CAPTAIN PLANET #4 – New Comic Review

Captain Planet #4, by Dynamite Comics on 9/3/25, finds the fractured team desperately searching for Gaia, but their problems grow when Plunder uses science to duplicate Captain Planet’s power.

Credits:

• Writer: David Pepose
• Artist: Eman Casallos
• Colorist: Jorge Sutil
• Letterer: Jeff Eckleberry
• Cover Artist: Chad Hardin (cover A)
• Publisher: Dynamite Comics
• Release Date: September 3, 2025
• Comic Rating: Teen
• Cover Price: $4.99
• Page Count: 24
• Format: Single Issue

Covers:

Analysis of CAPTAIN PLANET #4:

First Impressions:

The issue comes out swinging, but much of the story feels tangled and overstuffed. The Planeteers’ teamwork is shaky, and the villain’s plot is wild enough to lose sight of the message. The art gets loud when it needs to be, but the heart of the tale struggles to get a word in edgewise.

Recap:

Previously in Captain Planet #3, the Planeteers confronted Doctor Blight’s latest destructive scheme, resulting in chaos in Detroit and the temporary loss of one of their powerful rings. As the team managed to prevent citywide catastrophe, their trust suffered serious blows—Wheeler’s stance fractured the group further, while Gaia’s connection to the Planeteers felt increasingly threatened. By the end of the last issue, tensions simmered, and the seeds for betrayal and redemption were scattered across the battle-damaged landscape.

Plot Analysis:

The issue opens with New York City bracing for disaster, as Gi awakens from a nightmare filled with catastrophic visions, including a city-consuming tsunami and powerless rings. While the Planeteers scramble to decrypt Dr. Blight’s data in a secret greenhouse, tensions flare—Wheeler is still missing, and trust within the group is in short supply. Gi voices anxiety over the world’s grim environmental state and the fragility of hope, even as Linka and Ma-Ti look for ways to push forward.

Elsewhere, billionaire Lucian Plunder lures Wheeler with promises of clean tech and public heroism. Plunder shows off the Geo-Cruiser and his “Eclipse Station,” a prototype reactor meant to revolutionize energy. He convinces Wheeler to let his scientists examine the ring, promising change for all humanity—but unknown to Wheeler, Plunder’s plan involves manufacturing synthetic duplicates for a more nefarious end. As Wheeler cools his heels in the guest quarters, Plunder’s real intentions come to light when he orders mass production of the counterfeit rings.

Back with the Planeteers, a seismic scan reveals the best way to infiltrate Eclipse Station, where Gaia is being held captive and Plunder’s synthetic rings are weaponized to amplify destructive power. The team plots a covert rescue, but Gaia, already weakened and exposed to Plunder’s machinations, realizes too late that her essence is fueling a nightmarish escalation. The Planeteers run into ruthless resistance as Linka and Kwame attempt to avoid detection, but the toxic energy in the air signals that Plunder has unleashed something drastically wrong.

The climax sees Plunder falling victim to his own ambition. Amplified by the counterfeit rings and the station’s unstable core, he transforms from tech mogul to the monstrous “Captain Pollution.” The Planeteers, battered and divided, can only watch as Plunder’s hunger for power shatters all controls—natural and technological—threatening to burn the world for the sake of his vision.

Story

The script juggles multiple storylines but often stumbles, weighed down by cumbersome exposition and dialogue that sacrifices subtlety for overstatement. Emotional moments are delivered with the gentleness of a brick, and the pacing lurches in fits and starts, leaving little room for any narrative breathing space. Attempts at character introspection drown in melodrama, while scene changes feel abrupt and sometimes confusing.

Art

Eman Casallos’s art pops in action scenes, with energetic linework and clear rendering of the chaos. Character faces occasionally veer into over-expressive territory, and larger scenes sometimes get cluttered, making key moments hard to parse. Jorge Sutil’s colors do a serviceable job of separating locations and moods, but much of the world looks perpetually on the verge of explosion—even when an occasional pause would serve the drama better.

Characters

The whole cast is here, but most suffer from thin motivation and recycled conflict. Gi bears the brunt of the emotional heavy lifting, while Wheeler is written with one too many scenes of angsty indecision. Lucian Plunder’s villainy is painted in broad, bold strokes, offering plenty of menace but little depth; supporting Planeteers fill their archetypes dutifully, yet rarely surprise.

Positives

The issue wins points for ambition, rolling out a globe-shaking threat and giving the Planeteers real consequences to face. Plunder’s turn as Captain Pollution oozes classic comic book excess, and some action sequences spark genuine excitement. The environmental message, though heavy-handed, remains loudly relevant and gives the story some gravitas.

Negatives

The comic keeps tripping over its own seriousness—dialogue hammers points that would be better shown, while character chemistry often sours into bickering without payoff. Plot twists and betrayals are telegraphed so early that the tension fizzles instead of builds. There’s little patience for nuance, which makes both the emotional arcs and the world-saving feel forced.

Art Samples:

Final Thoughts:

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CAPTAIN PLANET #4 throws everything at the wall, but too much bounces off into a noisy, well-meaning mess. Underneath the splashy pageantry is an issue that wants to inspire but mostly exhausts, pulling double duty as both cautionary tale and accidental villain origin story. It’s big, bold, and booming—but subtlety and character depth clearly missed their flight.

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