Review: All-New Captain America Volume 1 - Hydra Ascendant

With a young boy affected by the Terrigen Bomb in their grasp, Hydra intends to use his powers in order to sterilize the human population and allow only themselves to continue forward in the evolutionary chain. It is up to the all-new Captain America and his partner Nomad to prevent their insidious plot from coming to its conclusion.

All-New Captain America Volume 1: Hydra Ascendant collects All-New Captain America #1-6, written by Rick Remender and illustrated by Stuart Immonen.

In Hydra Ascendant, writer Rick Remender does an impeccable job of establishing who Sam Wilson is both as a person and as the new Captain America. He gives an abbreviated look back at Sam’s past through flashbacks and exposition, which is invaluable in making the book accessible to both new and veteran comic book fans. It also clearly illustrates to readers what his motivations are and what being Captain America represents to Sam. In this way, there is a clear sense of history and legacy to the narrative. Remender certainly seems like he’s done his homework and fills these six issues with just about every iconic Captain America villain you can think of. In some ways, it’s reminiscent of Allan Heinberg’s five-issue run on Wonder Woman.

The story itself is very straightforward. Sam Wilson has become Captain America and one of his first assignments in the role is to take down Baron Zemo and his Hydra associates. Their scheme du jour is to sterilize every human on Earth in order to ensure the progression of Hydra’s superior race. Everyone from Sin to Crossbones attempts to prevent Captain America from foiling their plans. It’s a cinematic narrative that is packed full of action and surprising plot twists. On top of that, there is incredible character work that leaves the reader with a clear understanding of the titular hero. In that way, Remender is able to perfectly balance action with character development.

Stuart Immonen’s art is the icing on the cake in this collection. His pencils perfectly compliment Remender’s writing and create a dynamic world for the new Captain America to operate in. He really knows how to set a scene and create stunning panel work. Beyond that, his characters are just absolutely gorgeous. Captain America, Misty Knight and Madame Hydra are particular standouts in this collection. However, I do have some issues with Immonen’s output here. His rendering of Captain America’s wings often looks overly simplified and comes across looking sloppy. He also seems to have a difficult time drawing older characters and some action scenes are a little hard to follow.

All-New Captain America Volume 1: Hydra Ascendant does an excellent job of establishing Sam Wilson as the titular character and reads as a classic-in-the-making. Much ballyhoo was made about Sam taking over the mantle, much of which came across as racist nonsense (and is actually addressed in-story), but Remender proves why it makes sense for him to be Captain America. In fact, he’s arguably more qualified than anyone else to continue on the tradition. He’s been Captain America’s partner for a long time, held a membership within the Avengers for years and has the fortitude of character that is necessary for standing behind that iconic shield. Remender and Immonen work in unison to deliver a near-perfect Captain America story, one which every Marvel fan should check out.

RATING: A-

Review: Uncanny Avengers Volume 1, The Red Shadow

In the wake of Professor Charles Xavier's death at the hands of the X-Man Cyclops, mutants are once again public enemy number one. With tensions between humans and mutants so high, the Avengers and the X-Men band together to create a new team of heroes dedicated towards improving the state of affairs between these two groups. Before they can even have their first meeting, they plunge head first into a battle against the deadly Red Skull.

Uncanny Avengers: The Red Shadow collects the first five issues of Uncanny Avengers, written by Rick Remender and illustrated by John Cassaday and Oliver Coipel.

Over the years, the Avengers have had a few mutants join their ranks. Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver, Firestar, Wolverine, and Storm have all been Avengers. However, there's never been a team that pulls members equally from both the Avengers and the X-Men. Remender's initial line-up here consists of Havok, Captain America, Thor, Scarlet Witch, Rogue, and Wolverine. It's a pleasantly well-rounded roster of A-listers (and Havok) with strong personalities and great abilities. He later expands the team to include Wasp, Wonder Man, and Sunfire. Sadly, with a roster of nine superheroes Remender failed to deliver diversity. Sunfire is the only non-white character present and the Uncanny Avengers come across as the White-Washed Avengers.

Lack of diversity aside, Remender delivers an incredibly thrilling story. Red Skull is a dangerous foe for this untested team to come up against and his hate-mongering motives make him a perfect fit to be an adversary for these heroes. The pace is on point and the action is unrelenting. On top of that, he manages to create plenty of great moments of character interaction. The conflict between Rogue and Scarlet Witch is catty, but is rooted in very real problems. Unsurprisingly, Rogue manages to be the standout character in these issues. Even though Remender is building Havok up to be the next Captain America, it is Rogue's signature sass that steals the spotlight. After playing the role of school marm for so long in the pages of X-Men Legacy, it's nice to see that bit of bad girl finally coming back in Rogue.

This is a great start to a promising series. Rick Remender is a very capable writer and is adept at creating fantastic character interaction. John Cassaday's art can be clunky and his women are more handsome than beautiful, but there is so much personality in what he draws. Oliver Coipel pencils the final issue in this collection which, sorry Cassaday, is a vast improvement over the first four issues. The expressiveness of his characters is so effective and his women are drop dead gorgeous. The only negative thing worth noting aside from the lack of diversity in Uncanny Avengers is that this trade ends on a cliffhanger! 

Rating: A-