The aftermath of Marvel’s Civil War is a story which holds no punches, but those punches are rather soft. Unlike its predecessor, “The Death of Captain America” doesn’t have the luxury of falling back on other heroes and villains in the Marvel universe, when things get a bit dull. This is primarily a Captain America tale, or rather, the repercussions of his death to everyone who both knew him and knew of him.

There are a plethora of characters in this story, not as grand as Marvel’s Civil War, but enough to keep it mildly interesting. The political undercurrent which kept the story afloat barely gets by with simple tropes. The main cast includes Agent 13, Bucky Barnes, the Falcon and many others on both sides of the compass of good and evil, including those in the morally grey area.

Within the first hour, the villain Crossbones has killed America’s hero and most famous World War Two veteran. As with most stories about assassination, the person carrying out the job is not the same as the person orchestrating it. There’s a lot of mystery, but nothing which felt like a good act three twist. The actors seem to downplay those moments of revelation in order to preserve the tone of the piece. Unfortunately for them, the tone isn’t that interesting and the foreshadowing is so abysmal that it might as well not be there at all.

One example of the poor, nonexistent, foreshadowing is the man pretending to be Captain America after Steve Rogers’ death. This comes much later in the story and, no, I’m not referring to Bucky Barnes AKA the Winter Soldier. Before the imposter gets in the costume, he is found by Agent 13 and we learn all about him as apparently he was an important character in the super soldier serum aftermath. For those not blessed with back issues of Marvel Comics, this feels like a bit of a stretch, considering this is the first time he’s appeared in the story or is even mentioned.

Like most Graphic Audio dramas. The casting is spot on and the music exhilarating and calm at just the right moments. Most of the complaints come from the adaptation or the source material, rather than the production value. The first Graphic Audio production I’ve ever disliked on some level. Hopefully it will be the last as I truly enjoy the work they do.

3.5/5 Stars