Captain America, Vol. 5: The Tomorrow Soldier

Captain America (2012) (Collected Editions)

by Rick Remender (Writer), Carlos Pacheco (Penciler), Wade Von Grawbadger (Inker)

This is it! The final chapter of the story that began in Dimension Z!
After Cap's earth-shaking battle against the Iron Nail, Steve Rogers is Captain America no more! But can he survive his new situation as a face from the past hunts him? Meanwhile, two of Cap's oldest foes continue their plan: Arnim Zola and the Red Skull! Zola wages war on New York, but without Cap to lead them, can the Avengers stop the Bio-Fanatic's plot for revenge? As the Falcon faces a secret from Cap's past, Zola unleashes his hyper-mutates, and Jet Black joins the battle...to the death! The Red Skull's long game is revealed as the road to AXIS begins! But Zola and the Skull didn't anticipate a new player in the game: who is the all-new Captain America?!

Collecting: Captain America 22-25 & material from Marvel 75th Anniversary Celebration

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Marvel, Superheroes, Fiction, Comic Book, Graphic Novels Comics

136 pages, Hardcover

First published January 6, 2015

About the author

Rick Remender is an American comic book writer and artist who resides in Los Angeles, California. He is the writer/co-creator of many independent comic books like Black Science, Deadly Class, LOW, Fear Agent and Seven to Eternity. Previously, he wrote The Punisher, Uncanny X-Force, Captain America and Uncanny Avengers for Marvel Comics.

Reviews

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'll be honest, I haven't really enjoyed the Dimension Z storyline.
I thought it was stupid from the get-go, and I don't like old Steve. While I respect the idea behind it as sorta interesting, I just...*barf*



So, after putting off reading this one until it was literally due the next day, I was really surprised to find that I (GASP!) had fun reading this.
Warning: Spoilers! Lots of 'em!



Yeah, I put that spoiler warning in there, but this book was spoiled before it even came out. They even joke about it in the freaking comic!



In case you can't read the panel, Falcon (now the new Captain America) says, "You guys all knew it was me, didn't you? There's literally no drama left in this reveal."
Hahahahaha!
Well, yes and no, buddy. Because I was so far behind on everything that I forgot this was going to happen. Like, I heard about it so long ago, I assumed it had already come to pass, and he's already given up the mantle...or something.
Ah, the joys of a bad memory.
I admitted that, because most of my enjoyment came from all of the What-The-What?! moments I had while reading this.
And because I'm a giant ass, I'm going to sit here and spoil it for you!

First when Ivan? Ian? Whatever his name is, showed up alive and well?! OMG! I was all aflutter!
*chokes back happy tears*



Then Sharon?!
And she's gotten older, too! Yay! Steve has someone to change his diapers now! Unless she's the mole!



And since I seriously didn't remember any of the spoilers I'd read, I just about cried when this happened.



Yes. I'm ridiculous. Go ahead and feel free to make fun of me.
Seriously, though! I thought Falcon had just sacrificed himself, and...Aw, shut up.

Whatever. I had a good time with this, and it's probably because I was so late to the game.
I will say, I didn't think Jet's reaction at the end made any sense. After all she went through, why run back to her evil father just because of a misunderstanding? I call bullshit on that one.
Other than that, I thought this was the best volume of the whole Dimension Z debacle. I'm not really interested in reading any more about Falcon-as-Cap or Old-Cap, but I might change my mind later on down the road.

[Anthony · Rating 3 out of 5]

Remender wraps up the Zola plot thread, does a little set up for AXIS and introduces us to the NEW Captain America!

What bothered me most about this was how he wrote Tony Stark. He tried really hard to write a wise-ass Downey Jr Stark, but he didn't succeed. And then there's the food jokes at the Avengers meeting that just fall flat. Bendis managed to write an Avengers that would make me laugh out loud from time to time, I don't think Remender is that kind of writer. He does write a pretty good Falcon though.

A lot of this just seems very heavily editorially mandated. To the point were Sam Wilson makes the inside joke that everybody already knew he'd be the next Captain America. But none of his run stood out to me that much. Sucks to be the guy to follow Captain America after Ed Brubaker, I suppose.

