. That said, there is certainly more good than bad in the book and I can still recommend it. Feel free to pick it up.
Captain America #18 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 Adam Kubert with Frank Martin.
Final Score: 6.5/10
