COMIC BOOK REVIEW - Steve Rogers Captain America: The Trial of Maria Hill
Alright. It’s been a few days since I’ve been able to read or watch anything given the horrendous chest infection that I had. But I have returned with new vigour to bring you some awesome reviews before we hit 2022. Returning to a Marvel Series that blew my mind, Steve Rogers Captain America gave us one of the biggest “WTF” moments in the last few years. We see that Steve has apparently been a member of Hydra this entire time, working for the Red Skull, his arch-nemesis.
‘The Trial of Maria Hill’ continues where ‘Hail Hydra’ left off, with Steve planning to kill the Red Skull with the help of brainwashed scientist Doctor Erik Selvig. Whilst this plan is happening, Steve is still aiding Hydra in their plan for World domination. The Red Skull sends in Hydra to take over Sokovia, by taking on the military dictator there. However, it’s apparent that his plan involves Hydra failing so that S.H.I.E.L.D. will come to the aid of the dictator in Sokovia. Meanwhile, in space, Captain Marvel and Alpha Flight are struggling to battle wave after wave of Chitauri invaders. It appears that Maria Hill, the current director of S.H.I.E.L.D. has a plan, but she’s in the midst of a tribunal case to decide whether or not she is fit for the role. Despite her many character witnesses, she can’t win when Steve Rogers stands against her. But somehow despite this, she manages to acquire her plans for an “Interplanetary Shield” from the S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarrier and gets them to Captain Marvel up in space. Naturally, this angers the Red Skull who was hoping for the chaos created by the Chitauri invasion to give him the time and space needed to take his plan to the next level. What he doesn’t know is that the invasion itself was orchestrated by Steve who is looking to oust Skull to bring in his own contender for the leadership. This is where the real kick of the story is. Whilst all this is going on in the present, we are given some more flashbacks to Steve’s time with Hydra as a kid. Although many of the youngsters who are being groomed for Hydra don’t approve of Steve, he’s lucky in that his best friend has his back. Just who is the mystery character who Steve considers his best friend? And is anyone ever going to realize what is happening?
Okay, so remember when I said that I liked the first novel in this series because I thought it gave us something so new and unexpected. I still like that aspect of the series, but I am very confused. Given that we know what happened to make Captain America like this, the series is retconning a lot of past material but I’m still not sure if that’s stuff that has definitely happened, or only as Steve remembers it. The best friend twist was certainly pretty exciting and from that perspective, I’d be excited in reading on. However, despite all of this positive critique, I can’t deny that the novel overall was a little slow and boring. Everything was being done from the shadows and there wasn’t much being done. I’d maybe also like more interaction with other heroes who are closer to Steve so may suspect things a little faster!
The artwork was decent, no complaints there. The flashbacks especially were drawn and coloured fantastically. The covers were also impressive. Overall, not a bad novel as such, but not a great one. I’m hoping the action kicks up a notch in the next one!
Favourite Panel:
This is the weirdest retcon. Like I’m still trying to make sense of this.
Favourite Character:
I want to say, Captain America. But weirdly it was probably Maria Hill in this one!
Rating:
Story Arc: 12/20
Character Development: 15.5/20
Artwork: 13/20
Enjoyability: 11.5/20
Re-readability: 10/20
Overall: 62/100
Level: Advanced