Captain America: Symbol of Truth #1 Brings Sam Wilson Back To The Good Fight

2021 was a year that saw no ongoing Captain America series on the shelves, save for two miniseries – The United States of Captain America and Captain America/Iron Man. In 2022, that’s all about to change, with two Cap-centric titles in the coming months – Sentinel of Liberty, which puts Steve Rogers in the spotlight; and Symbol of Truth, starring Sam Wilson donning the star-spangled suit once more (with a fancy new shield to boot). 

Writer Tochi Onyebuchi (Black Panther Legends, Riot Baby) has been given the reins to tell Sam’s story as he sets off on a new mission to fight the good fight as Captain America once again. He brings back familiar faces like Misty Knight and Joaquin Torres (aka the new Falcon) to help round out our cast of heroic allies aiding Sam in his return to being Cap. In a sense, it helps provide a connective tissue from previous stories that featured Sam as Cap in order to help build this new era of greatness.

Symbol of Truth opens proper with a mission that finds Sam and Joaquin stopping high-tech terrorists from hijacking a train that quickly goes south. After a flashback that shows Sam reacquainting himself with Misty, who’s given him this exact assignment, we see at the start of the issue that’s lovingly described as “Typical Captain America #%$&.” Once the action picks back up again in the present, there are twists and turns that’ll undoubtedly keep readers on their toes as much as it does for Cap and the Falcon. One of these twists is something that aligns with the story’s intent of having Sam confront the harsh truths of the nation he’s sworn to protect, especially with how he confronts these truths.

The last pages of the issue help set the stage for what seems to be the overarching storyline we’ll see in this story, featuring two certain characters that could spell trouble for Cap and his allies. It’s an interesting cliffhanger and one that’s certainly going to hook readers in to read the next issue to see the story continued and how it impacts Sam’s mission as Cap.

Fans coming in from the Marvel Cinematic Universe will definitely feel right at home seeing Sam in the Captain America suit and doing what he does best – especially with his MCU counterpart wielding the shield recently in the Falcon and The Winter Soldier limited series. Sam being drawn to resemble Anthony Mackie throughout the comic certainly doesn’t hurt with this, either.

Onyebuchi’s writing is on point, especially when it comes to the interactions Sam has with Joaquin during the mission and when Misty is briefing him about said mission in the issue’s flashback scene. He nails Sam’s voice down pat and every line of dialogue said by our star-spangled hero, and I find myself easily being able to root for him quite well.

The art in Symbol of Truth #1 is striking and bold, thanks to R.B. Silva (Powers of X, Fantastic Four) on the pencils and Jesus Aburtov’s colors. Each page is dynamically laid out, especially when it comes to the issue’s centerpiece of Cap and Falcon’s train mission in the U.S. Southwest. Every bit of shield-slinging action and high-flying heroics during these action scenes are a great showcase of what Silva and Aburtov bring to the table for Symbol of Truth’s interiors.