By Reginald Hudlin (writer), Denys Cowan (pencils), Klaus Janson (pencils), Pete Pantazis (colors), VC’s Joe Sabino (letters)
The Story: Captain America and Black Panther forage a (still tentative) alliance by fending off a Nazi invasion together, while the Howling Commandos remain “guests” of the Wakandans back at their village. Elsewhere, Red Skull is gathering intelligence to help plan an all-out invasion that will crush the Black Panther and his people once and for all.
What’s Good: Although the story’s been done before, the concept of an isolationist nation having to come to terms with the danger of the Axis menace is intriguing and enjoyable to watch. Cap and Panther are uniquely suited to their roles too: both are very important symbols of their respective nations, their positions are sympathetic and understandable, and they clearly respect each other both as warriors and as leaders. Seeing them interact, and fight beside each other, is absolutely the best part of the book.
What’s Not So Good: Hooboy. Pretty much everything that isn’t the concept, sad to say. While its fun to see the heroes team up, neither Cap nor Panther really sound like themselves. Both speak far too casually on the whole, and the few bouts of ‘formal’ dialogue that Panther lapses into come across as both forced and clichéd. Also, while Cap’s behavior is fairly innocuous for most of this issue, I have a real problem with him allowing the Commandos—highly trained combat veterans and his comrades in arms—to be reduced to a task like battlefield clean-up. Cap has always been a champion of the rank and file soldiers; it’s one of the major reasons he’s so beloved by all the allied troops. Even if he had just finished a battle, and despite the fact he was engaged in negotiation with Black Panther, I can’t believe he would allow the Commandos to be used as servants in that manner. It’s possible I’m reading far too much into what was essentially the setup for a joke, but it still doesn’t sit well with me.
As for the artwork…there’s really no delicate way to put this. I couldn’t be less of a fan of this book’s art if I actively tried. I think I understand the sort of rough, quick-sketch look that Cowan and Janson were going for, but the effect is just downright ugly, especially when it comes to Cap. He looks bug or cross eyed more often than not, and his expressions and poses are exaggerated and ridiculous. Black Panther is the only character who escapes this fate; he looks lithe, mysterious and quite imposing. But the effectiveness of the art job on him makes the glaring shortcomings of the rest of the book all the greater. Add this to the fact that the colors are far too muted or washed out (again, except for Panther, whose costume is a very nice, velvety black) and you have a book that is not a whole lot of fun to look at.
Conclusion: Not a great book for your money. If you’re a Captain America or Black Panther completist it may be worth a look, but it’s not one you’re going to want to read for the story or art.
Grade: D
-SoldierHawk
Grade
Conclusion