Captain America #25 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

At some point in this issue, you start to wonder if the diarrhea and flatulence jokes are going to end.  No, really.  It really starts to sound like Bendis had returned to write the Avengers.  I know Remender meant to use these jokes to convey a sense of celebration, but they just keep going and going well beyond the time when anyone over the age of eight would find them funny.  Moreover (and unforgivably), he slights Jarvis by implying that he failed to make enough food, a charge that, among all the unbelievable parts of this issue, is the most difficult to believe.  

Speaking of the unbelievable parts of this issue, I don't really get why Jet flies off the handlebars at Sharon's accusations.  I mean, sure, I get why she would be upset.  But, would she really throw in her lot with her father so quickly?  She didn't really see a middle ground?  She evaded capture easily here.  She could've instead hidden somewhere for a while, approached Sam, and negotiated her return.  Or, if she really was innocent, she could've just surrendered.  After all, she knows that Zola used her to spy, so it stands to reason that Tony could've found the device that he used.  Again, I get why she's upset, but I don't know if I buy that she was so upset to return to Zola.  I mean, she even rebuffs her long-lost brother's efforts to stop her, claiming that he had a moment to have her back.  However, it wasn't like they had some huge meeting and he remained silent throughout it.  Was he supposed to punch Cap or Sharon at some point during the one- or two-minute window when Sharon accused Jet of treachery and Steve tried to arrest her?  Him trying to stop her from returning to Zola before they could get to the truth is him having her back.

The problem is that Remender doesn't really have time to do everything that he wanted to do.  It's like he wrote a 44-page issue and Marvel cut 22 pages.  He should've taken the full 22 pages to end the Zola saga and then addressed Sam taking over the shield.  Instead, we're forced to summarily dismiss Jet and hurriedly introduce Sam as Captain America, and neither character deserved such a fate.  To make matters worse, we get a four-page epilogue that establishes one of the long-serving Avengers as a traitor colluding with HYDRA and re-introduces the Drain.  I know that it's supposed to set up the re-launch of the series as "All-New Captain America," but, honestly, I would've preferred that we at least sent off Jet in a way that made me understand why she felt the need to return to her father.  Then, we could've set up Sam's debut.  Sure, it might've meant that this series didn't end on the nice odd number of 25, but it would've been the ending that this amazing series deserved.

** (two of five stars)