Captain America Finale #1 Review

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: $4.99
Release date: August 23, 2023

Captain America Finale #1 brings Captain America’s conflict against the Outer Circle to a close when he stages a daring offensive against the Shadow Capital.

Is It Good?

Well, this is the end, my friend. Captain America Finale #1 marks the end of the Outer Circle arc and the end of Lanzing and Kelly’s tenure on the title before J. Michael Straczynski starts a fresh run in September.
To Lanzing and Kelly, I say, “Good luck in your future endeavors.”

So, how’s the finale? A little bit of good, a little bit of silly, and a fair bit of mediocre in between, which pretty much sums up the entirety of Lanzing and Kelly’s run.

When last we left Cap and Bucky, the big battle concluded in Dimension Z with White Wolf in custody, Ian Rogers stayed behind to assume the throne to cut off the Outer Circle’s access to Dimension Z’s resources, and Bucky turned out to be destroying the system from the inside doing what Cap’s moral code wouldn’t allow Cap to do. Sharon Carter became the new Destroyer, and Redacted became the new Nomad.

Now, Cap, Destroyer, and Nomad use the secret codes embedded in Cap’s shield by its creator, the son of the Machine, to find the Shadow capital and destroy the Game for good.

Whew! How’s that for a recap?

Peel away all the layers, the impossibly huge manipulations of the Outer Circle, and the daunting task of attacking a monstrous flying city with three people, and that lays out where this arc finally lands.

What’s great about this comic? Cap is Cap. Lanzing and Kelly wisely dispense with the years-long trend of having Cap question his faith in America and what it stands for. Instead, Cap assumes the role of a soldier who has a job to do and won’t stop until it’s done. The simplicity and strength of Cap’s presence have been missed.

Also, to Lanzing and Kelly’s credit, they put the Outer Circle down for good. The path to completion is wonky (more on that in a minute), but just like Cap, they don’t stop until the job’s done.

What’s not so great about this comic? For an all-knowing, all-powerful organization such as the Outer Circle, Cap, Destroyer, and Nomad get to the Shadow capital with shockingly little resistance, they fight through an army of robot soldiers with shocking ease, and the Outer Circle falls apart with shocking simplicity. You even have one of the players (Money) defeated by a cat, and it looks as ridiculous and as stupid as it sounds.

Further, the Outer Circle is brought down, but some loose ends linger. Who are what is Redacted? Where was Sam Wilson while all this was happening? Why didn’t Cap call in the Avengers for a battle this big and important? The obvious questions pile up quickly when you sit and think about it.

Ultimately, the criticism I previously offered still holds true. Lanzing and Kelly created an impossibly big threat, and in doing so, painted themselves into a corner they couldn’t get out of without cutting corners and making huge leaps in logic. It’s like telling a mortal to defeat God with a pocket knife. The villain should be stronger than the hero, but not to the point of absurdity. Lanzing and Kelly went overboard, and the story suffered as a result.

How’s the art? It’s great. Carnero and Woodard pull off a remarkable job with an action-heavy comic. Besides the typical superheroics, you get a few splash pages to elevate the visual pop, and Carnero gets to render at least a few pages with nothing but explosions. You can’t say this comic doesn’t at least try to go out with a bang.

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 Finale #1 ends the series as a perfect encapsulation of the series as a whole – a little bit of good, a little bit of silly, and a whole lot of uneven mediocrity in between. Carnero’s art is the clear highlight of the finale, and the ending ties up most of the loose ends, but it’s time to move on to bigger and better things.