Sam Wilson: Captain America #4, #5 and #6 Review

Sam Wilson: Captain America #4, #5, and #6 from Marvel Comics -

     The Serpent Society is back, and they are better and more dangerous than ever! Why? Because they've gone corporate! The Serpent Society is now Serpent Solutions, corporate problem-solvers who will increase your bottom line...By any means necessary. Led by Viper, more cunning and sophisticated than ever before, Serpent Solutions is growing quickly and bankrolling illegal bioengineering labs and other facilities all over the country run by old Hydra and A.I.M. scientists who still have a vision of world conquest. Cap takes them on and soon falls prey to one of their experiments...Witness the re-birth of...Cap Wolf! Teenager, Joaquin Torres, saved from the bioengineering facility by Cap and his crew, has been gene-spliced with Redwing, and now shares both a telepathic link with Cap...and Redwing's vampiric powers and power of flight! Cap turns to an old ally for more information about the Serpent Society - Diamondback - once Steve Rogers' heartthrob, later a failed superhero/mercenary, now an exotic dancer...But Diamondback has a secret of her own...A secret that could could put Cap and his team in striking distance of Serpent Solutions!

   This is one of the best current books I've seen from Marvel not written by Jonathan Hickman. Nick Spencer brings his awesome gift for dialogue, his sense of humor, and his uncanny ability to write great comics to this newest chapter in the life of Sam Wilson, Captain America. This time, Cap is the little guy, standing up to corporate corruption on an unimaginable scale, with little resources to do so. Spencer writes these books to be politically charged, yet not childishly idealistic - realism and maturity make a grand appearance. It left me thoughtful, saddened and hopeful. But it wasn't all serious: Spencer tosses in lots of laughs through great dialogue, social satire and absurdity that lets the reader know that Spencer hasn't taken the "comic" out of the comic book. If you don't chuckle as Spencer puts Sam through the ringer as Cap Wolf, then you need your funny bone examined. Acuña's art is stellar, as usual, but after he makes his exit, Renaud and Bennet maintain that flashiness that keeps the book popping. And Cap's team, Dennis Dunphy (D-Man), Misty Knight, and the brand-new Falcon, go together like PB&J. 

  I love this book. It's way more intelligent a read than you would think at first glance. WOW!

RATING: 10 out of 10.