[Subham · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fun read as we have Zola finally invading Earth from dimesnion Z and he has set loose his Unvengers and monstrosities on earth and its upto the Avengers to de-escalate the problem on all sides but the worse happens when they have to take care of the bomb that Zola has unleashed and well Falcon and Jet Black on that and also the return of Ian and Sharon and I loved that scene! .Will they be able to stop Zola and his plans but at what cost? Plus the reveal of the new Captain America!

I loved this volume and its so cool, particularly the thing where they focus on the dynamics between the characters and Remender has a way of showing how epic the invasion truly is (telling from other stories) and he does that well to bring it here and really focus on Sam and Steve really well highlighting their characteristics and give a whole new status quo to not just the book, but Marvel universe itself and I love this! It truly feels epic in the greatest of ways and yep the art gets so much better. Also I am interested to see the future of Jet and Ian going forward.

[Gianfranco Mancini · Rating 2 out of 5]

Worst Cap saga ever... Two stars just because I always liked Pacheco's art.

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Captain America: The Tomorrow Soldier. Volume 5 of the Marvel NOW! run on Captain America and final volume before the series is revamped.

This series has been so inconsistent in quality, from both a story telling point of view but also the artwork. The previous volume The Iron Nail being a particular low point in the series.

With The Tomorrow Soldier we now have a Steve Rogers without the super soldier serum and he has also aged rapidly. So he is no longer Captain America. By the end of this volume however the new character to take up the mantle is revealed.

This volume also carries on, but doesn’t fully conclude the Dimension Z storyline, this is instead left on an annoying cliffhanger. Which is a shame as it means it’s not a neat end to this part of the run. Arnim Zola, working with Red Skull (as seen on the cover) is out for revenge and has decided to invade Earth with his mutates is the best idea. Especially now that Steve Rogers has been taken off the table.

What I did like with this particular volume, is that it also involved the Avengers. Iron Man, Thor and Hulk in particular. It was cool to see the threat escalate and have them involved, rather than the Cap related characters having to face it on their own with some vague reason as to why no one could help.

Talking of Cap related characters, we get to see even more of Sam Wilson as Falcon. He got some page time in the last volume, but here he takes centre stage to help deal with the Zola threat. There is a moment that really highlights how much of a hero he is, as he’s normally in Steve Rogers/Captain America’s shadow.

The artwork is decent throughout, and this volume is probably the highlight of the series. Contained within is also a 75th Anniversary special that is a fun addition but not linked in anyway to the main story.

Overall this series ends on a positive note, but the series as a whole has been inconsistent. I would struggle to recommend this to those new to Marvel and the character of Captain America as it doesn’t do either justice. As mentioned earlier it doesn’t tidy up all the plot threads, with a fair few things left to be resolved in the All-New Captain America.

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was good, but rather underwhelming as a conclusion to the events of Dimension Z. Zola's big plan was a bomb? Everyone turns against Jet Black on the spur of the moment? etc. The story had all the requisite beats, but just wasn't developed in anywhere near the level of detail it required for them to really land or make some sort of emotional sense. Disappointing.

[James DeSantis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow, what a nice turn around from the last volume which was Meh.

In this volume we have old man Rogers. Afterr the events of the last volume he is now a old man and not his super soldier self. So the avengers come to see him but Zola is back and shit is about to get heavy again. Jet and Falcon work together. A special return character(s) make an appearence. This is a much happier uplifting ending to Steve's run than I had ever expected.

It's fun, exciting, great art, and solid pacing here. The final issue is a solid goodbye to Steve and Hello to Sam as the new Captain America. Such a shame wasn't a longer stint but overall it worked well here and gave closure to a few characters.

I didn't love what happened to Jet and her character but the rest was great. A 4 out of 5.

[Brandon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Illustrations were pretty good. The storyline was pretty lame until about half way through. Overall happy to see the shield handed from old Cap to new Cap.

[Merel · Rating 1 out of 5]

You can't just end a series when the story is 2/3 in and say "be continued in all-new captain america!" what BS is that...

[Chris Lemmerman · Rating 2 out of 5]

Rick Remender's Captain America goes out with a whimper rather than a bang, as he brings back Arnim Zola (again) in order to act as a prelude to Axis and kick Steve Rogers while he's down some more.

