The previous issue of this series just clicked for me. Sure, it was filled with corny ideological rhetoric, but it resounded with me for some reason, perhaps because the same over-the-top level of patriotism isn't the sort of thing one sees up here in Canada. This issue is replete the same kind of idealism, but this time, it falls flat. It's a shame this story arc is ending on an oversimplified, conventional tone, but Cassaday's continues to shine. If his replacement -- who begins with the next issue -- is half as good, the book will still look great.
Captain America finds himself buried in the rubble of the factory that made the CATtags he's been tracking, and only someone with his skills and strength of will could possibly hope to survive. Waiting above, though, is a monster of a man... the indivudual responsible for the creation of the CATtags, a man who hates the United States of America for what it did to his family and his childhood long ago in a wartorn country.
Cassaday's richly detailed art brings the intensity of the title character's dire circumstances to life. In the opening scene, even the reader can feel the claustrophic nature of the tiny space in which Cap has taken refuge. Cassaday not only conveys the extreme nature of the surroundings, but one can see the determination on the faces of both the hero and his new mirror image. Cap's focus and the Monster's rage and pain are readily apparent.
I suppose Rieber wants the reader to reflect on the mistakes America has made when they look at the villain of the piece, but all I see is a generic nihilist villain. His plot to destroy America, though it boasts a darker, modern spin, reminds me of a cornball super-villain plot from the Silver Age, one that just doesn't stand up to close scrutiny.
I did enjoy the fact that Cap, though pure of heart, isn't blind to the fact that those he works for have committed crimes. Still, I would have appreciated a deeper exploration of that notion and how it affects the title character. When he -- and Rieber -- falls short of identifying the political fiasco that gave rise to the terrorist leader, it comes off as a copout. Rieber only nods toward America's darker side and eclipses it with the virtues and ideology that Captain America represents.
