SPOILERS for the new Captain America comic series – Captain America Steve Rogers #1 Written by Nick Spencer and drawn by Jesus Saiz.

So.

You’ve probably heard the news, our beloved Captain America is a Hydra sleeper agent.

Yup, that’s right, the guy who loves to punch Hitler right in the chompers is associated with an evil organisation that was once heavily involved with the Nazis and followed mainly by white supremacists. Captain America. The fighter for justice and the American way.

Why are Marvel taking this tact? I know destroying characters is something many writers do but this feels like a step too far.

I guess we should be used to Hydra coming in and messing with our heads. Just look at S.H.I.E.L.D, we were all pretty devastated when we discovered Hydra was the driving force behind that operation. But Rogers was there to take it down, expose the corruption.

So I decided to take a look at what happens in this first issue of the new Captain America series.

Rogers’s origins story has been tweaked, in this first issue we see his mother Sarah being abused at the hands of his father, before a Hydra agent (Elisa Sinclair) steps in, kicks his ass and sends him on his way. She befriends Steve’s mother and leaves her with a leaflet for Hydra.The comic moves between the past and the present, with Rogers first attempting to take down a Hydra member who has hijacked a train and has a bomb to detonate once it reaches the station. 

While I don’t want to get into any debates, I feel that the comic is definitely drawing upon the current societal issues of brainwashing and extremism we are witnessing every day, as well as terrorist attacks.

I do worry that it tries to give reasons for such behaviour, i.e. Rogers saw his mother abused and Hydra ‘saved’ them, the back story of the bomber in the comic is shared and almost makes you sympathise with him even though he’s decided to go ahead and detonate a bomb vest.

But, back to the present, the villain Baron Zemo has returned and is after the Cosmic Cube, something that he can use to change the world according to his view of how Hydra is and has kidnapped scientist Erik Selvig. There’s a classic fight on a rooftop between a group of heroes, lead by Cap with Jack Flag and Free Spirit tagging along and a group of villains – who I have to confess I don’t know the names of.

The fight ends with Baron Zemo escaping via a helicopter, Rogers pursuing and Jack Flag tagging along later when he sees Steve is having trouble. But Cap appears to have an alterior motive because once Baron Zemo is defeated and thrown from the plane Rogers isn’t high fiving Jack Flags for his help. Instead, he says sorry and proceeds to push the young superhero out, presumably to his death?

The comic ends with Rogers saying ‘Hail Hydra’ and Erik Selvig looking pretty pissed because this isn’t the rescue party he ordered.

Now, this could all be an elaborate ruse, Marvel might be doing well in the cinema but in the world of comics their main competitor DC has just released Rebirth and the return of Wally West has got people excited.

So this story line is getting people talking, because Rogers is such a beloved character, and the response has been a mix of anger, upset and eye rolling from those who have to say ‘I knew it was going to happen all along.’ Bloody liars.

What do you think of this new take on Cap’s story line?

Jade