Captain America: Sam Wilson Vol. 1 - Not My Captain America

I seem to have gotten into a little bit of a routine in these past few weeks.

First I seem to have a week where I read very little, followed by a week of reading a great deal. Then it seems to go back to a week with a feeling of reading nothing.

This week appears to have reflected the latter now as once again I felt like I got a fair bit read. Of course, a six issue trade sure helps with that.

After my recent enjoyment of the Falcon and the Winter Soldier on Disney+, I found myself really wanting to read something Sam Wilson that was related. Now, as I only had two titles in my to read list to choose from, I thought I'd pick the earliest produced as well as the one that seemed to most directly influence the series.

The first volume of Captain America: Sam Wilson sees Steve Rogers' partner dons the Stars and Stripes for the first time as he attempts to be a different kind of Cap, much to the general public's apparent chagrin. However, when a request for help sends Sam on a search for a missing person, the new Cap and his team find themselves locked in a heated battle with a new look Serpent Society as social ideologies do battle.

As I started reading this, as much as I had been looking forward to it these past few weeks, I found the first couple of issue to be a real struggle and not really my thing. I think the problem with it was that it was too heavy handed regarding the politics that it inserted. That's not to say that this was a bad decision, as I, A. agreed with Sam's stance and B. think comics is as good a place as any to put forward political commentary (just to clarify my position). However, with these first two issues, it just felt like too much too soon in the context of the story.

Of course, this wasn't my only problem with those first two issues as I also struggled with Misty's presence. I'm a big fan of Misty Knight as a character and any appearance is a welcome one with me. However, I didn't understand how she wound up in this story or even her overall role beyond sidekick. Also, her personality (for the most part) seemed in conflict with how I knew her previously (and what ab earth was she wearing?)

Of course, these issues had their good points, such as the Sam/Crossbones stand off (which seemed to imbue a lot of inspiration from their Wknter Soldier scene) as well the depiction of the Sons of the Serpent as a bunch of rather pathetic bigots in my eyes (were they always this way). Unfortunately, this good struggled to outweigh the bad with me.

Thank God for the remaining four issues though, as the vibe seemed to seriously change up, changing the focus from the political atmosphere to the more traditional 'beat the bad guy' focus. Of course, the political overture was still there but I thought it was so much more subtle from here as the story focused more on the mission.

But this wasn't all i like about these last issues as everything about it felt different. There was a central face (or faces) set up as the main bad guy and puppet master behind everything, who felt very competent and was a perfect Antithesis for Sam as they worked with a contrasting viewpoint, giving them an interesting place in the plot. Meanwhile, the mad scientist, Dr Malus, was a brilliant inclusion and was written so over the top but just reigned in enough to feel menacing compared to the rest of the story (and who knew Villains hideouts could be found on Airbnb?)

Meanwhile, i have to confess that I really loved the art for all six issues of this arc. The first three issues, by Daniel Acuna, reminded me a little of Dan Panosian's Slots series, although the flashbacks had this air about them which made me think of the pages of Superman: Red and Blue that I had been lucky to see on the Internet. As for the remaining four issues, Paul Renaud (4-5) and Joe Bennett (6) seemed to have a more house style but with a twist in mind as it all just looked off centre slightly (but that'd not to its detriment). In fact, these styles reminded me a lot of Vault's the Blue flame (which I'll get to later)

In the end, while the first two issues weren't really my thing, the final four I really liked. Therefore, averaging them out, I'd say that Sam Wilson's first arc as Cap was good. I enjoyed the resolution to the arc and felt that, while not perfect, Sam was at least able to acquire some semblence of victory. It was a very shades of grey win in a world that isn't (realistically) black and white.

So, with that, the second volume has been added to my wishlist because Sam Wilson's first arc as the Star Spangled Man with a plan did enough to convince me to read more. However, this is where my concern kicks in as the next arc is an event tie in...

... And we all know how those often go!

Oh, and before i forget ...

I did manage to get some review reading for Pipedream Comics done this week as well.

First up of these was Vault Comics' the Blue Flame #1 (I did say we'd get to it later). Now, as the review proper will attest to, I really liked this issue and although I was a little confused by the change from one story focus to the other, I still found both of these tales to be really intriguing. As a result, I was totally hooked for the next issue when the end revealed the connection of these two stories.

As for the art, I thought it was just gorgeous in this style as it resembled Marvel and DC's house style but with a slight change, causing the vigilante art to look more modern while the adventurer art looked a little more classic or silver agey. Therefore, I absolutely adored this art and thought that it pulled off both sides of the coin perfectly in this issue, leaving me looking forward to seeing more.

So if my words are any indication (both here and in the review)  this was totally my kind of book and I sure am glad I staked my claim in order to review it. I'm now looking forward to seeing how the rest of the story unfolds.

Next up, I also wrote a review for the Grayham Puttock and Adam Jakes comic, Longpig #1 (which, as I write this hadn't been posted yet). Now, like Blue Flame, I really liked this opening issue. There isn't much of a story to it as it is almost entirely set up and 'meet the characters' but it's there where this issue shines. The players in this story are really intriguing in regards to their actions as they unfold and their dynamics within the family. Also, there's something about them which is just 'off' adding to the sense of mystery.

Meanwhile, the art is gorgeous and heightens that mysterious, almost creepy vibe that the writing implies. The best comparison I have is that they look like those CG strips from newspapers but this work is far better than those. In short, I'm regretting not pledging to the first issue kickstarter, but I think that's something I'll have to rectify the next time round. That's how much I enjoyed this read.

Finally, while not a review, I also got around to reading Fantastic Four: Life Story #1 after picking it up last Wednesday. Now, I have to say that this was a good read, made all the better by getting to see Sean Isaakze's art in an FF book again. I enjoyed the story, although I am u sure about some of the liberties taken with the character dynamics. Still, it was a cool read with lots of references to 60's events. I'll probably delve in deep once the whole series is done but, for now, I certainly look forward to the next issue.

So, another week is finished and I'm really starting to get into a groove with this whole 'reading, blogging and reviewing within a week's thing. Sadly my other writing projects aren't getting as much love because I barely managed any time on them.

However, there is always next week.