Marvel Redesigns Sam Wilson’s Captain America Shield

Marvel Comics is preparing to dazzle fans with not one, but two comics under its Captain America umbrella. The publisher announced Captain America: Sentinel of Liberty and Captain America: Symbol of Truth. Sentinel of Liberty will star Steve Rogers while Sam Wilson headlines Symbol of Truth. Promotional art and a cover by Mark Brooks and R.B. Silva features Sam Wilson back in his red-white-and-blue Captain America costume, but after a longer look, it’s noticeable that Sam’s shield is a stark contrast to the one held by Steve.

The creative team behind Captain America: Symbol of Truth is writer Tochi Onyebuchi (Black Panther: Legends, Call of Duty: Vanguard, Riot Baby) and Marvel Stormbreaker artist R.B. Silva (Powers of X, Fantastic Four). The Captain America #0 wraparound variant cover by Mark Brooks and Silva’s cover for Symbol of Truth #1 offer a closer look at Sam Wilson’s shield. Whereas Steve’s shield has red as its dominant color, the one used by Sam replaces the outer red layer with blue. Also, the star in the center is larger and broken up into four segments for a new-age design. It helps to differentiate the two shields, and is another sign that Marvel is making sure to set up Sam Wilson for success as he steps back into his role as Captain America.

“We have basically only touched the surface of his interaction with the Marvel Universe,” Onyebuchi told Entertainment Weekly. “There are so many characters that have yet to interact with Sam as Captain America, dynamics we haven’t yet seen. It feels like the world is my oyster. It’s been really cool exploring that with Sam, but also with Joaquín Torres, who is the Falcon in this book.” 

“We’ve seen Sam Wilson deal with the legacy of Captain America and race in very inward terms with regards to America: What does it mean for America to accept a Black Captain America?” Onyebuchi said. “One of the things I’m teasing in my book is, what does it mean for the rest of the world to accept a Black Captain America? That’s another part of the equation. If Captain America is in many ways a mimesis of America, with all the good and bad pathologies, what does that mean for the way in which America interacts with the rest of the world?” 

He continued: “I’m a huge fan of action thrillers that involve foreign locals and all of that stuff. One of the things that Sam has to do is he has to get to the bottom of a conspiracy. He has to figure out what the truth of the matter is, he has to figure out what’s really going on. When so much of American foreign policy historically has been founded on operating in the shadows, manipulating federal employees or members of another government into enacting regime change for the benefit of various corporate interests, what is it going to look like when Sam runs up against the people who would wish to manipulate him for their own ends in terms of furthering ‘America’s interests’ abroad? What does it mean to be the ‘Symbol of Truth’ in that context?”

The story of Marvel’s two living legends kicks off in Captain America #0 by writers Tochi Onyebuchi, Collin Kelly and Jackson Lanzing, and artist Mattia De Iulis, which goes on sale April 20th. Captain America: Symbol of Truth #1 arrives in May, followed by Captain America: Sentinel of Liberty #1 by Kelly, Lanzing, and artist Carmen Carnero in June.