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Captain America #25
Publisher: Marvel
Writer: Rick Remender
Artist(s): Carlos Pacheco & Stuart Immonen
Cover: Stuart Immonen, Wade Von Grawbadger, & Marte Gracia

As the battle comes to a close, Zola is still trying to convince his daughter, Jet, to leave the heroes and escape with him. Their argument plays out like you would expect, but when Sharon Carter arrives on the scene and accuses Jet of being a traitor, things go downhill from there. However, the real reason for this issue is the big announcement that Steve has to make. So the call is put out to ALL of the Avengers from the A list to guys they probably forgot were asked to be members.

There’s quite the emotional punch during the talk between Zola and Jet. Remender actually makes it believable that he is a loving father and is only looking out for his daughter. Though it didn’t feel quite right when Sam didn’t fight for her as hard as he probably should of when Sharon started to accuse her. Such a good job was done earlier in establishing how Sam felt that things just felt a bit off in that sequence.

What really works well here is that Remender doesn’t shy away from the levity in this issue. Even when everyone thought Falcon was dead, Remender brings him back with some well placed humor which provoked a chuckle or two. Not only that, but even during the meeting there’s quite a few jokes along the way between the members that was a bit reminiscent of some of those 80s Avengers issues. Remender even pokes fun at the issue itself when Falcon emerges in his new costume. His dialogue is pretty spot on, and just might reflect what the reader is feeling. That’s a bit unfortunate as well, since this could have been a much bigger moment with a stronger impact had we not known about this months ago.

This brings me to the cover for this issue. In the past, a cover like this was used to get people talking and speculating. Friends would get together and debate on who they thought would be “the one.” Since Cap’s replacement was revealed months ago that image has NO type of impact as a visual teaser. It is unfortunate the reveal was so far in advance, because the only thing this cover does now is elicit eye rolls and snarky comments from fans.

Artwork throughout the issue is pretty strong from Pacheco aside from the various stages of Sharon Carter. In some panels she looks as if she’s aged right along with Steve, then she’d look younger again. Then she also goes up a few cup sizes, which just makes her look pretty silly. Immonen handles the epilogue, and aside from a character that is Storm’s Hydra twin, it moves pretty well. The similarity probably wouldn’t be so bad if she wasn’t introduced as a major character, and the eye in the middle of her forehead doesn’t do much to change her appearance.

We have a new Captain America and new adventures waiting, so it will be nice to see where Remender takes this. It is a solid issue that could have been a lot stronger had we not known the replacement months ago. However, there is a twist thrown in during the epilogue that was a huge surprise, and guessing who that character’s identity is won’t be so easy.

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