Captain America: Symbol of Truth #12 Review

Written by: Tochi Onyebuchi
Art by: R.B. Silva
Colors by: Jesus Aburtov
Letters by: VC’s Joe Caramagna
Cover art by: R.B. Silva, Jesus Aburtov
Cover price: $3.99
Release date: April 26, 2023

Captain America: Symbol of Truth #12 offers Part 2 of the Cold War event. Cap, Sam, Sharon, and Misty continue their fight on a snowy mountain against the combined forces of the Outer Circle and Dimension Z’s monsters where they discover the only way out is through… a portal.

Is It Good?

Captain America: Symbol of Truth #12 is an okay but forgettable comic. Good action abounds, and things happen, but this event suffers from a disconnected feeling of stakes or purpose. If you peel back the layers, the goal is to stop the Outer Circle. That’s a pretty tall order when you consider, after a year of parallel-running Captain America series, readers have no idea what the Outer Circle is doing or why.

In effect, the mission statement of Captains America is “stop the Outer Circle because they’re bad.”

How do you stop them? What tangible things are they doing right now that would be considered “bad”? It’s an evil organization, but they’re so systemically entrenched in every aspect of life on Earth, it’s like asking a flea to describe an elephant only from what it sees at eye level. The Outer Circle is, in practical terms, nameless, faceless, amorphous, omnipresent, and omniscient. By creating an adversary as prolific as the Outer Circle, Marvel has painted itself into a corner Tochi Onyebuchi (and Jackson Lanzing and Collin Kelly) are ill-equipped to get themselves out of.

What happens in this issue? The fight continues on a snowy mountain until Sharon falls down a mineshaft. Misty and the Captains race to the rescue and discover nearby villagers have taken refuge in the mines. With all exits sealed, the only way out is through White Wolf’s Dimension Z portal.

Per the prior point, fights happen, and characters are acting, but there’s no clear objective. The heroes are fighting because they can or feel compelled to do so, but it comes across here like busy work.

At least R.B. Silva’s art is rock-solid. The line work is exquisite, the action is somewhat fun, and Aburtov’s colors are immaculate.

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: Symbol of Truth #12 continues the Cold War event with fighting in the snow and heroes reacting to enemies, but without a clear plot, direction, or goal, this event is going nowhere fast.