Captain America: Cold War Omega #1

After two months and six issues, the crossover between both Captain America books, “Captain America: Cold War” finally comes to a close. From beginning to end, it’s a ride that was – albeit bumpy in some spots – one that I was proud to be on as a fan of these characters. It lived up to my expectations from beginning to end.

This issue picks up where the last one left off, with Dimension Z open to the world. As tensions ramp up, and the world starts to fall in danger, it’s up to our heroes to save it before things spin out of control. There’s a lot of set up riding on here – and it manages to pay it off smoothly, if not a little rushed.

We jump perspectives a few times, going from Ian to Bucky to our protagonists, before they blend all three into one. None of it feels jarring, and having Ian narrate the big fight really helps pull everything together, I can’t help but feel like the stakes could’ve been handled better. Instead of just showing us the monsters from Dimension Z invading various cities, it’d be better if there was more of a showcase of their terror to build up that urgency, but within a tightly packed story as is, it’d take away page space from more important story beats.

Even so, the final fights are satisfying. Seeing the antagonists finally being taken down after everything they’ve done to the heroes so far was very well-earned. Even within all the action, there’s a lot of good character moments – payoffs to tensions long built from the start of this very crossover. The amazing thing about the writing team of Lanzing, Kelly, and Oynebuchi is just how well they understand these characters at their core, their motivations, their internal conflicts, and all of that truly just plays out here in spectacular fashion.

Art-wise, it’s a step up from Magno’s art in the Alpha issue. The panelling is good, and I love how characters aren’t restricted to the box and allowed to break free if it leads to a better visual. There are some moments where the faces look awkward, which can take you out of the moment, but other than that it’s solid. They’re really elevated by Guru-eFX’s colours – a lot of the shadows fit tonally and really add to the amount of detail Magno puts on faces when they’re close up. Caramagna’s lettering was also good as per usual.

Overall, even with the few harsh turns along the road, “Cold War” was a top notch Captain America event, with the ending truly making it land. It saddens me that after this we’re getting the last two issues of this era of Captain America comics, given just how good it was. I’m going to miss it a lot.