Bird of Prey! The Sam Wilson Appreciation

[QUOTE=Of Atlantis;3156874]First issue was solid! Good premise, strong ending.

Throws a lot of confusion with the continuity regarding Real Steve/ Hydra Cap though. Did history get retconned or not?[/QUOTE]

I absolutely loved it, so much so I kinda wish they'd left the reveal of the bad guy as a surprise, but for a book like this you need all the attention you can get it guess.

Why i read the book was that lots of people are still assuming that Steve was always Hydra and Sam is just beating himself for not catching it so he's not bothering to correct anyone. Rayshaun lays it out pretty clearly i think.

Yeah, really digging the first issue. Sam's dialogue was great and the setup for Blackheart in the story feels very organic. Excited for issue 2!

Great issue. Really like the new suit, along with the new Patriot.

[QUOTE=marvelprince;3156878]
Why i read the book was that lots of people are still assuming that Steve was always Hydra and Sam is just beating himself for not catching it so he's not bothering to correct anyone. Rayshaun lays it out pretty clearly i think.[/QUOTE]No wonder Sam stopped being Cap.

Overall, I liked it. It got a little too deep for me at times, such as trying to understand Sam's feelings with Steve. I didn't keep up with Secret Empire. Did Sam find out that Steve was altered by the Cosmic Cube? Also, I'm still not sold on the new wings. For me, I prefer the wings he had during his Captain America tenure.

Other than that though, I like what I see what Sam is trying to do, especially with trying to broker peace between two rival gangs. Him inspiring that gang to follow him reminded me of the natural charisma and the leadership that I saw him exhibit during his Captain America run. I also liked the party he went to with Patriot. The narration hit the situation right on the head. In the news we hear a lot about violence and death among minorities, never the celebration and when people have a good time. It's a narrative not many people know and I'm grateful that people are starting to know it.

In any case, my attention is piqued. Looking forward to more in the future!

I really don't get Sam's response to Steve and the Hydra business in this issue.

It just doesn't track with how [I]Secret Empire[/I] ended or how the Generations issue left things between Sam and Steve. Why would he say, unironically, that his decades with Steve was a lie since that's not true?

[QUOTE=Frontier;3158406]I really don't get Sam's response to Steve and the Hydra business in this issue.

It just doesn't track with how [I]Secret Empire[/I] ended or how the Generations issue left things between Sam and Steve. Why would he say, unironically, that his decades with Steve was a lie since that's not true?[/QUOTE]A lot of things bothered me in this first issue, including the fact that Sam was so naïve in thinking he could just step into a city where he has no prior background / connections and just as easily publically get two rival gangs to agree to a truce with next to no groundwork being laid out for it (or at least there was no mention I remember of anything like that happening off-panel).

[QUOTE=MajorHoy;3159187]A lot of things bothered me in this first issue, including the fact that Sam was so naïve in thinking he could just step into a city where he has no prior background / connections and just as easily publically get two rival gangs to agree to a truce with next to no groundwork being laid out for it (or at least there was no mention I remember of anything like that happening off-panel).[/QUOTE]

I think that's part of the legacy of him being a Captain America. He learned that part of being a hero isn't just punching out bad guys but also inspiring others to do better. It's what he tried to do, and though you can argue he was somewhat naive in the same breath he ALMOST suceeded. Also we can probably assume a bit more ground work occured than what we saw on panel. You don't necessarily see EVERYTHING on panel in comics... certain logiitcal things just aren't important or interesting enough to bother.

Overall this was an impressive first issue. Following Spencer's Sam run is no easy task but this first issue delivered. I loved how Sam was depicted here and his relationship with the new Patriot and I liked the gritty, street level feel of the book. Like most everyone else, I found Sam's statements regarding Steve to be eyebrow-raising but it was nothing that detracted from my enjoyment of the issue as a whole. Things are off to a very promising start. I hope people will give this book a chance.

[QUOTE=XPac;3159250]I think that's part of the legacy of him being a Captain America. He learned that part of being a hero isn't just punching out bad guys but also inspiring others to do better. It's what he tried to do, and though you can argue he was somewhat naive in the same breath he ALMOST suceeded. Also we can probably assume a bit more ground work occured than what we saw on panel. You don't necessarily see EVERYTHING on panel in comics... certain logiitcal things just aren't important or interesting enough to bother.[/QUOTE]

Yes, I think it was very much in keeping with Sam's attitude for him to try to find a way to resolve the gang war without resorting to more violence.

Naive? Perhaps a tad. But idealism should always be a part of Sam's character, no matter if what that idealism seeks to accomplish is sometimes thwarted.

[QUOTE=Prof. Warren;3159344]Yes, I think it was very much in keeping with Sam's attitude for him to try to find a way to resolve the gang war without resorting to more violence.

Naive? Perhaps a tad. But idealism should always be a part of Sam's character, no matter if what that idealism seeks to accomplish is sometimes thwarted.[/QUOTE]

Yeah, heroes run the spectrum. There are some who are perhaps a tad naively idealistic, some who are overly cynical, and everything in between. And I think the world needs all of the above.

We need Captain America's and Falcons to inspire use to create a better world, just as we need the Nick Furys to effectively deal with the world we're presentlyt stuck with. They all have their roles to play.

[QUOTE=XPac;3159250] . . . Also we can probably assume a bit more ground work occurred than what we saw on panel. You don't necessarily see EVERYTHING on panel in comics... certain logical things just aren't important or interesting enough to bother.[/QUOTE]While I admit they didn't need to [B][I]show[/I][/B] all the work Sam may-or-may-not have done leading up to the truce meeting, what the writer gave us seemed way too simplistic. He could have mentioned to Shaun in one panel a bit more about what he had already done to set things up; just saying "I'll send you the data file" could just as easily mean Sam had just googled some facts and that was as far as he had gotten.
Also, Sam told Shaun he was working with Jericho Drumm, but we never saw (or heard from) Drumm in the issue, and does Drumm have any previous connection to Chicago?

Here's a little curio from the 1950s. Apparently Sam wasn't the first hero called The Falcon...
[img]https://static.comicvine.com/uploads/scale_small/12/124613/3045187-radio+fun+974+%281957%29+pagecover.jpg[/img]

Published by Amalgamated Press, this would now be owned by Time Warner (via IPC, which is now called Time Inc)... in other words, DC Comics.

[QUOTE=Digifiend;3165028]Here's a little curio from the 1950s. Apparently Sam wasn't the first hero called The Falcon...[/quote]Timely Comics[SIZE=1] (Marvel's predecessor) [/SIZE]had a costumed character named "The Falcon" back in 1940.

[img]https://static.comicvine.com/uploads/scale_large/0/77/219492-19070-116237-1-daring-mystery-comic.jpg[/img]

I enjoyed Falcon #1, even if I am still a little peeved his given up the Captain America mantle. The thing I liked most was that it seems to be following Nick's blueprint of concentrating on more grounded/social issues. I felt the new Patriot was good, although one thing bugged me, and that's the lack of/mention of Joaquin Torres (The Old-New Falcon) who Shaun has kinda replaced. I get he was probably forgettable to most people, but I liked him, and it would be nice just to see what his doing now, or if he is still going by Falcon etc.

I also get what people are saying about Sam's feelings towards Steve and it did feel a bit off. I guess it will be explored in future issues.