By the time Captain America #4 lands, you already feel the weight of what’s to come. In Captain America #3, Chip Zdarsky and Valerio Schiti pushed Steve Rogers into uncomfortable confrontation, both with the world he awoke to and with Doctor Doom’s inscrutable ambition, while playing off the jarring contrast between Steve’s timeless idealism and Dave Colton’s raw, modern war trauma. As both hero and country unravel, this issue promises to test the limits of Steve’s resolve and force him to confront just who he is when the very ground beneath him crumbles.
It’s becoming increasingly clear that this series is two tales likely to crash into each other. One is Steve Rogers getting his bearings in a world that’s filled with supervillains and leaders who care little for their people. The other is Captain Dave Colton, trying to live up to the mantle of Captain America, but still reeling from the horror he saw in the Middle East in a post 9/11 world. With Steve, we have a far-fetched sci-fi twist as a WWII vet begins to see things more clearly, and with Dave, we see a world nobody should live in. It’s in these big ideas that action and espionage intrigue float on in this fourth issue.
Captain America #4 opens with Dave finding out Uncle Sam wants to keep him enlisted, even though bystanders saw the terrible things he did to his fellow man. He’s too expensive a super soldier to simply retire. It’s much like the soldiers of today serving multiple terms in the Middle East, because quitting means mouths not being fed and bills not being paid.
How does this not get you amped?!
Credit: Marvel
This juxtaposes nicely with Doctor Doom about to commit a public execution. Ever the hero, Captain America swoops in to stop it before a gun is fired, and he stands tall as a beacon to all who watch. The fantastical sight of multiple Doom bots fighting Cap again starkly contrasts with Dave’s attempt to save US citizens, which is thwarted by nefarious government secrets. This builds towards a cliffhanger where you can’t disagree with Dave, even if it means losing himself in his emotions.
Valerio Schiti keeps the action tense and exciting, with multiple moments of extreme energy in the action. In one moment, Dave has his legs swept out, and he hangs in the air, surprised. In another, Cap holds his shield up as Doom conjures energy with his gauntlets. Even the costumes tell a story, from Dave’s more tactical armor and helmet to Captain America’s less functional but super patriotic costume.
Captain America #4 is a gripping showcase of duality, the contrast between idealism and disillusionment, between the myth of the hero and the trauma of the soldier. Chip Zdarsky continues to craft a nuanced, politically charged narrative that balances grand-scale superhero spectacle with raw, emotional honesty. Valerio Schiti’s art captures both the chaos of battle and the intimate humanity beneath the masks, making every clash between Doom, Steve, and Dave feel monumental. By threading modern warfare, moral compromise, and patriotism into one explosive issue, Zdarsky proves that Captain America can still be both mythic and painfully real.
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