Kieron Gillen and Valerio Schiti's soul-searching Judgment Day is proving to be one of Marvel's most important events. As the story causes its characters like Civil War.
At the conclusion of Civil War #7 by Mark Millar and Steve McNiven, Captain America and his resistance have overwhelmed Iron Man's pro-Registration alliance. He straddles the armored Avenger and swings his shield at his former teammate's helmet until the metal cracks, revealing Tony's defeated face. Before Cap can deliver the final blow, a group of emergency workers tackles him. They wrestle him away from Iron Man and force him to witness the destructive toll his battle has taken on the city. Wracked with guilt, Steve Rogers gives up his mantle and turns himself in. In issue #4 of A.X.E.: Judgment Day, Gillen and Schiti choreograph an opening scene with striking similarity, continuing to build on this series' particular criticism of Captain America and what he's stood for all these decades.
The issue sees Captain America straining to make his voice heard as Armageddon-induced panic breaks out in the streets. He pleads with a crowd to calm, promising them they'll live, but the furor runs too high. A gang of men climbs up to his makeshift mount and seizes him—now, he must protect himself from the people he wants to protect. The X-Men might have some pointers for him. Schiti's artwork frames this almost exactly like the Civil War climax, but Gillen's story gives it an entirely different context. Even in an attempt at peacekeeping, Captain America makes himself a target.
Captain America No Longer Represents His Country
The Progenitor made itself known by judging Steve Rogers a failure immediately. With that pretext, and given the revelations being made in his solo comic arc Sentinel of Liberty, it's clear that Marvel is interested in deconstructing this character on the narrative and meta-narrative levels. It's been suggested that Captain America can no longer relate to Americans; not just that he's a relic in the temporal sense, but that his ability to connect with civilians has been jeopardized by his constant presence on the front line of planetary crises. He never has time to engage with his country's needs, so when he positions himself as its moral leader, it makes sense that some would bristle against that. People generally don't like when someone declares to know what's best for them.
Since this issue of Judgment Day is bookended by Captain America's experience with the crowd, it's clear that he's meant to be a key player in this event. What remains to be seen is how profoundly this experience—this failure—will affect him personally. He relinquished his mantle once after Civil War, but if Judgment Day pushes him any further, Steve Rogers may be ready to give up on Captain America for good.
