Comic Vine Review

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Captain America: Sam Wilson #5

4

Meet the brand new Falcon!

The new Falcon is revealed as Joaquin Torres deals with being turned into a half-bird man by a mad scientist. In addition, the Serpents are coming together to take down Sam Wilson, who is now a werewolf.

CAPTAIN AMERICA #5 has a lot going on in it. There's quite a bit for readers to keep track of and characters to follow, but Nick Spencer spins this book in a way where it's never confusing or hard to follow. The book really engages the reader rather than alienating, even if the reader isn't too familiar with some of these lesser-known characters in Captain America's world.

The book does get a bit wordy at times, really giving the reader a full scope of the story. The dialogue in these scenes is fine, so while some may find some scenes a bit daunting, it's crafted extremely well. Again, these scenes really give the reader an inside look to who these characters are and how they play into this story, which is building up very nicely. The series does have this mixture of fun along with some pretty serious undertones. Spencer is really putting his mark on this series.

Speaking of fun and serious, the new Falcon, Joaquin Torres is an interesting character. He's literally part bird, so he fits the role. We don't get to see a new costume, but we do get the start of his Hero's Journey in this issue, as he escapes the hospital, where he's being watched by D-Man, in order to go save Captain America. I have a feeling his story is really going to be the highlight of this arc.

The biggest problem, for me, comes from the fact that Sam Wilson is a werewolf. It lends this book a bit of silliness and frankly, it's just not something I'm personally a fan of. This arc has been a bit tough to get through, but that doesn't mean it's not an enjoyable read.

Paul Renaud and Romulo Fajardo work on the art on this book and while it may be tough to follow Daniel Acuna, even though Renaud worked on the last issue, Renaud and Fajardo have a style that stands on its own all while being partially in the same tone as Acuna, so it's an easy transition and has a nice flow between issues. There aren't giant, stand-out moments with the art, but what this team does exceptionally well is panel-to-panel storytelling, which is far more important than a string of splash pages.

We don't have a new costumed Falcon, but we get the new character's first adventure with Captain America. The issue is solid and a good read, but I'm much more interested to see how this all plays out against a whole bunch of villains in snake outfits. The art team does a great job here, but the main problem I have is the werewolf Cap story. It's not my cup of tea. Regardless, Spencer continues to do a great job on this book. I recommend picking this issue up.