Captain America (Vol 7) # 22

So, Captain America has lost his powers and has been aged to become and old man. I can’t see this being permanent because let’s face it, it’s comics but for now there’s plenty to be explored.

Cap has very little to do at the moment other than lie in bed and watch TV, unfortunately the TV features news stations that insult him and call him a “tool of the military industrial comics” among other things. Knowing the character of Cap this couldn’t be further from the truth and I imagine having to listen to the accusation is particularly painful for him.to listen to especially with the inability to actively prove otherwise. There’s also a good moment where Cap is reminded how corrupt and untrustworthy S.H.I.E.L.D is, why he associates with them at this point is somewhat unclear to me. Nick Fury Jr has an interesting rebuttal to that in pointing out how huge The Avengers roster currently is and a strong hint that they might be just as bad as S.H.I.E.LD, if not worse.

There’s a subplot in this issue about Falcon’s passionate night with Jet Zola which Falcon seems to regret. Jet seems to enjoy this new experience but doesn’t take it too seriously, I predict a romance here. I wonder if Falcon will take over the Cap mantle for a while, I hope not since Falcon is a good character with a specific hero schtick all his own and I’d rather not see them remove the character from that role.

The original Zola has returned from some other dimension and his first target is none other than Captain America. It should also be noted that he’s working with The Red Skull because who else? The issue ends with Zola breaking in and preparing to attack Cap but he has to get through The Avengers first. I really liked the image of Hulk, Iron Man and Thor rushing into battle with an aged Captain America standing in the background, it really shows the friendship between these founding -or near founding in Cap’s case- members of The Avengers as well as how brave Cap is despite being powerless, his lack of running away from this to be safe shows how true he remains to himself.