Captain America #0 Review

Written by: Tochi Onyebuchi, Colin Kelly, Jackson Lanzing
Art by: Mattia de Iulis
Letters by: VC’s Joe Carmagna
Cover art by: Mark Brooks (wraparound cover)
Cover price: $4.99
Release date: April 20, 2022

Captain America #0 pits Captain America and (former Falcon) Captain America against Armin Zola’s doomsday plan to turn humanity into dinosaurs to stop Global Warming.

Was It Good?

Who knew Armin Zola was an environmental activist and eco-terrorist? Not me, that’s for sure.

This isn’t a terrible comic. I’ve read much worse. But, it’s a weird comic because there are good points here mixed with bad points. What it gets right is solid, but what the comic gets wrong is mind-boggling. Let’s take it step-by-step.

The art is the strangest part of this issue. The lines, color, anatomy, and movement are near-photorealistic and pristine. De Iulis is doing his best Alex Ross impersonation and it’s pretty darn close, particularly in the level of detail and contour shading. I really like the display of artistic skill in this issue.

That said, the art has a significant flaw in that there are several panels where it was impossible to tell what was going on. It’s as if de Iulis tried to capture a screencap of an action scene on video and he grabbed a panel mid-blur. In an effort to get photorealistic, the motion blur gets in the way of clarity.

The second art flaw, which may be due to the writing or the artist, is Sam Wilson displaying feats of super-human strength. Unless I missed the memo, Sam Wilson refused to take the Super Soldier serum and has no abilities beyond what’s granted by the shield and wings. This is not a minor nitpick as Sam’s refusal to take the serum was a BIG plot point in the Disney+ series and comic continuity.

Shifting to the story, it’s a straightforward plot but is executed poorly. Armin Zola somehow managed to build a doomsday rocket inside a skyscraper in the middle of Manhattan without anyone noticing. As the building crumbles away in preparation for launch, Zola transitions into a villain monologue about his plan to turn humans into dinosaurs to stop Global Warming. Yes, the plan is ridiculous, and Zola’s grandiose monologue, which stretches almost over the entire issue, is clunky and ham-fisted. Each page (nearly each panel) where Zola speaks focuses on a different social ill related to the environment, and he uses this knowledge to berate Captain America’s “foolish” attempts to uphold American values when America has turned its back on the planet and the Captain. The speech doesn’t quite reach the level of Anti-American rhetoric, but it comes close.

Sam and Steve fight their way through drones and defense systems to scuttle the rocket after it launches but before it can explode to deliver the dino toxin. Once the day is saved, Sam and Steve have an MCU-style quip contest to see what would be a better name for Sam than Captain America.

Here’s an idea. How about “Falcon”?

Bits and Pieces

Captain America #0 is the type of comic you will enjoy… if you ignore the absurdity of the setup, the villain’s plan, and the clunky dialog. Better yet, simply ignore the words and canonical inconsistencies altogether to focus solely on the action pictures.