Reading this was like drinking a tall glass of sweet lemonade after that dumpster fire of a Hydra-Cap storyline (i.e. Secret Empire) I tried to keep up with.
There were about four distinct stories in this volume.
Story 1: Cap is on the road, trying to find his place in the American Heartland away from the city. The mood reads very much like Cap is running away from everything a bit after Secret Empire & trying to find himself again in the American people.
He drives through a small town named Captain America, Nebraska. Lucky him, he's made it just in time for their annual Captain America town celebration, which commemorates the day Cap saved the town from "Rampart": the bad guy/supremacists who tried to take the town via military coup ten years earlier. (Foreshadowing: Rampart are the new bad guys for the rest of the volume.)
There's a very sweet "testifying" by the people of the town about Cap at the celebration. It was all very healing, and gave me the warm and fuzzies.
But it turns out that Cap's visit to Captain America, Nebraska was not a coincidence! Steve expected Rampart to come back on the anniversary of their defeat to try again & he was there to stop them!
There's a very sweet moment at the end when he talks to the town people afterward. I thought the writing was very spot-on (very Cap). It ends kinda cheesy ("The strong protect the weak. Never forget that."), but I thought the issue was very redemptive for post Secret Empire.
Story 2 is my favorite of the volume. Cap continues on his journey through real 'Merica and tries to offer to wash dishes at the local diner in exchange for a meal in the fictional Sauga River, Georgia. Silly, Cap. Of course, his presence causes a ruckus in the small town. This time, by coincidence, he crosses paths with the cray and violent Swordsman who threatens to flood the tiny town (and murder everyone) by destroying the local dam. Cap saves the day with the assistance of a dam engineer and the town's local, adorable diner owner.
Very wholesome, even though the issue was full of action (and pretty violent murder by the Swordsman...).
Story 3, I did not love... because it was a Kraven story. Who I hate. Ug.
He's one of my least favorite super-villains.
Anyway, he's just the middle man here between Captain America and Rampart (foreshadowing complete!). The story ends on a pretty great cliffhanger & issue 698 starts Story 4.
Story 4 was maybe my least favorite of the book. Maybe.
I didn't love everything about the time travel/America Dystopian (Near) Future storyline, but I still really enjoyed it especially compared to Hydra-Cap, which was a run that suffered from one large-ass terrible idea, too many plot holes, and convoluted writing.
This story at least had solid dialogue, beautiful art, and ended with Cap taking a leap of faith.
Reading this, I feel like Waid really knows who Captain America is, and that's what makes this comic so much fun, IMO.
I know the reviews are pretty mid-range to low, but I'm happy to give this a solid 4 stars.
Welcome back, Captain America.