Writer: Chip Zdarsky
Art: Carlos Magno, Butch Guice, Alex Guimarães, and VC’s Travis Lanham
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: May 8th, 2019
Roman’s unthinkable act, the Human Torch battles Namor, some special guests make an appearance, and Captain America’s last-ditch effort all in this week’s Invaders #5 as Chip Zdarsky’s run hits a pinnacle turning point. Let’s take a look!
WARNING SPOILERS AHEAD!!!!
Buck Shot
Zdarsky opens the story giving readers conformation that Bucky, even though he was shot point blank in the head, managed to survive because the gun he gave Anna at the end of the last issue had blanks in it. Now let’s face it, fans knew Bucky wasn’t going to die but this reviewer felt like last issues cliffhanger was conveniently mopped up rather quickly.
Granted, this was cleaned up so much better than “Dick Grayson/ Ric Grayson” but this fan would have loved to let the plot point dangle out there for another issue or two in order to add more conflict, pressure, and drama to the future issues. In addition, the explanation of “without me holding it the gun shot blanks“ was a crafty idea this reviewer wished was set up in earlier issues to fit this story beat better.
Namor vs Jim Hammond
The story continues with Bucky overhearing the woman who shot him say that she was talking with Roman, Nay’s son, before heading out with the bomb components. Cap calls up Jim Hammond, the android Human Torch, to stop Roman at the Naval base. However, Jim gets blindsided by Namor and literally beheaded by his trident.
Carlos Magna and Butch Guice did an amazing job laying out a detailed rundown of this dynamic fight between Namor and Jim while Alex Guimarãe’s colors brought the page to life with the contrast between the deep blues and the fiery reds throughout each panel. Fans simply won’t get enough of this battle and will truly appreciate the rich and dynamic battle between two classics.
Nay Nay’s Kid
Meanwhile, Cap finally called in the Avengers to confront Atlantis but they can’t get through the forcefield barrier surrounding the underwater city. Now, as a comic fan who readers almost every Marvel issue, this reviewer thoroughly enjoyed Zdarsky weaving in the current continuity with the Avengers and continuing where Jason Aaron’s tale left off. Zdarsky gets an A+ for using the same Avengers crew and incorporates a logical progression within the story that often times gets overlooked by fans.
Next, Zdarsky has Cap call Admiral October to get her to take Roman, the Naval Commander, and Nay’s son, into custody just until Cap arrives. However, Roman smells what the Admiral is up to and guns her down along with her troops. He then sets off the Navy’s missiles to have them head directly to Atlantis in order to make it seem like America attacked first.
This was so unexpected and such a dubious twist that was so shocking for this reviewer. Fans of the series knew that Roman was bad but not maniacally evil too. This was the most powerful part of the issue and Zdarsky laid it on heavy while solidifying that this series has weight and merit throughout Marvel. In addition, Roman is surely being used by Namor but this action cannot be easily forgotten, nor can what happens next.
Glide On The Peace Train
Even though Roman was able to fire the missiles, the Avengers were still there to stop them before they could hit Atlantis. However, Zdarsky ends the issue with Atlantis retaliating and firing missiles off the U.S. Coast instead of from their city. Readers watch as the missiles touch down, make an impact, and explode. It appears that Cap’s ”peace train” has come to an end. Unless Zdarsky pulls a rabbit out of a hat tricking us all, these missiles are going to touch down on American soil, which escalated and raised the severity of the situation.
These lives are on Steve Rogers now. Cap pushed for peace and tried to reconnect with his old friend only to have it literally blow up in his face and everyone else’s. Tony tried to talk with Cap about this long ago and now the damage is done. How will Cap deal with this? He’s already had a hard enough time being reaccepted by the American people( Hydra Cap) and now his “peace train” may have killed thousands of American lives. Sure, he’s not responsible directly but if the Avengers went in from the start and captured Namor instead of trying to talk to him, would this have happened?
Final Thoughts
Zdarsky really steps it up in this issue and severely lays on the magnitude of the events that are unfolding in this book. Even though fans knew the direction Zdarsky was taking us, we had no idea the ramifications would be this intense. As much as this reviewer doesn’t want to see bloodshed, especially American lives, my hope is that Zdarsky doesn’t build up to this cliffhanger only to find some cute way of escaping the turmoil at the beginning of next issue. He took the time to slowly build up to this moment and I hope he doesn’t cheapen the amazing impact this issue had within the story.
Overall, fans of Cap, the Invaders, and the Avengers will love this issue, especially those who have been following along from the beginning. That said, this reviewer left with a few questions. What does Charles Xavier have to do with all of this? Is he poking around in Namor’s head? Could he be the mastermind behind all of this? And, could this all tie together with Hickman’s run coming up? I’m excited for the future of this series, as well as Marvel in general, and Zdarsky is a huge piece of that. Keep up the great work Chip and company!