When it was announced that J. Michael Straczynski was taking over Captain America, I was over the moon. Straczynski’s run on Amazing Spider-Man is the reason I got into comics. He’s brought the same sense of character-driven stories and unique approaches to Steve Rogers that he did Peter Parker. Captain America #16 marks the end of Straczynski’s run, but he’s going out in style.
Captain America #16 marks the end of an arc which sees Cap, Spidey and Thor returning to Broxton, Oklahoma, where the God of Thunder once brought Asgard back to life. Not only did they learn that Broxton’s population was caught in a place between light and death, but so were other Asgardians – including a shadowy version of Loki. Now the trio fights to save Broxton from true death!
Sounds exciting, right? It is, but it feels like it ends as soon as it begins. This is an issue I had with other truncated runs like Donny Cates and Ryan Ottley’s Hulk; the story cuts off as soon as it gets interesting. That being said, Straczynski gets to write Cap, Thor and Spidey doing what they do best. Cap fights to the last man, Thor brings thunder and fury, Spidey cracks jokes while also saving lives. I wouldn’t mind seeing Straczynski write more of these folks.
Marvel
The action sequences are drawn with plenty of bombast by Carlos Magno, who in my opinion is an extremely underrated artist. Magno knows how to make the big moments, like Thor slamming his hammer into his shadow duplicate’s face or Cap charging an army of dark Asgardians, sing. He also brings the smaller moments to life, including a moment where Broxton resident Bill stands up, ready to fight the Dark Loki. Let me repeat that: a normal man is willing to box with a god. It’s a small but awesome moment, only made more awesome by Cap tossing him a sword.
Espen Grudentjean’s colors provide the ultimate contrast between Cap, Thor, and Spidey; between the trio, there’s a lot of red and blue in the picture. In contrast, the shadow Asgardians look like unholy photo negatives, soaking the page in darkness. This abruptly changes toward the end of the issue, when the battle is over, and sunlight breaks over the scene. Joe Caramanga also deserves credit for making the Asgardians’ speech bubbles feel distinct from others.
Captain America #16 might have been a truncated end to a run, but it’s full of all the elements that make a J. Michael Straczynski comic worth reading. There’s great character moments, great fight scenes, a story that taps into the essence of its characters, and something you don’t normally see in a Captain America comic. Whatever Straczynski does next, I’m happy he got to steer Steve Rogers’ ship, even if it was for a little while.
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