The United States of Captain America is a 2021 Comic Book celebrating the 80th anniversary of Captain America. It is written by Christopher Cantwell, with art by Dale Eaglesham. It includes backup stories by a variety of writers and artists, including Josh Trujillo, Jan Bazaldua, Mohale Mashigo, Natacha Bustos, Darcie Little Badger, David Cutler, Alyssa Wong, and Jodi Nishijima.
The book celebrates by also introducing a network of people around the United States taking up the name of Captain America after being inspired by Steve, Bucky, Sam and others who took up the mantle.
The shield has been stolen! No one understands the value of the shield like those who've wielded it, so Steve Rogers and Sam Wilson set out on a road trip across America to chase down the thief. But instead, they find the Captains, everyday people from all walks of life who've taken up the mantle of Captain America to defend their communities. And for some reason, the shield thief wants them all dead. Can Sam and Steve get to them first?
The United States of Captain America provides examples of:
- Affirmative-Action Legacy: The Network is comprised of a diverse group of people in varying ways.
- Aaron Fischer is gay and Jewish, Nichelle Wright is a black woman, Joe Gomez is Native American, and Arielle Agbayani is Filipino.
- Inverted with Jeremy Merrick, who is white.
- Call-Back:
- At the beginning of the first issue, Steve is recalling how he said "I believe in nothing, General. Except the Dream." That's from Born Again.
- At the end of issue two, Sin tells Speed Demon to call her "Superior." This refers back to when she was Mother Superior of the Sisters of Sin.
- The Chosen Many: It turns out that there are many Captains America, an entire network. When the legacy of Captain America is threatened, Sam Wilson even decides to switch out his Falcon costume with his Captain America costume, so that two Captains America are on the case. Bucky Barnes and John Walker later join the fight as well.
- The Cobbler's Children Have No Shoes: The sheriff in Nichelle's issue has a criminal son (not that the sheriff himself is any better).
- Cold Sniper: One of the fake Captains America tries to kill Aaron Fischer this way. Later, she threatens to paralyze Sam by shooting his vertebrae.
- Dirty Cop: The Sheriff from the second issue doesn't care if Nichelle is innocent or not. He just wants to get rid of her because she's been a pain in his ass, from picketing to sit-ins, and now that she can be blamed for a crime, he's fine with sending her to prison, no matter if she did it or not.
- Everyone Has Standards: Speed Demon admits that he's on the wrong side of things sometimes, but at least he's not a Nazi.
- Godwin's Law: Bucky invokes this trope on Steve's behalf when they talk about how one of his enemies is a living psychoactive energy derived from the consciousness of Adolf Hitler, and even enemies who aren't Nazis like Batroc have been associated with people who've been associated with Hitler's protegé Red Skull, defying Even Evil Has Standards.
- Hero with Bad Publicity: The Captain America Network are generally not seen favorably by those in power, especially because they tend to be marginalized people fighting to protect those stepped on by those in power. Case in point: the sheriff of Dauphin County, Pennsylvania arrested Nichelle Wright and refuses to allow her to be released, even though there are a dozen witnesses that say she didn't do it, just because she's been a pain in his ass and now he can get rid of her.
- Insistent Terminology: Sam insists on referring to the Network as "Captains America" rather than "Captain Americas".
- MacGuffin: What sets the plot up is Cap's iconic shield getting stolen by an imposter at the beginning of the first issue.
- No True Scotsman: Bucky does this to himself regarding what constitutes a real Captain America and not.
- Origins Episode: The first four issues contain a backup story about the origin of the Cap introduced in that issue. Most of them are flashbacks, except Nichelle's which takes place immediately after the events of the second issue.
- The Reveal: The end of the second issue show who the two evil Captains America actually are: Speed Demon and Sin.
- Trigger Phrase: Sin has one for controlling Speed Demon: "I see great things in baseball."
