Captain America: Symbol of Truth
Vol. 1.: Homeland
by Tochi Onyebuchi collects Captain America #0 (2022) and Captain
America: Symbol of Truth #1-6. This series is about Sam Wilson.
Currently both Steve Rogers and Sam Wilson are Captain America. They have
separate titles that launch from the same zero issue that is included in this
volume. They have separate creative teams, have separate supporting casts, and
are facing separate conspiracies. The titles will crossover later in the year
in Captain America: Cold War.
Sam Wilson is told that a train carrying
a chemical used in the super soldier serum is going to be hijacked. Obviously
bad guys with their own super soldier would be a bad thing. As listed in the
synopsis, the train has ties to Wakanda. That puts him in conflict with the
Wakandans who have not been depicted very positively in the comic lately.
After that, he is on to Latveria where
Deadpool is running his own operation related to the conspiracy. Dr. Doom does
not take well these covert operations being run in his country without his
permission.
Much later Sam Wilson will take on Black
Panther as the conspiracy involving Wakanda and America heats up.
The art is excellent and the writing is
good even if the plot is fairly common for a Captain America book. You have
your illegal immigrants being used as pawns, you have your corrupt senator, you
have someone trying to tear down countries while turning the public against
Captain America, you have your racial tensions between African Americans and
whites. It is a good read but fairly usual fare for Captain America book for
the last six years or so. Whether the title stars Sam or Steve, the writers
have been playing with the same core elements for quite some time now.
The villain is introduced, but many
readers who are new to the comics will not have heard of him since he was never
used in the movies. Most adaptions choose to ignore this character and they
don’t do much to explain who he is and how dangerous of a person he is. I feel
like maybe someone should have dropped a bio or something other than just a throwaway
line that will confused many new readers. I am deliberately not revealing his
name in order to not create spoilers.
I like how they highlight one key
difference between the Marvel Sam Wilson of the movies and the Sam Wilson in
the comics. Sam Wilson’s, in the comics, father died trying to intervene
between a fight between two men. After the death of his father, a very young Sam
was raised by his single mother still seeks to honor the beliefs that cost his
father his life.
I enjoyed this series despite the flaws regarding
plot ideas and the noted issues with the villain. I am looking forward to the
untitled second volume that currently also does not have a publication date.
A thing to note is that there is also an
interesting beef being set up between Sam and the Black Panther. That could be
a plot point in the upcoming new Avengers title by Jed MacKay. They will now be
on the same Avengers team, after beating the crap out of each other, so that
should be more than a little awkward.
My reading copy came from the Park
Forest Branch of the Dallas Public Library System.
Scott A. Tipple ©2023
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