Warning! Spoilers ahead for Captain America: Sentinel of Liberty #2
In the latest issue of Marvel Comics' Captain America: Sentinel of Liberty, Steve Rogers has uncovered a massive new threat that threatens his legacy and everything he stands for. Having uncovered the existence of a new shadow organization, the only real thing Rogers currently knows is that they have more power and influence than any group he's fought before. Additionally, his iconic shield is at the center of this new story with the dark notion that it may symbolize far more than Marvel's First Avenger even knows.
As seen in previous issues of Sentinel of Liberty from Jackson Lanzing, Collin Kelly, Carmen Carnero, Nolan Woodard, and VC's Joe Caramagna, Captain America has been relying on friends young and old to help him uncover the secrets behind his shield. Having faced the Super-Soldier known as The Destroyer on the 4th of July who was long thought to be dead, the Destroyer shared something truly shocking with Rogers: "The shield isn't what you think. It's not your symbol It's theirs." Seeing as how Steve recently discovered that his shield was being used as a gameboard by a shadow organization to move secret pawns all over the world, Captain America believed the Destroyer's words (fearing the consequences of what he might learn).
Nevertheless, Captain America begins his investigation in earnest in the new Captain America: Sentinel of Liberty #2. Even with Bucky going MIA following the July 4th battle, Steve is still determined to uncover the truth behind his shield and those who made it. As such, he learns not only about the man who designed his shield (one David Agboje) but also about the shadow organization's next target: a high-tech and experimental power station in known as The Forge. Facing down the group's henchmen, Cap is surprised to discover that these pawns are all comprised of HYDRA, AIM, Hand, and even SHIELD agents. If that wasn't enough to show that Steve's new threat is huge and extremely powerful, it's absolutely confirmed when a massive ship resembling Captain America's shield arrives, proving that Rogers' chief symbol has either been co-opted (or was never truly his to begin with).
On board the ship, five are seen calling themselves The Machine, Money, Power, Love, and Revolution. Following a vote to "redact" Captain America, a lethal-looking robot (or agent wearing battle armor) is deployed to take down Captain America by the issue's end. These leaders likely control the aspects of society they're named after, further proving their vast influence and what's likely been a secret guiding hand throughout history, working in the shadows of all the groups Captain America had fought against (and even alongside) over the years.
All of the pieces of this new conspiracy have yet to fully fall in place despite new ones coming to light in this new issue. There's a lot Captain America still doesn't know and even more being kept from him by Bucky Barnes with the reveal that the Winter Soldier has been doing his own investigating apart from Steve. At any rate, it's going to be really exciting to learn the true legacy and secrets of Captain America's shield along with the idea that it might need to be redeemed in the issues to come.
Captain America: Sentinel of Liberty #2 is available now from Marvel Comics.
