In this review of Captain America #2, we join Steve Rogers and the new Captain America on their first mission together since Rogers has broken free from the ice and awoken in this modern age.
CAPTAIN AMERICA #2
Writer: CHIP ZDARSKY
Artist: VALERIO SCHITI
Main Cover: BEN HARVEY
Variant Covers: J. SCOTT CAMPBELL, CHIP ZDARSKY, KEVIN MAGUIRE, MARK BUCKINGHAM, JOHN TYLER CHRISTOPHER, VALERIO SCHITI
Page Count: 32 pages
Release Date: August 6, 2025
This review contains spoilers
Upon reading Captain America #2, I felt that Zdarsky subliminally addresses some political views of his that resonate somewhat true in the real world. Mainly being that the political leaders of the US, since Vietnam have looked to bring ‘Democracy’ to areas of the world that supposedly don’t have it. It then turns out there’s been some other agenda behind the scenes that doesn’t usually come to be public knowledge until a couple of years during some sort of inquest after the initial deployment to those areas. This seems to be the theme for this arc that Zdarsky is going for.
I always find stories that resonate within the real world to be food for thought for its readers. This technique also tries to get the readers to think for themselves and come to their own conclusions about certain topics. It must be said that Zdarsky does this extremely well here, whilst shrouding his thoughts on current affairs in an entertaining and gripping manner as to keep you, the reader engaged and wanting to know what’s going to happen next.
Early into Captain America #2, tensions rise between Steve Rogers and the new Captain America. Rogers explains to the new Captain America that they come from different times, but they should still share the same values and ideologies. But turns out this new Captain America displays a different ideology to that of Rogers. This leads to tension building between the two of them as well as a heated discussion about the right thing to do in this instance.
The choice of villain for this arc I feel is an excellent decision. Doom is the perfect choice with him always wanting to conquer something, most of the time that being the world, but in this instance and so far to our knowledge it is Latveria.
As for the artwork in Captain America #2, Schiti has done an incredible job of keeping the story moving through the artwork and intense atmosphere that the issue brings. The varied use of different perspectives and character distancing from close ups to mid shots etc. really helps pull Captain America #2 together. I really did like the use of the panels that had things like a truck wing mirror with the focal point within the mirrored image, and close ups on characters but from outside of vehicles. These sort of panels coupled with close ups within a vehicle make the book come to life giving a sense of movement and a movie like style.
Final Thoughts
I loved the way that Zdarsky has managed to pull some critical thinking into the story for its readers as well as the direction in which the arc is taking. Using the likes of Doom for the villain as I said earlier does make it a perfect choice in my eyes. The art is phenomenal from the very first page. The whole creative team should be extremely proud of Captain America #2. It’s wonderful.
