Captain America: Steve Rogers #10 - Marvel Comics

CAPTAIN AMERICA: STEVE ROGERS No. 10, March 2017

Frustratingly flitting between events in pre-war New York City and those of the ‘present day’, much of Nick Spencer’s script for Issue Ten of “Captain America: Steve Rogers” must have driven its 40,051 strong readership to despair with its choppy carousel of short-lived set-pieces. For whilst this twenty-page periodical does include an admittedly painfully prolonged chase scene which depicts the dethroned Maria Hill fleeing incarceration on board the S.H.I.E.L.D. Hellcarrier Iliad, its entire opening half actually consists of little more than six-panel sequences that leap about from an adolescent titular character serving hot drinks to Doctor Abraham Erskine and General Phillips in a diner, to numerous political deliberations involving Internal Civil Tribunals, Senate Majority leaders and Hydra.

Fortunately however, once Annie’s bright red purse is snatched “from behind the bar” and the thief cornered down an alleyway by a well-meaning young Rogers, the American author finally starts penning something worthy of the ‘emotional investment and audience involvement’ the former “Progressive Charter Party” politician has aspired to create since first revealing the “most trusted and revered figure in the Marvel Universe” as a “Hydra loyalist”. In fact, it’s disconcertingly hard not to feel a genuine sense of pride for the badly battered Steve, as he unfalteringly hands his friend her stolen purse back and ‘wins’ the respect of both Erskine and Phillips as a result; even if fans of the title know that this bloodied teenager is ‘the ultimate betrayer’ and was actually planning on poisoning the “German Jewish scientist” just moments earlier.

Equally as diabolically enthralling is Spencer’s portrayal of the Sentinel of Liberty as he visits comatose victim Jack Flag with every intention of killing the helpless hospital patient via a syringe full of poison. Solemnly paced, and all the more visually impactive on account of Rachelle Rosenberg’s red-hued palette, it’s easy to imagine this publication’s audience collectively holding their breath as the First Avenger, on the verge of committing a most murderous act, gravely acknowledges that the badly injured “minor patriotic hero” “deserved better than this.”

Sadly, such moments of high tension and compelling apprehension are badly let down by this comic’s artistic quartet of Jesus Saiz, Ted Brandt & Ro Stein, and Kevin Libranda. Substandard at best, at least when its Albacete-born illustrator isn’t pencilling the book’s flamboyantly visualised ‘flashbacks’, the poorly rendered figures and crudely-sketched facial features disappointingly drag down the quality of this magazine’s storytelling and even negatively impact upon Roger’s heinously gripping attempt to cold-bloodedly kill his occasional partner, Harrison.

Writer: Nick Spencer, and Artists: Jesus Saiz, Ted Brandt & Ro Stein, and Kevin Libranda