A lot of the reveals in this volume fall flat because they're exceedingly obvious, even if they hadn't been spoiled by the media ages and ages ago. The final confrontation between Zola and Jet Black goes pear-shaped which is a shame since she's the only really interesting thing in this run, and the whole 'Cap is old' thing gets really boring, really quickly since every character seems to want to point it out and make fun. A lot of the supporting characters read out of character too, especially when all the Avengers assemble at the end of the story. It almost feels like Remender had given up at this point and was just scripting whatever, because he wanted to get to the All-New Captain America story quicker (which does sound interesting, given the Hydra prologue in the final issue, I'll admit).

Carlos Pacheco continues to frustrate me with his most recent artwork. His work has always been enjoyable, but now it feels rushed and badly inked, with a lot of the details being lost - you can especially see this when you look at the pencils/inks contained in the back of the trade.

[Emmett Spain · Rating 3 out of 5]

Steve Rogers as an old man, Captain Zola's ridiculous Unvengers, a battle with monsters in New York City, and more character reveals than you can poke Steve's cane at. Oh, and the eye-rolling flip-flop of the character Jet Black, which happened so quick that I got whiplash. It's the end of Remender's run, and frankly, that's cool by me. It got weird. Reeeeeeal weird.

Bonus points for collecting Stan Lee's first ever Cap story from 1941, a 2 page text story with shonky prose and spelling errors. A very charming look back. Double bonus points for bringing in Bruce Timm to draw a refreshed version penned by Mr. Stan Lee himself.

[Will Robinson Jr. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rick Remender has done some interesting things in his run on the Captain America series. I have really enjoyed the new things he brought to this mythos. Captain America has always been about doing the right thing even when it hurts one to do so. The artwork was pretty good. I am curious to see where the stories go now that we get a new Captain America by the end of this volume. I really wish that Rick would have kept Sam and Jet together but hey there are no happy romantic endings in comics.

[Jacob · Rating 3 out of 5]

Public library copy.

Remender does a fine job concluding his unusual Steve Rogers and Dimension Z. Carlos Pacheco on art was a nice way to go out as the baton, or shield, gets passed down again. I don't think the Remender legacy will measure up to, say, Brubaker but it's easy to understand why writers want to find a unique treatment to Steve Rogers AKA Captain America.

[Milo · Rating 4 out of 5]

This series started to loose its way towards the end but was still pretty good. More like a 3.5/5

[Sean Kennedy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Anticlimactic ending to the Dimension Z saga, and really just a rushed attempt to get Sam Wilson into position as the new Captain America.

[John Yelverton · Rating 3 out of 5]

I get quite tired of Marvel Comics playing "pass the shield". When will they learn that there's only one Captain America?

[Kris Shaw · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is it, the big payoff to Remender's run. And what a payoff it is! S P O I L E R S abound from here on out, so if you haven't read this yet and don't want it ruined, turn back now. You have been warned...

Arnim Zola is not dead. He tips his hand to reveal his long-gestating plan to destroy New York City and every Avenger in it. He is working with the Red Skull and brings his army from Dimension Z to invade New York. Steve Rogers is down for the count as Captain America, as The Iron Nail's removal of the Super Soldier Serum appears to be permanent. (Yeah right.)

Without giving you a blow by blow play by play, the Falcon saves the day and with Steve's blessing becomes the new Captain America. Jet Black does Arnim Zola's will by betraying him, with Zola manipulating the heroes into betraying her, thus fulfilling his original plan. Not for nothing is Arnim Zola considered a genius. Sharon Carter and Steve's stepson from Dimension Z, Ian, are alive and well. Ian is now an adult since time moves more swiftly in Dimension Z than it does here. (Remember, in the first two volumes Cap was gone from our dimension for a minute and twelve years elapsed there.)

The movie incarnations of Iron Man, the Falcon, Thor, Nick Fury, and the Hulk are all represented here. I don't have a problem with a singular version of these characters existing across all platforms (print, movies, cartoons, video games, etc.) so long as they are consistent. Iron Man in particular flies in the face of his established personality in print. On screen you have Robert Downey Jr. carrying the snark, but on the printed page he comes off as a smug prick. To the civilians out there who walked into the comics this is fine. To me it is fine only so long as they make this a consistent thing and move forward with it. I would rather have the comics be accessible to the masses, so this singular version works as long as they keep it going forward. I want comics to survive.

I am glad that my local library had Vols. 3-5, as I always wondered how this run ended. I dropped it after the first two books in the line because there are too many books from too many publishers offered for me to afford following everything that I would like to. This was a satisfying read that would even be worth paying for.

