ADVANCED REVIEW: Captain America/Iron Man #1: A Good, Old-Fashioned Team-Up

Captain America/Iron Man #1 has all the trappings of classic, 1980s-style superhero team-up. Two heroes happen to have a history with the villain and team up to take them down. Neat, clean, cut and dry. There are hints that something deeper is happening in terms of the main villain, Veronica Eden’s motives for wanting to take over Hydra from Zemo but generally speaking, this was a bang-bang action comic from start to finish (pun definitely intended). Perhaps the most nuanced piece of the narrative thus far was the return of a handful of obscure characters from the old 50 State Initiative (in post-Secret Invasion era). These Paladins as they call themselves feel like potentially the actual focus of the story, perhaps using the popularity of Cap and Tony to move the book and get exposure for these characters. Time will tell.

Artistically, the book again carries a very strong action-comic vibe with lush and detailed backgrounds, dynamic action sequences, and a stunningly bright color palette. There is some inconsistency with some of the face art but that’s a minor quibble. Overall, thus far Captain America/ Iron Man is a solid, fun bit of escapism.