Technically, Marvel may not have done this before. When Sam Wilson took up the mantle of Captain America, Steve Rogers ended up in a book called Steve Rogers, Super Soldier. And while ordinarily I lament that Marvel tends to disguise finite arcs as “all new ongoing books,” something about this feels right, and needed right now. Both Captains America, Steve Rogers and Sam Wilson, will star in separate books, each thematically tied to explorations of different cracks in the American Dream. But it all starts with a #0.
From Marvel:
Announced earlier today in an exclusive interview with Entertainment Weekly, 2022 will mark a new age of Captain America, one that will launch two Captain America ongoing titles. Writers Jackson Lanzing and Collin Kelly and Marvel Stormbreaker artist Carmen Carnero will tell the adventures of Steve Rogers in CAPTAIN AMERICA: SENTINEL OF LIBERTY while writer Tochi Onyebuchi and Marvel Stormbreaker artist R.B. Silva will see Sam Wilson soar as Captain America once again in CAPTAIN AMERICA: SYMBOL OF TRUTH. The journeys of both shield bearers will begin in April’s CAPTAIN AMERICA #0 where they will team up after an explosive attack by Arnim Zola. Fans can get a sneak peek at the action that awaits in a celebratory new announcement trailer, featuring never-before-seen artwork.
“Issue #0 is effectively a conversation between Steve and Sam about what it means for both of them to be Captain America simultaneously,” Lanzing explained to Entertainment Weekly. “But that conversation isn’t had in a room sitting down over beers, that conversation is had while flying/holding onto the side of a massive rocket heading into the sky to obliterate all of mankind because Arnim Zola is back and he’s got a bad plan.”
“We’ve seen Sam Wilson deal with the legacy of Captain America and race in very inward terms with regards to America: What does it mean for America to accept a Black Captain America?” Onyebuchi says. “One of the things I’m teasing in my book is, what does it mean for the rest of the world to accept a Black Captain America? That’s another part of the equation. If Captain America is in many ways a mimesis of America, with all the good and bad pathologies, what does that mean for the way in which America interacts with the rest of the world?”
‘With our story, what we really wanted to start looking at was, how has America changed? What does it mean to be a patriot now?” Kelly added. “Cap can’t turn his back on America, neither of the Caps can, because the idea is good. The core is good and worth fighting for, but both need to wrestle with what that means in the year of our Lord 2022.”
Check out Mark Brooks’ CAPTAIN AMERICA #0 wraparound cover below as well as the covers for the debut issues of CAPTAIN AMERICA: SYMBOL OF TRUTH and CAPTAIN AMERICA: SENTINEL OF LIBERTY. And be there for this pivotal moment in Captain America’s legacy when it begins in April.
In addition to running Fanboy Planet, Derek has contributed stories to Arcana Comics (The Greatest American Hero) and Monsterverse Comics (Bela Lugosi's Tales from the Grave). He has performed with ComedySportz, City Lights Theater Company and Silicon Valley Shakespeare, though relocated to Hollywood to... work in an office? If you ever played Eric's Ultimate Solitaire on the Macintosh, it was Derek's voice as The Weasel that urged you to play longer. You can buy his book "I Was Flesh Gordon" on the Amazon link at the right. Email him at [email protected].
