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Captain America #20: Review

May 2014
Rick Remender, Nic Klein

Story Name:

The Iron Nail: Part 4

Review & Comments

Rating:
2.5 stars

Captain America #20 Review by (May 17, 2014)
Review: So this is what it was building up to? A rehash of the BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES episode “Perchance to Dream?” In that story, Bruce Wayne wakes up one morning to discover that his parents were never murdered, he’s never been Batman, he is a rich playboy, with nothing to do but enjoy life. Slowly he discovers that he is under some sort of mind control by his enemy the Mad Hatter and he forces himself out of the perfectly happy fantasy world by leaping to his death from a bell tower. Now go back and reread the synopsis and check off the points of contact. And when you consider that in this same month that we discovered that the Iron Nail could transform into a monster form, we saw Thor’s current baddie Dario Agger also become a monster, it seems like Rick Remender is just phoning it in. And for the big climax? The Gungnir Helicarrier is a Transformer! I feel almost churlish pointing out that Dr. Mindbubble’s fate (hoist on his own petard) was fairly predictable, and that the character never lived up to his potential as a psychedelic super-soldier, never moving past second rate Mad Hatter. I hope the big finish next issue is interesting, and actually addresses some of the socio-political questions spouted by the boringly long-winded Iron Nail. Or maybe not.

Comments: Previous issues gave the idea that only a real suicide would end the mindbubble, not a dream one. Or maybe I was misreading it. One thing is certain, Jet Black could not hear and respond to Iron Nail’s reference to a god, while she was several hundred feet away in the flying car.




 

Synopsis / Summary / Plot

Captain America #20 Synopsis by Peter Silvestro
Steve Rogers, his mind full of doubt and uncertainty about his choices in life, awakens in a hospital bed. Around him are his friends, Bucky Barnes, Falcon, Jet Black, Nick Fury Jr., and Maria Hill. They tell him that the battle was won, the Iron Nail neutralized, Cap’s name cleared over the problem in Nrosvekistan, and there is a parade in his honor passing by the window. Hank Pym and Bruce Banner arrive with more good news: they were able to find a way to Dimension Z and have rescued Steve’s son Ian. And there’s still more: Sharon Carter is also alive; it was an LMD that perished in the battle against Arnim Zola. Everything is perfect—too perfect. Realizing he is trapped in a mindbubble, he takes the only way out: he leaps from the hospital balcony, "death" snapping him back to reality. Enraged at this violation of his family, he goes to punch out Dr. Mindbubble but the mad scientist orders several enslaved SHIELD agents to leap from, the Helicarrier. Cap is subdued by this threat to others. Iron Nail, still in his dragon-man form, orders Cap to submit to propaganda footage as part of the villainous scheme. Suddenly Jet Black arrives in a flying car, having caught the suicidal agents; she deposits them on the deck and then crashes the car into the bridge of the ship. While the woman warrior takes on Iron Nail, Mindbubble orders Nick Fury and Maria Hill to jump to their deaths. Instead Cap flings his shield, crushing the release valve on the baddie’s forehead. The mad dreams building up inside his cranium cause him to hurl himself overboard. Iron Nail defeats Jet and announces the final phase of his program—having "SHIELD" destroy Nrosvekistan and the resulting backlash will destroy America. So to that end, the Gungnir carrier transforms into a giant sword-wielding robot….


Nic Klein
Nic Klein
Dean White
Nic Klein (Cover Penciler)
Nic Klein (Cover Inker)
Nic Klein (Cover Colorist)


Characters

Listed in Alphabetical Order.

Captain America
Captain America

(Steve Rogers)
Falcon
Falcon

(Sam Wilson)
Nick Fury Jr.
Nick Fury Jr.

(Marcus Johnson)

Plus: Arnim Zola, Dr Mindbubble, Iron Nail, Jet Black.

> Captain America: Book info and issue index

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