Antebellum Marvel: New Avengers #21

Previously in Fantastic Four #538

I’m traveling the road to Civil War with Marvel so I can be caught up by the time this storyline hits the big screen. Please do not comment with spoilers if you’re familiar with this particular story arc, but you are welcome to provide non-spoiler answers to any questions I may ask in the review. If you are interested in following along, here’s the reading order I’ll be following. 

Who’s In It:

Captain America, The Falcon, Henry Pym

What Happens:

Captain America is in hiding, ranting to himself about the situation in which he finds himself: the country’s #1 fugitive. He’s so caught up in his thoughts a group of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents are able to sneak up on him. He reluctantly fights them, knowing it’s not their fault. They don’t even know what they’re fighting for, he says. But Cap realizes even he may have misunderstood (or at the very least underestimated) the situation when he sees they’ve sent a friend - Dum Dum Dugan - after him.

He gets away and heads to an old safe point Fury set up, where he passes out. He’s awakened by Sam Wilson, The Falcon, but doesn’t trust him at first. Once Falcon assures him he’s on his side, Cap is embarrassed. This is what the war has done: pit hero against hero and friend against friend.

Cap wants to assemble a team and their first stop is the offices of Henry Pym. Unfortunately, Pym has already signed the Registration Act and is with Stark 100%. He’s not going to fight Cap and Falcon, but he does enlarge (spoiler for the movie, maybe?) into a giant and tries to hold the heroes until S.H.I.E.L.D. arrives. He gets a shield to the face in response.

Cap and Falcon escape, and despite the fact he just found out another friend is on the other side, Cap isn’t giving up. They head for Luke Cage next.

Overall Thoughts:

• Fingers crossed Falcon keeps the same “Stark ain’t shit” attitude in the movie.
• Speaking of Falcon, black people don’t say “Ya dig?” Do better, Marvel.
• Pym taking that shield to the nose made laugh out loud.
• The artwork here isn’t my favorite. Everything seemed a little too hard. Too harsh.
• Still, it was good to finally see what’s going on with Cap, and I’m looking forward to finding out who he can - and can’t - trust.