A Tale Of Captains And Falcons — Reviewing ‘Captain America: Symbol Of Truth’ #14

The Cold War has ended. The Captains America have some dangling matters to attend to as their books close out. For Sam Wilson, that includes a return to Harlem but also checking in with a fallen partner.

Surprised that this series has unceremoniously ended? Well, you’re not alone there my friend.

For months we knew that the Steve Rogers series was coming to an end. The writers were given quotes in various press releases and news articles. A new creative team was even announced for a relaunched series a month or so ago. Not a word was spared to declare if this book was ending or not.

This creative team was left out in the cold, their book ending silently. Not only that, but we have no clue what is happening with Sam Wilson.

Will he get a new title of his own? Hell, will he still even be Captain America, or will he be busted back down to Falcon again? One would likely say “Oh but he’s Captain America in Avengers” but unfortunately, we have precedent for this moment.

The first time Sam was Captain America he also was on the Avengers, leading it in fact. Once the shield was stripped away, he was pushed back to Falcon. As soon as Avengers ended (to lead to a relaunch) he got a mini before falling into character limbo for years, only to emerge in time for a Falcon And Winter Soldier miniseries just in time for the show of the same name.

Because Marvel Comics loves corporate synergy, their movie/TV counterparts do not reciprocate that feeling.

All that aside, this is a fine final issue of the series. Not a great one, mostly because it’s ending, but it at least puts a bit of a cap on things before we await the fate of the title character. Tochi Onyebuchi turns the focus back to Sam as a person and the weight he carries and gives us a lot of interactions with family and friends. It feels a little rushed in some spaces and some of the beats go a bit too long. Overall though it’s a pretty good piece.

I hate saying this because we need all the Black characters appearing as possible, but it might have been stronger if the Sam/Joaquin plotline was most of the issue. Their partnership has such possibility and it’s one that has been forgotten and ignored over the years since the first time Sam had his own Captain America title. It would have been great to spend all the pages with them dealing with the fallout and exploring, since for plot reasons we didn’t get as much Falcon in the second half of the series.

Zé Carlos returns to handle the art after tapping in back during the early issues of the series. He has a very expressive, kinetic, and pretty smooth style. There is a great use of the gutter space to frame various panels, that float free but also stack upon each other. It creates a great path where it keeps us at ground level so we’re right there in the space with the characters.

As mentioned, this is a very action-light issue since it’s dealing with personal/emotional fallout. Even without that action, there is a great sense of motion throughout the whole issue. Carlos has a sort of lightness to his artwork that is a nice counter to the heavier emotional content.

Regular colorist Jesus Aburtov is joined by Photobunker’s Fer Sifuentes-Sujo for this final issue. They manage to create a seamless experience as I didn’t even realize that there was more than one colorist. Per usual, there are plentiful bits of popping vibrant color to be found. Many of the spaces they inhabit though are toned down creating a more realistic sort of feeling. Sam and Misty’s red is much brighter than other colors so they always catch our eyes as they move through the pages.

As usual, Joe Caramagna does a splendid job with the lettering. It flows smoothly through the issues, framing many of the panels, and dripping with emotional goodness. Little flairs here or there make sure that we can hear and feel everything we’re meant to in the moment.

This was an important and needed series. Returning Sam Wilson to his rightful place as the second Captain America. Hopefully, he’s not about to follow multiple other marginalized Marvel characters that had their series, heroic names, or lives stripped away.

Captain America: Symbol Of Truth #14 is now available from Marvel Comics.