Written by: Jackson Lanzing, Collin Kelly
Art by: Carmen Carnero
Colors by: Nolan Woodard
Letters by: VC’s Joe Caramagna
Cover art by: Carmen Carnero, Alejandro Sánchez
Cover price: $3.99
Release date October 5, 2022
Captain America: Sentinel of Liberty #5 steps up the Century Game as Steve, Bucky, and Redacted make a final push to take down the Outer Circle where they live. Will Steve and Bucky end the game, or is their assault part of the Outer Circle’s plan?
Is It Good?
Captain America: Sentinel of Liberty #5 steps up the action and the clarity for a reasonably well-executed entry in the series, including great art by Carnero and Woodard, stirring dialog from Lanzing and Kelly, and a solid cliffhanger that tests Bucky beyond his limits. This issue may be the best of the run so far, relatively speaking.
When last we left Steve, he managed to convert Redacted to the side of Truth, Justice, and the American Way by indirectly taking a walking tour through the minds and hearts of the average citizen. Now that Redacted is on Team Cap, the trio of fighters stages an assault on the Shadow Capitol (the giant, flying shield) to take down the Outer Circle.
The assault is intense, with plenty of flying punches, flying bullets, and explosions. Carnero’s art has an opportunity to shine with big action setpieces that grab your eyeballs in every panel.
When Steve and Bucky make it to the inner chamber of the Shadow Capital, they find the circle members have scurried away to safety except for the Revolution, who appears to have expected the battle and outcome. The final scene is filled with dramatic tension as Bucky realizes all the bad things in his life were moves in a coordinated game to nudge Steve in one direction or another. All the pain and anger well up during the final scene until Bucky is forced to make a final choice that could spell big things for the character in the future.
The down point of the issue is the Outer Circle itself and the very large horse pill you need to swallow to believe such an organization exists. Lanzing and Kelly didn’t put in the work to make you believe such an entity could have come to be and function as it claims without anyone hearing about it sooner. If the Outer Circle was shown influencing the world in the previous issues through acts of war, business, and politics, the group would have appeared to be a formidable threat. As it is, you’ll just have to take the writers’ word for it.
Again, this was a reasonably entertaining issue with great art, good pacing, a solid plot, and an intriguing cliffhanger.
About The Reviewer: Gabriel Hernandez is the Publisher & EIC of ComicalOpinions.com, a comics review site dedicated to indie, small, and mid-sized publishers.
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Bits and Pieces
Captain America: Sentinel of Liberty #5 may be the best issue in the series so far, relatively speaking. Readers get lots of big action and heroics to hold your attention, and Bucky carries the dramatic weight of the issue when he’s confronted with the knowledge of the Outer Circle’s influence on his life.
Weird Science Marvel Comics 