SUPER SOLIDER NO MORE...AGAIN...AND A NEW CAPTAIN AMERICA...AGAIN:
Before I get into talking about this let me give this warning.
SPOILERS AHEAD...IF YOU HAVE NOT READ CAPTAIN AMERICA #21 OR THE ISSUES BEFORE IT, DON'T READ THIS, UNLESS YOU DON'T CARE ABOUT SPOILERS:
That being said, I've finished reading the story line called, "The Iron Nail" in Captain America and I got to say that I wasn't expecting this ending but it's one that's not really new either. The plot of the Iron Nail puts Captain America and S.H.I.E.L.D. at odd with each other, for yet another time, as Dr. Mindbubble and the Iron Nail try to destroy America's image. Don't know who Dr. Mindbubble is? Yeah neither did I but he's a guy who was once a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent who ends up with the ability to project bubbles out of his mind that can alter peoples perceptions. The Iron Nail, he's just a whack job that hates America and is ready to destroy other cities around the world and kill hundreds of thousands or more people to get his anger out. These two team up to find a new secret project that S.H.I.E.L.D. has been working on, that Cap don't know anything about and don't like that he don't know about it, called the Gungnir.
Gungnir is basically a Transformer because it starts off as a helicarrier, a very big one that is able to withstand the full barriage of two other helicarriers, but then it can turn into a walking robot. Granted it looks like it still has to be controlled but it's still a robot that was once something else that I'm sure if it hadn't been destroyed would be able to turn back into the helicarrier. At anyrate, in the process of carrying out this evil plan of distruction, the Iron Nail uses those odd chest tenticles of his to grab Captain America in an attempt to stop him from stopping the Gungnir. Of course Cap stops the robot from killing a whole city, it's Captain America afterall, but in the process of doing that he lost his super solider serum.
Here's the thing though, even with me not expecting this to be the end of the plot for "The Iron Nail", it's nothing new. Steve Rogers has had the super soldier serum taken out of him a few times before. One time was back in 1994 for Vol 1 issues #372-378 called "Streets of Poison" where Captain America gets hooked on a drug (yeah Cap on drugs) that messes with the super soldier serum turning Cap more violent. He has a blood transfusion but looses the super soldier serum in the process. There's also recently when Steve was reverting back to his skinny, weak self an then back to Cap. But that's the thing that I'm getting at, he's had the serum taken out of him before or lost in one way or another so this is nothing new.
Though here's the outcome of this story, there's going to be a new Captain America, again. Yeah, again. With Steve all small, weak, and old, he can't be Cap anymore, so who will be the new Cap? Well, I'm guessing with the cover to issue #25 (if you recall the last issue #25 saw the death of Captain America at the end of Civil War) there is a outline of someone with the shield with the heroes behind him. This is supposed to be the new Captain America and with it being issue #25, that would mean the next 3 issues will be dealing with who that person will be.
But do we already know who it's going to be? Take a look at Avengers #35...
There's Steve Rogers on the far right looking old wit the cain, then to his left is someone with what sure looks like the shield wearing what looks like Falcons goggles. Is this Sam Wilson as the new Captain America? I'm nothing thinking it will be Bucky, he's already done that, and recently, and it would just make sense that Sam would take up the shield for Cap. Being that the two are best friends, there's also the movie that's made Sam/Falcon more popular, and Marvel likes to swtich their characters. Which this could be good, if it was done at the right time or maybe this is the perfect time since it would be at a high note in the title series. This new volume of Captain America has been one of the best for the character that I've read in a very long time. Having him go to dimension Z was great, but having him there for years, getting a kid, loosing so much, and then coming back to Earth 616 only to find out he was missing for a very short time, just great. So why have this happen to him when there are so many story lines that can be done with the character?
SPEAKING OF NO MORE:
If you don't know by now, James Howlett a.k.a Logan a.k.a. Patch a.k.a. Wolverine a.k.a. and so many other names is going to finally die. Now when I say finally I don't really mean that I've been wanting him to die, I actually like the character because he is or has been up to this point an immortal but not any more. Marvel is killing off Wolverine in the 3 Months to Die storyline and Death of Wolverine but that will not be the only titles that will be dealing with this short Canadian mutants death. Nope, there's going to be another7 issue limited series (yep more limited series) that will have the first and last issue wrote by Charles Soule who is also writing the Death of Wolverine but the middle 5 issues will be by different artists.
The Logan Legacy, as it's being called, will be about how Wolverines death affects some of the people that really know Logan the most. Issue #2 will have X-23, that's Logans clone, #3 will be with Sabretooth, #4 with Lady Deathstrike, #5 with Daken (son of Logan), and #6 will be with Mystique. I'm not quite sure who will be the first and last two issues, I'm guessing just an overall opening and ending to the series but it's one that will be played out into December of 2014. Which if you are wondering about when Marvel will be bringing Wolverine back (we know it will happen after all this is the core 616 universe and one of their most popular characters so he will be back), it looks like they have plans on keeping him dead until after December. Which by my thoughts, I'm thinking no longer than one year will pass, enough time to give us the first limited series about how his death is taken, then we have to have some core books and limited series dealing with a world with no Wolverine, then we will probably get some that will figure out a way to bring him back, then ones bringing him back, and finally the return of Wolverine. Guessing that each of these will be 3-8 issues each, even with publishing twice a month on some and that would be at least around 15 issues and that's a year.
