Captain America #2 - Comic Review

 

There's a pretty big Nazi problem in the world right now. Despite media, and history books, showing Nazi's to have been some of the worst of humanity over the last several decades there's been a rise in far right and Nazi ideology in recent years. Nazi's no longer seem to fear making themselves known, and will show up in public trying to use fear and intimidation to spread their hateful ideology and suppress anyone they don't like. It makes a lot of sense then that a character like Captain America, a man famous for punching Hitler in the comics, to tackle the issue of Nazism in America. 

The first issue began a new status quo for Steve Rogers, seeing him becoming a landlord for the building he grew up in almost 100 years ago. Not being the kind of landlord who suck people dry and leave them living in terrible conditions, Steve has been doing the place up, making it nice to live in, and seems to be trying to find people to help with it. This issue he even offers one of the finished apartments to the contractor he's hired, who's having to live in the back of his car with his wife and son.

This issue also sees Steve's hard work on the building getting interrupted by Spider-Man, who needs Captain America's help in taking on the Sinister Six. Spidey being on the cover also seems to be setting this up as the main focus of the book, a fun little team-up between the two of them. But, the fight never happens, the villains never appear, and Spidey just kind of comes off as a bit annoying and something of a time waster. And not just wasting Steve's time, but ours too. Valuable page space goes over to what I can only assume is supposed to be a joke, but it just feels like wasted time and use of the character.

Luckily, the flashbacks in the issue give us a lot more, and prove to be the most interesting part of the book. The previous issue ended with a down on his luck Steve going to a rally in the park, having been promised free food being given out. However, it turns out that the rally is for the German American Bund, the American branch of the Nazis. Of course, even before becoming a super soldier, Steve has no love for the Nazis, and calls them out in public for the crimes of the Third Reich, an act that gets him beaten up and thrown out. 

This doesn't dissuade Steve from standing up to Nazis again, and the final scene of the book is him squaring up to a group of Nazis harassing some Jewish people. One of the things that I love about Captain America is that the values and drive that makes him such a good hero is nothing to do with being a hero, it's just the kind of person Steve is. And this series is really showcasing that. The final image of the book, with the young Steve helping the two abused man and his shadow being that of Captain America is a little bit cheesy, a little bit The Phantom Menace poster, but I like of love it too.

It's a shame that other parts of the issue just don't seem to be as exciting as those set in the past. Steve doing up a building and going on a failed team-up is a bit dull, and the villain subplot finally at least has an explanation as to what the demonic entity is wanting to do, but it's not something hugely interesting at this point either. And, considering the fact that there is a very real Nazi problem in today's world it's something of a shame that this isn't a part of the book too. It could have very easily been about Steve witnessing the rise of the far right and Nazism today, and it reflecting his past experiences, with the two narratives tying together. As it is, they feel kind of disconnected.

Overall, this is a decent, enjoyable issue, though one that is failing to really wow me. I'm not ready to give up on the title or anything like that, but I've yet to be left feeling excited to read the next issue. 

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