Captain America / Iron Man #2 Review

Written by: Derek Landy
Art by: Angel Unzueta
Colors by: Rachelle Rosenberg
Letters by: VC’s Joe Carmagna
Cover art by: Alex Ross
Cover price: $3.99
Release date: January 5, 2021

Captain America / Iron Man #2 follows Veronica Eden and Fifty One to an old SHIELD facility to retrieve a special item of Fifty One’s choosing as a reward for helping Eden escape custody. Can the Paladins capture their rogue teammate before Cap and Iron Man? What does Fifty One want that’s kept in SHIELD storage and why?

Was It Good?

Issue #1 had some interesting ideas that I wanted to know more about regarding Veronica Eden and her unique talent for being the ultimate people person. Captain America / Iron Man #2 took all the curious interest and subverted expectations by making Eden the most irritating, Joss Whedon-speaking villain Steve and Tony have ever encountered.

Is this supposed to be a comedic book? It certainly reads that way as Eden is in a fight against SHIELD agents and two of the greatest Avengers, and yet, she doesn’t seem to be taking anything seriously. Eden follows one snappy, quippy line after another in a constant stream of snark that feels like something out of a Teen Titans GO! episode. You get the impression Landy is crafting a villain that’s meant to be ultra-witty, but it just doesn’t work, and the net result is simply annoying.

Nerve-grating character work aside, there is a distinct lack of story in this issue. In the first issue, Eden’s focus is on escaping custody with the tiniest of hints that she’s working on some greater plan. Here, there’s nothing. No plan. No intention. No nothing. Eden’s focus is on breaking into a SHIELD facility to reward Fifty One with a [SPOILER] Cap’s Hydra Armor for some vague purpose. When the Paladins, Cap, and Iron Man arrive to stop them, Eden intervenes wearing a body harness that’s an amalgam of Doc Ock’s arms and Scorpion’s tail. There’s no explanation as to where she got the harness or any seeming forethought as to how she intended to escape.

Through some exposition from the Paladins, Fifty One may be trying to attacking Minneapolis (why?) and somehow Myrmidon is involved with the Overseer. If you’re not confused yet, I certainly was, and that’s the bigger down point of this issue besides Eden’s characterization. Things are happening that don’t make any sense and without explanation. It’s as if Landy took disconnected concepts and slapped them together in a single issue. There’s not much more to say other than this issue is a jumbled mess.

On the plus side, Unzueta’s art is very good. It has shades of Cafu’s work on Iron Man, which is the best part of Cantwell’s Iron Man run. I may have misgivings about the writing but there’s no complaints here about the art.

Bits and Pieces

Captain America / Iron Man #2 has great art with fun, kinetic action and a few nice exchanges between Cap and Iron Man. That said, the overall plot is a jumbled mess and the character of Veronica Eden quickly turned from intriguing in issue #1 to nerve-grating levels of irritating in issue #2. What a disappointment for such a promising start.