[Carrie (brightbeautifulthings) · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a perfectly fine ending to this story, but it’s definitely taken a hit in quality since the Dimension Z duology. Parts of it feel extremely rushed, and points I thought were going to be important (the Avengers fighting Zola’s mutated versions of themselves–and, yes, the artwork is as silly as it sounds; indeed, some of the mutates look like dudes stomping around in off-brand Godzilla costumes) end up glossed over in favor of the collection’s real agenda, which is introducing Sam Wilson as Captain America. I love me some Sam Cap, and he’s a worthy contender to pick up the shield now that Steve’s out of commission, but I don’t know that we needed an entire collection for pretty much just that.

If you followed my prior reviews, you know I’ve been an Ian Rogers and Jet Black fan from the beginning, and it’s great fun to see Nomad surface. I’ve really enjoyed Jet’s development too, though it takes an unexpected hit here, and Steve’s characterization gets a little wobbly. I just don’t think he would be that suspicious of her after everything, when one of Steve’s primary characteristics is that he gives everyone a chance to be better. I’m surprised no writers ever pulled her back into a later story, but maybe I’m in the minority of readers who enjoyed her. (Couldn’t be me getting attached to minor characters no one else cares about…) Anyway, I’m going to go back and read Remender’s The Bitter March to fill in some of the Bucky/Iron Nail details, but overall, I’m pretty glad to be done with this.

I review regularly at brightbeautifulthings.tumblr.com.

[Linnea · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars -- A shockingly decent conclusion to Remender's shockingly awful run on Captain America. Maybe I enjoyed it because I had such extraordinarily low expectations to the point that I put off reading it for months and decided to skip Vol. 4 because absolutely nothing about "Dr. Mindbubble" made me want to read that one.

I will say comic book logic was strong with this one -- no one staying dead, character motivations/moods changing in the blink of an eye without any real explanation other than to further the plot, and often escalating situations for no reason (see: Steve's "son" trying to attack him for some unknown reason, the Avengers fighting him without knowing what he wants, and then everyone getting along and pretending as if nothing happened; See Steve arresting Jet for no reason whatsoever except heresy and to have a dramatic conclusion, and her overreacting the point of undoing all character development), and everything coming together in a neat, tidy little bow (see Steve and Sharon raising the same kid separately and unknowingly).

I did really like that bow in the end though -- Sam becoming Captain America and the Avengers banter (the tone of which was seriously out of left field for this overly serious run though) was enjoyable and made this run almost, ALMOST, worth it.

[Alex E · Rating 4 out of 5]

After stopping the Iron Nail, Steve is not the man he was. And as he recovers - Zola attacks!

This is actually my second time reading this, the first was when I did a Captain America chronology read a few years back. I really like Remender's run, and I like the way he tackled not only Steve being depowered, but how he passes the mantle as well.

In the last volume, Steve was left depowered and is now an older man. As he's recovering, Zola attacks New York, in an effort to get his revenge as well as trying to get his daughter back. All the storylines that Remender has been juggling come to the forefront as particular people we thought were dead reappear, and allegiances get shattered. Steve runs things from the sidelines, essentially taking on the Nick Fury role.

After it's all sorted, we get the mantle being passed to Sam. And we get to see him in action as the falcon as well in this one. I think this marked a turning point for not only the Captain America character, but also the Marvel Universe as well - as they will run with this version of Cap for quite some time from here on out.

This is definitely the culmination of things and it's a great read. Check this out if you want to read about one of Cap's more harrowing adventures that leaves him changed forever...

...well not forever but for a bit at least.

[Jason Tanner · Rating 3 out of 5]

So, this was kind of disappointing overall. Not bad, just disappointing. I feel like the last half of Remender's Cap run was really underdeveloped. (As was Steve Rogers himself. It felt a lot like Remender wrote around Steve as often as not. Rogers is honestly a pretty sophisticated thinker in a lot of ways, but that was just not evident in this run.) There were some interesting ideas here, but they were just not fleshed out as we rushed to the end of the run. I would like to have seen more of the Zola children interacting, and I honestly don't think Jet was well served by the narrative. Steve should really have gone to bat for her. Oh well.

Positive thoughts: Remender's Tony Stark is perfectly insufferable. Old Steve is a good idea.... temporarily of course. Sam Wilson as Cap is pretty great. Fury calling out the Avengers when Steve accused SHIELD of unchecked power was a valid point. This was the Incursion era after all.

