After the prelude in issue #164, we have here the main three-parter featuring Captain America and the Falcon fighting the Yellow Claw, a Fu Manchu-type villain (see also: the Mandarin) who starred in his own short-lived Atlas comic in the 1950s, who reappeared in the 1960s to fight S.H.I.E.L.D. (including behind the scenes in Strange... Continue Reading →
This issue is a prelude of sorts to a tale that sees Captain America and the Falcon facing the Yellow Claw, a villain from the 1950s who makes an appearance here after being pursued by Nick Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D. in the pages of Strange Tales. But first, we introduce a new villain to the Marvel... Continue Reading →
In this issue, as the cover indicates, we meet the Serpent Squad, who are actually more imposing than their name suggests (and who become a fixture in the title for many years). More important for our purposes, we also meet a conscientious objector, who butts heads with... well, you may be surprised who. After a... Continue Reading →
These half-dozen issues of Avengers (three of which are shown above) and two issues of Captain Marvel (leading to a crossover a year later) do not feature Captain America very heavily, but there are a few meaningful scenes in which he displays some moral wisdom, righteous anger at hatred, and rational suspicion. In issue #110,... Continue Reading →
These three issues (re)introduce an important character only glimpsed once before, as well as adding new wrinkles to Captain America's relationships with both the Falcon and Sharon Carter. Issue #160 opens with Cap and Sam fighting some random thugs, and Cap reminds us of his new super-strength (picked up in the last storyline), although not... Continue Reading →
After the blockbuster story in the last four issues (starting here), the pace slows a bit for this three-parter, as the loose ends of Steve Rogers' time on the police force are tied up, and he goes through a surprising physical transformation. (No, not Cap-Wolf, not yet.) The police commissioner summons Cap to an out-of-the-way... Continue Reading →
These three issues are the first Avengers stories from writer Steve Englehart we're seeing on this blog (although he also wrote #105, in which Cap did not appear). It is a particularly wild story that reimagines some past Cap stories, using a villain from before his days as an Avenger—that is, from before Avengers #4!... Continue Reading →
We have reached the conclusion of "The 50s Cap Saga," the storyline which began in issue #153. To summarize (most from the last issue): the Captain America and Bucky from the 1950s, who were cryogenically frozen after they became unhinged and went from fighting Communists to attacking anyone they regarded as not "real Americans," were... Continue Reading →
In this installment of the current storyline (which began in issue #153), we finally learn the identity and origin of the "impostor" Captain America and Bucky. Aside from the insights we get into the other Cap's character—as well as "our" Cap's reaction to him, on which more in the next issue—this story is a classic... Continue Reading →
THE VIRTUES OF CAPTAIN AMERICA 