Captain Carter #2 - Marvel Comics

CAPTAIN CARTER No. 2, June 2022

Despite initially presenting this twenty-page periodical’s audience with an all-too brief battle between Project Rebirth’s successful candidate and some heavily-armed Hydra goons “at an Eastpark shopping centre in London”, Jamie McKelvie’s narrative for Issue Two of “Captain Carter” is arguably much more of a dialogue-driven, political commentary on British modern-day policymaking than a tale about “the sudden resurgence” of Baron Strucker’s terrorist organisation. Indeed, even this comic’s central plot thread concerning Georges Batroc supposedly smuggling weaponry into Lincolnshire is quickly turned into a heated argument over the asylum claims of immigrants illegally entering the Empire, the Windrush scandal, and the virtues of believing what you read in the newspapers as opposed to what the government states.

Of course, the Pennsylvanian-born writer’s notion of a nation’s ruling administration being controlling, manipulative and an abuser of its authority over the people is nothing new within the world of fiction. But on this occasion the accusations stem from Peggy’s decidedly antagonistic neighbour Harley, who has seemingly undergone a complete personality change since this mini-series’ first instalment in which she was somewhat absentminded, and been transformed into an aggressively confident agitator who egotistically knows precisely the correct history books the super-heroine should read so Captain Carter can “do this job right.”

Disappointingly, this somewhat lengthy scene subsequently leads into a massive confrontation between the titular character and Britain’s current Prime Minister, Mister Williams. This book’s audience have already been made highly suspicious of the leader’s motivations earlier on in the publication’s storyline, so it certainly comes as no surprise that the costumed crime-fighter has a strong distrust of her nation’s elected head. However, the fact her angry accusations are based purely upon a few tomes she’s supposedly seen by three activists appears rather unconvincing and far-fetched, especially when Peggy is supposedly meant to be a great spy, who would surely corroborate any such theories first..?

Perhaps therefore this book’s saving grace is the artwork of Marika Cresta, who does a prodigious job pencilling the increasing political tension upon the faces of those figures involved in this comic’s aforementioned conversations. In addition, the Ringo Awards nominee is excellent at illustrating the sheer chaotic mayhem which occurs when S.T.R.I.K.E. ambushes Batroc’s operation, with bullets, shields and punches flying everywhere.

The regular cover art of "CAPTAIN CARTER" #2 by Jamie McKelvie