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Saturday 4 June 2016

Captain America/Black Panther: Flags of Our Fathers Review (Reginald Hudlin, Denys Cowan)


Hitler wants to bomb the White House but he needs the rare metal vibranium to build his ICBMs with. Where’s the one place vibranium is found? Wakanda. As Baron von Strucker and the Red Skull prepare to invade the Black Panther’s country, they’re closely followed by Captain America, Nick Fury and the Howling Commandos looking to thwart the Fuhrer’s plans - time for a rumble in the jungle!

There’s not a whole lot to this crossover miniseries. Cap and Black Panther meet for the first time and inevitably tangle before teaming up to defeat the fascists. We learn Wakanda is the most technologically advanced country in the world (unless you already knew that) and socially progressive too – the black soldier in Fury’s squad experiences equality for the first time (remember it’s the 1940s). Overall, pretty straightforward stuff competently put together which is why I didn’t dislike the book but couldn’t say I was gripped by it. 

It’s a gorier book than Marvel usually put out but I guess the Marvel Knights label is similar to MAX in that regard? Besides Master Man, I didn’t recognise any of Red Skull’s henchmen – the armless assassin cast an interesting figure though! And, rather than understand Black Panther more, this one just confused me further – so he has some kind of hand weapon that melts people’s faces?! Every time I see this character it seems like he’s got a new power! It’s also a very convenient device that deals with threats too quickly and easily. 

I’m not much of a fan of Denys Cowan’s art either – he draws Cap’s face with sunken cheeks like a heroin addict! Facially he looks like Thin White Duke-era Bowie – Cap! 

Flags of Our Fathers is a decent wartime crossover between Cap and Black Panther that’s fairly entertaining though it isn’t going to blow anyone away with it’s simple superhero story.

Captain America/Black Panther: Flags of Our Fathers

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