Captain America #18: Who Can You Trust?

With one issue to go in “The Legend of Steve” and the promise of a face to face confrontation between Steve and Dryad next issue, this issue felt extremely rushed and plotted just a bit too conveniently to live up to the quality of writing in the series thus far. Cap’s rousing speech to the crowds of rioters and police was maddening in so far as it seemingly worked. Perhaps this sequence could be read as commentary on how easy it is to sway public opinion but even under those circumstances, it felt disingenuous, rushed, and extremely forced.

Speaking to the rushed feeling this book exuded, Jason Masters’ artwork has been widely criticized as I’ve made my rounds around internet forums and I’ve defended the work previously but this issue was noticeably worse off than previous issues, again as if it were expedited for publication. There certainly feels like something is off with the chemistry and pacing of this book all of a sudden. Perhaps it is burnout by the creative team or editorial intervention. I’ve gotten similar vibes from books gearing up to be sucked into a major crossover in the past, so that is something to watch for on the horizon.

Even though this issue fell far short of my expectations, I remain hopeful that it is an aberration and not a harbinger of things to come. The next issue promises to be one of the most impactful of the series in terms of narrative development and thus it will certainly act as a barometer for the future direction and quality on Coates’ run on Captain America.