Review: ‘Captain America: Sentinel Of Liberty’ #9 Is A Twisty Turny Tale

Captain America’s Cold War is looming. Before the first shots are fired, Captain America: Sentinel of Liberty has to stop an invasion of New York City.

Jackson Lanzing, Collin Kelly, Carmen Carnero, Nolan Woodard, and Joe Caramagna puts Steve and his new Invaders through the wringer to save the city.

AIM has seized a huge portion of New York City, searching for the power source of Arnim Zola’s labs. After MODOC scattered them across the nation, Steve Rogers’ Invaders have reassembled and have a plan to retake the city. Unfortunately, their plan may be doomed to fail before it even begins.

I love a good final page twist. This series has been decent, but hasn’t really risen to the level of some of Lanzing and Kelly’s other work. I was happy to see this issue was a really great action story with some solid character beats. I found a new favorite in the World War II Destroyer here. But in the last few pages, Lanzing and Kelly flip everything we’ve read on its head, and a good story became great.

Carnero’s art still is one of the best things about this book. She uses unique layouts throughout, reminding me of 60’s style spy tales the entire issue. Her pacing of the action creates a sense of motion all throughout the issue, and every punch has weight behind it. Woodard uses yellow through the issue to create a sense of unease and urgency. It makes for a gorgeous issue that uses the comics art form so well.

Caramagna does a lot of lifting in this issue. The story leans a lot on dialogue, but he’s able to handle it without it cluttering the page. He also gives every character a unique cadence in their speech through just the placement of balloons and captions.

It’s an enjoyable as hell issue, and the whole creative team is to thank for that. I’m excited to see what’s next.

Captain America: Sentinel of Liberty #9 is available now from Marvel Comics.