Captain America: Sentinel of Liberty – Finale

When it mattered most, Steve and Bucky reunited to take the fight to the Outer Circle – together.

Since the very beginning of this book, Jackson Lanzing and Collin Kelly knew the story they wanted to tell with Steve Rogers – one that focused on the man and the friends that he’s made over his long life and another that showcased the hopefulness that he’s somehow managed to maintain despite the insurmountable odds that he’s faced. Whenever there were threats that he couldn’t face down alone, he had help from his friends to even the odds and in the face of a cabal that has been playing the world like a game of chess for a century, he certainly needed almost every last one of them. With this series, Lanzing and Kelly have managed to marry aspects of Steve the Man and Steve the Soldier in such a way that fans of both sides of his personality could enjoy a showcase of who Steve Roger’s was inside and out.

Readers have seen Steve make new civilian friends as he resumed his true passion as an artist and reconnect with old war buddies through CB radio contact as they talked about the good old days. For a few fleeting moments fans were able to see what one of their favorite heroes did outside of the costumes, heroics and spy craft, but when the time called for it, he suited up and got to work. And this issue showed the culmination of that work as he and his other heroes completed the mission to the best of their abilities and allowed not only Steve to have his moment, but showed how far Sharon Carter and the robot formerly known as REDACTED have come – with her utilizing the rage she felt at the death of Roger Aubrey to become the new Destroyer in his honor, making her more than just Steve Rogers girlfriend and REDACTED being given the title of Nomad by Steve after the robot began to self actualize. With both of these character arcs fully realized, Lanzing and Kelly have placed their own stamp on the Captain America mythos. 

With this final issue, Lanzing and Kelly managed to tie up the loose ends of their series, though not without a fleeting sense that they had more story to tell. Initially it seemed that they had a direction that they wanted to go in with a fairly large and decompressed story that could span multiple volumes much like the Ed Brubaker run with the character as Steve and Bucky try to outmaneuver each other while taking down each individual member of the Outer Circle. While the book was still fairly fantastic as it turned into a standard action series with great character moments, there’s something to mourn at what could have been. It doesn’t ruin the series that we’ve gotten and certainly does still wind up being an amazing modern Captain America story, but the quick succession with which the Outer Circle members bow out of the Century Game leaves a bit to be desired with such interesting villains and a fantastic concept.

Carmen Carnero makes her glorious return to the series for its finale and absolutely kills it in the art department for every single page. Almost as if the cinematic era of comics has made a return, Carnero has an amazing eye for these grand double page spreads of Steve, Destroyer, and Nomad as they dive into battle and fight the few remaining star points of the Outer Circle. The action feels so dynamic as Carnero makes an excellent line for readers eyes to follow as the fight moves from the background to the middle and foreground with seamless movement and fast paced action. Her linework continues to be amazingly thick and detailed, emphasizing facial expressions from the fear of The Money as the Century Game collapses around him, to Steve’s smug look when he confronts and defeats The Machine, having abandoned her physical body for a robot resembling those from The Matrix. 

And the page/panel structure, moving from the intense action to the calm scenes of exposition as Bucky plays his final hand doesn’t give off a sense of tonal whiplash, but paces excellently thanks to this book being a slightly oversized thirty-six pages. Every tense moment has a chance to breathe, even with the breakneck pace of Cap’s sections. Her shot composition, as well, shows the sheer attention to detail and scope that Carnero is able to capture, with grand wide shots of the Outer Circle’s staging grounds, tracking shots of Cap’s shield being thrown into the Machine’s tentacle monster and full shots to capture the amazing heroic poses of Captain America and his team.

Nolan Woodard’s coloring further accentuates this book’s art, making the experience that much more fantastic. Woodard does an amazing job of playing into the tones of each half of the story, giving Steve’s sections a slightly reddish hue, making things seem that much more intense and showcasing Steve and company’s courage as the fling themselves headlong into battle and giving Bucky’s a blue tone to show the cold and calculating nature that allowed him to play on the same level and defeat the Outer Circle at their game. In many ways it showcases both of their character personalities with Steve operating in the light and Bucky lurking in the shadows, much like how they worked together in the War. While their methods may differ and contrast, they come together in the end with the same goal. The same can be said for how vibrant the colors are for the various fights as well, with Woodard making use of bright reds and oranges to capture the carnage and intensity of the battle and sometimes bright whites for the Machine’s electrical damage.

As always, Joe Caramagna does an amazing job with the letters in the book, making sure that readers can follow every bit of dialogue and that nothing gets lost between the characters. Word balloons follow their speakers and offer small variety, like with Nomad’s fantastic black bubbles and white lettering and are placed just out of the way of the action to capture the full impact of the New Invaders fighting the Outer Circle. The same can be said for the various thought boxes that weave their way through the battle of the double page spread and give Cap’s thoughts as his team runs through Taskmaster, Viper and Crossbones. And of course, the use of sound effects give the book a sense of noise – they pop off the page and make the book that much more engaging, from the KRAKKAZIZZLE of an electrical fight to the MEOW of Bucky’s cat, Alpine, the book can be heard as much as it can be read.