After the super serum is drained from Steve Rogers and he reverts to his chronological age, he passed the shield to Sam Wilson, the new Captain America. Sam is on the outs with SHEILD after a hacker reveals some ugly truths about the organization. He gets word of a racist organization abducting people crossing the border and when he goes to Arizona, he finds this is only the tip of the iceberg.
As the first volume of a new series, this book does not do a very good job of introducing us to the characters. I often felt like I should have read the previous Captain America books in order to truly understand what was happening here and why. There is SO MUCH happening all throughout the book, that there is very little time for any character development. Also, it’s more than a little problematic to have the first black Captain America spend almost half the book as a wolf-man, fan favorite or no. It went on for far too long and as much as I love puns, it wasn’t worth it just for the jokes.
Misty Knight is one of the best characters in Marvel’s rosters. I’m glad Sam has Misty on his team, but it is beyond ridiculous for a no-nonsense character like her to wear a costume as impractical as that. I felt sympathy chafing just looking at her in this costume. She deserves better. She deserves a sports bra.
Overall, I was unimpressed with this book, which saddens me because I had high hopes. I like Sam Wilson and Misty Knight. I want their comic to be great, but this book wasn’t really interested in investing in either of them as characters, which is a major disappointment. ( )

A beautifully illustrated, collection of Sam Wilson comics detailing a troubled attempt to stand in Steve Rogers shoes. He sort of makes a point as a class warrior and voice of the oppressed but had to temper his ideals. This rather mature look at the Sentinel of Liberty was rather spoilt by the inclusion of his conversion to a werewolf genetic hybrid. Not sure that that really worked and just served as a distraction to the point that Wilson was trying to make about various shades of gray, a modern and refreshing take on the hero phenomenon. Flawed, showed some promise but didn't quite deliver. ( )

This first comic opens with the former Falcon, Sam Wilson, who Steve Rogers passed down the mantle of Captain America too not to long ago, flying coach on a plane going somewhere and the story is told in flashbacks beginning with his takedown of Hydra. Something really bad has happened between him and SHIELD that has caused the two of them to break off with the Hydra job being the last thing he seems to have agreed to do for them and then leave.

Sam decides to go to the press and offer up his ideas on what can be done to make things better and gets raked over the coals for it. His reputation is in tatters. He still wants to help people so he sets up a hotline for people to call him if they need him. This turns out to be a bit of a mistake in a way because he gets calls from people who want him to do something about a cheating husband, a canceled TV show, and noise complaints.

But one of them is from a grandmother whose grandson, Joaquin is missing. He would go out into the desert to leave water and supplies for those who cross the border and he went out to do just that and hasn't come back home. The police won't help and the grandmother believes that he has been taken by the group the Sons of the Serpent.

Misty Knight his work partner (do not think of calling her a sidekick) refuses to go to the Mexican border because she thinks it's dangerous and a waste of time and money they don't have. Dennis Dunphy, his pilot, mechanic, and field backup does not have much to do since there's no money for this mission. Sam's brother, a pastor, raises enough funds for him to take a plane trip to and from there (coach of course).

When he gets there he runs into SHIELD and discovers that the men he meets aren't the real power behind the Sons of the Serpent. There is a doctor who has been taking some of the men who cross the border and using them for experiments. The Sons of the Serpent are a corporation now run by Viper the criminal who now preaches hate and intolerance and has a hidden agenda. Of course, the once evil Diamondback makes an appearance, whom Steve Rogers dated for a while when she went straight.

The story is really great and Misty and Dennis are just fabulous characters. Misty is a total kick ass and a smart ass, who takes no crap from anyone--including Sam. Dennis is a sweet guy who has been through a lot in life and survived it and at the same time can just absolutely take down the bad guys. The paneling for the fight scene at the end is very creatively done. The colors are mostly glorious reds and oranges due to Sam's wings and the fight scenes. But some of the non-fight scenes are done up in those colors too to show the emotions of the scene. Overall this is a great start to the Sam Wilson Captain America. ( )