Monday, July 10, 2023

Captain America: Cold War Omega (2023)


[CAPTAIN AMERICA: COLD WAR OMEGA
Writers: Jackson Lanzing, Collin Kelly
and Tochi Onyebuchi
Artist: Carlos Magno
Cover Artists: Patrick Gleason and Alejandro Sánchez]

By this point, it has been announced via the internet that the series Captain America: Sentinel of Liberty is being abruptly, unexpectedly and prematurely discontinued, for unclear reasons (one assumes the series proved not to be a popular, commercial success and Marvel wants to cut its losses). This explains why the plot in the last couple of issues seems to have been speeded up in a race to get things over with. Any plot developments with The Machine and The Love have been unceremoniously jettisoned and all Dimension Z's monsters suddenly are very easily and quickly overcome by the Invaders. And where the hell have all Alpine's cameos gone? 

The Invaders fight off the monsters of Dimension Z, during the course of which Sharon Carter reveals her new persona as The Destroyer, complete with a skull mask and a Neganite-wrapped baseball bat. She fights her Aunt Peggy, seeking revenge for Ian's kidnapping. Captain America Sam Wilson bitterly takes on The New Revolution. Captain America Steve Rogers fights White Wolf. The Invaders prevail, of course.

Steve asks Bucky if all the double-crossing, lies, secrets and betrayals were worth it just to take down the Outer Circle. "All it did was make you another madman with a cape," Steve says. Bucky responds that they are all about to find out if it was worth it.

Cue Ian's appearance. He accepts his destiny, accepts that he is not his trauma and accepts that he controls who he becomes. He takes the throne of Dimension Z and becomes the King of the Monsters. But Ian seems determined to use that power for good, not evil.


excerpted from a 
larger post]

As one reviewer writes --

Ian has some of his best moments in the history of the character in this issue and it really sets him on an interesting path. Between his story, the Dimension Z setting, and the reformation of the Invaders that just happened, this saga has been nothing short of a love letter to Captain America and all its characters. That idea never shines brighter than it does in Ian Rogers’ scenes.

[review by Lia Williamson

This development achieves Bucky's ultimate plan about how to win the Century Game. Steve Rogers is not pleased about Bucky using them all as pawns.


excerpted from a
larger post]
As another reviewer writes --

When the heroes clear out the villain army without so much as breaking a sweat, Bucky explains everything was a grand plan all along to install Ian as the new king of Dimension Z to keep the Neganite out of the Outer Circle’s hands. How do we know this? Bucky explains the entire arc in a word balloon tsunami that’ll make your head spin.

[review by Gabriel Hernandez

The "word balloon tsunami" breaks every rule about "show, don't tell" but it does wrap things up very fast. The ending actually feels pretty anticlimactic after all the buildup.

Bucky swears he's done with lies now. Steve is uncertain and doesn't know what to think. Sam says that from his broader perspective "a man can be right and wrong at the same time." So Steve agrees to stay in Dimension Z for awhile, working to build a plan with Ian and Bucky for the future. Steve also wants to give Bucky some time to "see if there's still some kind of trust between us."

And that's how it ends. Not with a bang but with a whimper, as they say.

There may be a couple of loose strands tied up in the forthcoming celebratory comic, Captain America #750. I hope it addresses what Bucky may do next.  Will Bucky's revenge against the Outer Circle lay some of his personal demons to rest? Will Bucky go back to being the Winter Soldier? Or will he retain some or all of his New Revolution persona? Can the rift with Steve be healed? A much more thorough debriefing is required!

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