Not a bad run in all. Strong start, rough end. Some good questions asked, but the possible answers were poorly explored. I'd put it around the Jurgens run in quality: nice to look at, fun enough, but light on substance.

[Ronan The Librarian · Rating 2 out of 5]

*Disclaimer: I did not read vol 3 or 4 of this run because they sounded bad*
2.5
Even though the art in this is objectively better than the JRJR art in the first 2 volumes, I found that the increase in detail made the story seem a little too ridiculous. Obviously this is a comic book, and I can tolerate or even endorse a trope or cliche here and there, this just felt like the lazy kind. Writing didn’t really stand out to me, Tony Stark starring as unfunny dick isn’t great, and this kinda ended any interest I had with the characters introduced at the beginning of the run Just bc Ian’s sole purpose is to be the shock factor of Cap’s son doesn’t mean he has to feel as hollow, and Jet’s decision at the end makes no sense. Usually, a comic has to be pretty bad for me to reach into the 1-2 star bag, but this to me was a disappointing end to a solid beginning. I only read to see the FalCap transition, and it gave me that so...

[Sleepseeker · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the last volume in the series. It had some highs and lows and I don't know how I feel about some of them. This end gives us old man Steve Rogers and I'm interested in seeing how that plays out. We get a new Captain America, I hope they can do it justice. I am sad about Jet Black and how quickly they turned on her, especially a few people. I hope we see her again.

Would I recommend this series to somebody? I haven't read much Captain America solo comics and this run had some highs and lows, but I would say Yes to reading it. If your pull list is low and need some new stuff to read, this series had some good moments.

[Frédéric · Rating 3 out of 5]

This last volume was disappointing compared to the formers.
Zola’s come back is a total dud and the whole gig feels rushed and fails to impress. Looks like Remender couldn’t wait to get rid of the main character.
Sharon and Jet confrontation sounds fishy and Jet’s reaction is dumb and childish, enough to conveniently get her off the board. The cheap jokes preceding Sam’s predictable coronation are painful too.
Still, Sam’s take over is coherent and Remender seems as at ease with him as he was with Cap, teasing interesting future adventures.

Artwise Carlos Pacheco leaves me unimpressed again.

[Sean · Rating 3 out of 5]

Zola rears his ugly head(?) again and the Avengers are needed. Cap is dealing with the ramifications from the battle with the Iron Nail. Seeing Cap interact with the Avengers is always great but a little different here. The Battle is pretty epic and there are some shocking surprises that seem like the tip of the iceberg. The story felt unfinished and I think this would have read better collected with the next volume. Pacheco's are was decent but below his normal standards. Overall, a solid book but a tad underwhelming.

[Kyle Berk · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the volume of Cap I’ve liked the most since the second volume.

It’s the conclusion of the dimension Z thread for the most part to my understanding. Sam Wilson becomes Captain, and its contains the 75th anniversary celebration.

I think this is a solid volume, the dialogue is a bit wonky at times and characters and decisions flip on a dime but the 75th anniversary special helps to make up for that.

Not bad.

[Villain E · Rating 3 out of 5]

A short collection, which always bugs me. The Iron Nail has left Steve Rogers old. So Arnim Zola launches an incursion in a reprisal from the Dimension Z storyline. Zola is a second fiddle to the Red Skull and the events in Uncanny Avengers, which undermines the drama. And, as good an artist as Carlos Pacheco is, nobody can draw John Romita Jr's character designs and have them look reasonable except for John Romita Jr.

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

This series' art did a lot of the heavy lifting but I'm also usually more of a fan of Remender than I'm not. If what he's doing isn't working, at least it will be interesting. Like the last volume, even when things don't land perfectly, I still enjoyed the weightiness of it all. My biggest gripe is Jet's reaction at the end (and the way everyone responds to her, I suppose). It's just too quick and convenient to have much oomf.

[Brent · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the wind-up of Remender's run because I always like the Sam Wilson (Falcon, Captain America) character. There is some nice artwork and storytelling in a Kirbyesque vein from Carlos Pacheco here.
Recommended.

[Zachary King · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun and brisk story introducing “Old Cap” in a battle against Arnim Zola. Cameos by the Avengers, introducing Sam Wilson as the new Captain America. Lost a little bit of context starting with this volume, but I picked it up fast enough.