I'm not certain what really happened in this issue. But after the great turn back in issue sixteen, I really expected this comic to continue its writing style into its own end - and keep not being terrible. And this wasn't terrible - just not nearly as good as it hasa been. Let's start at the end. A cliffhanger? Perhaps because the comic intended on bringing the character back - it felt okay to keep the last issue like this. I mean, the games were coming - and the comic had a future, too. Both in Deadside and in the immediate future of the VH-3 heroes - of course short-lived. The art is still very good. But the whole story felt like it was incorporating a whole slew of new characters just for the intent of wrapping up the comic - and then it did nothing of the sort. The writing felt so desperately intertwined with narration, too. Get back to dialogue in the story. That, I can follow. This - is just a mess.
They had to have known
That creating a character like this would really fill in a gap - and he could be around for a really long time. It could make a serious amount of history by using an African-American character - that while somewhat stereotypical - from Harlem - that was still not of the Blaxploitation era of entertainment. And the comic flipped over beautifully to really encompass the new whole of what Captain America quickly became. A buddy book - and getting rid of the old Bucky, too. Although I thought he was going to be a much bigger part of the Avengers book - and not entering the Captain Marvel world. Even with carrying the extra baggage of the cosmic cube - and its strange perspective - the comic flipped quickly to embrace the new direction. And I like it a lot. It feels more modern - and not like a relic, anymore. It;s like Fantastic Four (and over the last few issues - Spider-Man) are the two comics still stuck in the past of the comic era. And while this doesn't feel current - it took a serious step forward. I'm also stunned that so many of the expected elements of characters are already inside of the creation of the character. Although he can't fly yet, and the comic - that GREEN! - it has made a name for itself quickly.
Wow.
Picking Cap (and Falcon) over the last Shadowman issue.