The CAPTAIN AMERICA AND... series continues with the focus shifting to a team-up between Cap and Iron Man.
The Good
Captain America and Iron Man are pure heroes. They've been part of the Avengers for so long, you don't really think of them in other ways. With Captain America recently being involved in the Secret Avengers, we started getting a taste of his espionage skills.
The story here deals with the two teaming up to infiltrate a weapons expo. It turns out Tony has been attending them for years without telling his teammates in order to continue to get leads. With this angle, we get a different kind of Cap/Iron Man story. It's a nice change of pace and shows that the Avengers don't simply sit around and wait for some threat to arise. There are times they need to take the initiative and try to prevent disasters before they can happen.
As for the enemies, we get some classic Cap villains that some may see as a little cheesy but I always find it fun when they and Cap face off against each other.
The Bad
There were some moments of confusion at the beginning. It's not really a spoiler but Cap was using an image inducer and looked kind of similar to Tony. He had a different facial structure and his facial hair was different but I wasn't fully sure if it was meant to be Tony and the art just wasn't clear.
The idea of Tony attending weapons expos over the years in order to 'get leads' is hard to believe. Everyone should know who he is and the fact that he is Iron Man. I don't really see people letting their guard down around him. There's also the fact that Tony does a presentation and focuses on his idea being used for good instead of harmful purposes. He says he'd never sell to anyone there but showing him what he can do and mentioning the war-like ways it could be used doesn't seem like a good idea.
The main problem is why should I really care about this story? There isn't a feeling that there will be crucial events occurring here. There's a bit of a cliffhanger at the end but obviously everything will work out. What are the ramifications here for Captain America and Iron Man? It's similar to the previous Cap and Hawkeye arc. I couldn't finish reading despite the fact that I love both characters. This could be an interesting story but I feel it's just going to have a nice tidy ending and there won't be any mention of what happened in the characters' core titles.
The Verdict
Captain America and Iron Man are two of the biggest members of the Avengers. They've seen and done a lot. Having them team up should guarantee a great story. To add to it, they're working undercover in Madripoor, something we wouldn't really expect from Iron Man. This angle to the story adds a different element compared to the previous team-ups they've had. Unfortunately there were a little confusion in the beginning involving the art and an image inducer. It might just be me but I had to go back and double check a couple panels to figure out who was on the page. Even though there is some potential here for the story, it feels like in the end, it won't matter. There most likely won't be any major repercussions happening here. We could simply enjoy this story for the team-up it is but with so many titles to read each week, I question if this should be one of them. I like the idea of Steve and Tony in a story involving espionage. We'll see where it goes next issue and if I will continue to read this series.