This week Captain America continues his journey in the underworld as we focus on Captain America #13 by Chip Zdarsky and Ton Lima. And in the Rapid Rundown we look at Inglorious X-Force and What If Jessica Jones Was Bitten by the Radioactive Spider?
Note: the reviews below may contain spoilers. If you want quick, spoiler-free buy/pass recommendations on the comics in question, check out the bottom of the article for our final verdict.
Captain America #13
Writer: Chip Zdarsky
Artist: Ton Lima
Colorist: Romulo Farjardo Jr.
Letterer: vc’s Joe Caramagna
The current Captain America by Chip Zdarsky continues to surprise and enthrall. Zdarsky understands that the best Captain America pit the character against the moral problems of the modern day. The American ideal that faces that American reality.
But in this latest story, Zdarsky has put Steve Rogers in an impossible situation. Folks, Steve Rogers is in Marvel’s version of Hell and yes, it’s all Doctor Doom’s fault. Arriving in Hell last issue after falling into a coma, Rogers is now forced to team up with Doom to get out of this realm. Oh and in order to get out, he has to liberate Hell from Mephisto and install a new leader.
It’s rare that a superhero comic comes up with a new plot but Captain America in Hell certainly seems like a new one. Thankfully Zdarsky seems fully engaged with possibilities here. Rogers rightfully feels uncomfortable not just with being in Hell but with the way various factions want to use him. Demons of the underworld might call him a “noble soul” but he’s no pawn.
There have been many artists to depict the Marvel version of Hell ranging from John Buscema to Mike Mignola (this story if anything evokes the classic Doctor Doom Doctor Strange: Triumph and Torment). The one here by artist Ton Lima isn’t quite on those artists level but he gives it a good try. Lima’s strength is more in his solid figure drawing and character work. His version of Hell never feels strange or terrifying. Which is a little disappointing but he makes up for that by drawing a truly imposing Red Skull and the design of his literal Nazis from Hell.
If anyone makes this truly feel like a hellish place, it’s Romulo Farjardo Jr.’s colors. There’s a lot deep reds, oranges, and purples in his palette to depict a land of eternal suffering. He uses the color blue in a ways that allows Steve Rogers to be a symbolic beacon of hope in this place. That strong color sense really brings life to this issue.
One of the more fascinating elements in this run has been how Zdarsky plays Captain America off Doctor Doom. Two symbols of their respective nations on opposite ends of a morality spectrum. Now he’s forced to rely on a character that always has ulterior motives and who who only sees being in Hell a minor impediment to his goals. Yet for all of the evil that is in Doom, Cap somehow believes that there is some nobility in this character.
Zdarsky understands Doom in a way few modern writers don’t. He understands that Doom doesn’t see himself as evil. If anything sees himself as much a hero as Captain America. Clearly he’s trying to escape hell even though he clearly belongs there. There’s clearly more to him aligning with the demon Vartok than he’s letting on to Captain America. Yet it’s fascinating to watch him attempt all of this.
Even though he only appears in a few pages, this issue belongs to the Red Skull. From thinking that he was stolen from Heaven and the riches promised to him in the afterlife to summoning an army of Hell Nazis, there’s feeling if anyone is going to win a war in hell then it will be the Red Skull.
All of this feels like a modern take on the idea that Stan Lee once said “Marvel villains could have been heroes if not for one choice”. Here it’s a study of how people see themselves and juxtaposing it with the idea of what is a hero. Captain America just does right because he is that person. Doom thinks he’s in the right even if his methods show otherwise. And Red Skull deludes himself into thinking his heinous ways are This study of character is what makes Zdarsky’s run so exciting.
Verdict: STRONG BUY
Rapid Rundown
Inglorious X-Force #7
Writing long running plot lines has become a lost art. Case in point; Inglorious X-Force. Inglorious X-Force got off to a good start with a solid enough premise; someone in the X-Men circle would kill a future Kamalah Khan who was president. So Cable assembled the possible suspects into a new iteration of X-Force to find out who would do it. Except that mystery sort of wrapped two issues ago. Now writer Tim Seeley spins his wheels while readers wait out whatever happens next. This is the second or third issue where a mind wiped Domino wanders around trying to figure out who she is. There’s a lot of death played for comedy thanks to Domino’s luck powers. That at least plays into Seeley’s strengths as writer even if this plot has gone on too long. Less interesting is the interrogation of the new Mutant Liberation Front members captured last issue. They just give up the location of their boss Kali because reasons? We’ve barely spent any time with these folks. These members seemed like diehards and now we’re just supposed to accept they actually hate their boss? This is all frustrating. It’s hard not to feel like this series has suffered from Marvel’s current policy of only guaranteeing 10 issues at a time. In the past, we would have spent more time with the MLF or Domino’s story would have been a B plot instead of the A plot in an issue. Instead, we’ve got characters we barely know with actions that feel contradictory and a lead story that’s just a goofy placeholder. The only plot that’s allowed to boil is whatever is happening with Cable but if this series is only ten issues, then that’s probably coming to a head next issue. The art by Michael Sta. Maria at least keeps this lively but it’s gonna be hard to care where this is going much longer. Marvel seriously just let a series and their writers breathe. – DM
What If Jessica Jones Was Bitten by the Radioactive Spider? The What If series has been on a run with some fun concepts, and this concept keeps the streak going with that What Ifmagic, because Jessica was there when Peter was bitten. On the off chance that you didn’t know this fantastic bit of Marvel trivia, Jessica Jones and Peter Parker went to high school together, she even had a crush on the future webslinger, a fact her husband, Luke Cage, had trouble with when they found out who Spidey is. And to have the spider bite her instead of Pete is a crazy concept made for this series. As a fan of writer Justina Ireland, if you aren’t familiar with her novels like Dread Nation or Star Wars books, do yourself a favor and make your way to a bookstore. One of the high points of that last X-event was her Cloak or Dagger. And she doesn’t disappoint here with her remixed Jessica, aka Spider-Girl, instead of the typical “with great power” Spider trope, she keeps the “flavor” of the 616-Jessica with the stunted superhero career, followed by the angry hard drinker and reluctant return to the hero lifestyle. Artist David Messina and color artist Brian Reber do an amazing job handling the visual aspect of this issue with the fun “4-color” comic styling for the flashback scenes; the modern-day artwork has a funky vibe as her Spider powers are a bit different than 616-Peter, and they make it work in a Jessica Jones way. The only real drawback to this book is the tight 24-page constraint of this current What If run, which makes the mystery of who the villain is a bit obvious. The creatives need another 12-24 pages to give the fans more depth in these temporary worlds with their worldbuilding. – GC3Read past installments of the Marvel Rundown here!
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