The first two issues of Captain America: Sentinel of Liberty were a charming and fun return to form for Steve’s comics as well as an interesting step into a brand new plot. Issue #3 begins to unravel those mysteries a bit more, touching on key moments like the Peggy and Bucky showdown as well as unmasking Steve’s new threat.
Peggy vs. Bucky is an interrogation gone wrong, with Bucky relaying some information to Peggy that she isn’t too fond of to say the least. She denies everything, fighting back against the Winter Soldier and sharing some harsh words in the process. Peggy Carter just might be the most unnecessary and boring character in Cap lore, but if we have to have Peggy back I guess this is at least giving her something to do and giving her a distinguishable personality. Setting up Peggy as an antagonist is the most interesting and smartest thing they could have done with that character because let’s be honest…who cares about her?
The confrontation scene with Peggy and Bucky is actually one of the highlights of the book full stop, giving us some fun action and finally giving Peggy’s reappearance in this lore a point. The other highlight of the book is Steve fighting that metallic monster. As he comes to blows with the creature, he recounts his war days with the Invaders and all he’s learned. It’s always nice to see a character, especially one with such a rich history as Steve, talk about what he’s learned from his friends. It’s a good way to illustrate that Steve is all heart — and he fights with his heart, too.
The Outer Circle reveal is an interesting twist, and the volcano lair was really neat. However, the whole scene also felt really similar to the scene in the Winter Soldier movie where Steve and Nat listen to Zola’s recording then the place blows up — hero walks in, listens to the recorded speech, place blows up. The reading in these scenes is a bit tedious, though, because of how the page is set up. I don’t know if pages that require you to flip the comic around to read it are popular with fans, but I certainly find them to be a nuisance. Flipping the book around and reading the bubbles then turning it back is just something that takes you out of the moment. It takes you out of the scene and makes the urgency seem delayed as a reader.
With secrets revealed, the next issue is set up to be quite explosive. Lanzing and Kelly’s writing is still great and it’s clear the two love the characters of Steve and Bucky. Their voices for those characters feel completely authentic and they seem to get how those two think and what makes them them. Carnero’s pencils are again a show stealer, making every page look absolutely gorgeous.
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