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Captain America #14: Review

Jul 2012
Ed Brubaker, Patrick Zircher

Story Name:

Shock to the System, Part 4

Review & Comments

Rating:
3 stars

Captain America #14 Review by (July 14, 2012)
Review: Yeah, I was right, Brubaker killed off D-Man. The character was poorly served, having been transformed into a one-dimensional killer just to wring some cheap drama out of Cap fighting a friend; otherwise, the man gets no last words, no final redemption, just a grim death and a lot of head-shaking. And now that the end of the title has been announced (#19 will be the last issue, paving the way for the Marvel NOW! revamp), Brubaker has been compelled to close off his ongoing storyline for this volume, featuring the new Hydra and Codename: Bravo. Looks like he’s going with “Captain America is publicly disgraced” as a climax, a move he used just two short years ago when Bucky Cap was unmasked. Wonder if Steve will end up in the Gulag as well? Patch Zircher is still a good artist but for this issue all he gets to do is a lengthy fight sequence, and one that doesn’t require anything creative at that.

Comments: The cover to issue #13 shows a scene from this issue.




 

Synopsis / Summary / Plot

Captain America #14 Synopsis by Peter Silvestro

Under sniper fire from the new Scourge of the Underworld, Captain America hides intended victim Porcupine and rushes to the attack. Dodging the enemy’s gunfire he hurls his shield and cuts Scourge’s rifle in two, forcing the foe to face him on the ground. Scourge is faster and stronger than Cap realized and the slugging match is quite grueling. As they fight, Cap suddenly recognizes from his voice and his wrestler-like moves that the Scourge is his old friend, Dennis Dunphy, the D-Man. As Cap tries to talk sense into his pal and break Hydra’s brainwashing, Dunphy denounces Cap as a traitor for making deals with criminals….

Meanwhile, Sharon Carter is racing to the scene when Dum Dum Dugan tells her that under questioning, Henry Peter Gyrich went into a coma, implanted hypnotically, and now cannot reveal how to reverse Dunphy’s condition….

As Dunphy is in a full-on rant about heroes and traitors, he overcomes Cap and raises the hero’s shield to deliver a killing stroke…when Sharon arrives and shoots the rogue down. Dennis dies at Cap’s side.

The next day, as Diamondback is recovering from her earlier injuries, she tries to persuade Cap not to blame himself—but he still feels responsible for what Codename: Bravo has been doing. In accord with Bravo’s plans, the secrets of SHIELD’s witness protection program for supervillains are leaked to the media. Captain America is caught up in a national scandal. Sharon is still feeling guilt over her actions and even Steve must concede that Bravo and the Hydra Queen are winning….



Patrick Zircher
Patrick Zircher
Paul Mounts
Patrick Zircher (Cover Penciler)
Patrick Zircher (Cover Inker)
Matt Hollingsworth (Cover Colorist)


Characters

Listed in Alphabetical Order.

Captain America
Captain America

(Steve Rogers)
Diamondback
Diamondback

(Rachel Leighton)

Plus: D-Man (Demolition Man), Scourge (Scourge of the Underworld).

> Captain America: Book info and issue index

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