These issues herald a new era for Earth’s Mightiest Heroes and their book, as Captain America returns to the team full-time, and writer Kurt Busiek is joined by the legendary team of Alan Davis and Mark Farmer on pencils and inks (respectively) for the first six issues, the last three of which also launch “The Kang Dynasty,” a storyline that stretches through issue #54. With focus spread across the revived superstar line-up, as reflected on the cover to issue #38, Cap receives less attention that we are used to, but there is still enough of his moral character shown to make these issues a worthwhile subject for this blog (and still a smashing good read, especially considering the first threat they face here).
The first we see of Cap in issue #38 has him with Vision, the Wasp, and Goliath (as Hank Pym was known as that week), surveying the latest high-tech display of their foes’ whereabouts, consistent with the more comprehensive approach to pursuing the team’s mission Cap promised at the end of the last issue. (Good thing they’re all the same side of the planet!)
Soon thereafter, Jan and Cap share remorse over the state of Avengers Mansion following the events of the last two issues.
Next, Cap touches base with Thor, whom he apparently asked back to shore up the team against the multiple threats he has concerned about. Thor lets Cap know he only came for him, which is consistent with the high level of respect the Odinson has always had for the Sentinel of Liberty (which he expresses even more dramatically later in this post).
Most of the issue is taken up by status reports by smaller teams of Avengers dealing with those multiple threats around the globe, but even after receiving the Thor-praise, Cap is not yet satisfied, concerned that they are not doing enough—by which he means that he is not doing enough.
His ears must be burning, because he is being watched and discussed, first dismissively…
…and then more realistically, as the seated figure affirms it is Cap’s virtues that make him formidable. (More from these two soon.)
At the end of the issue, the Avengers are summoned to Greece, where dozens of Hulk-like creatures are rampaging, and the determined looks on their faces—especially Cap’s—say more than words could. (Except Vision and Tony, I guess, who always look like that.)
The team confronts the green mob in issue #39 and Cap assures the locals that everything will be okay. (And Wanda speaks Greek?)
Thor provides some color commentary on the battle while Cap uses his judo background to redirect his foes’ energy toward each other.
Goliath devises a way to combine all the “Hulks” (actually the transformed residents of the town) into one large “Hulk,” but doesn’t have a way to shrink them down as planned, so the team has to confront a Giant-Size Hulk-Thing in issue #40. There, Cap is concerned about both the people inside the beast as well as those in the town it’s headed for, so he suggests a way to save them both. Thor has reservations, but will do his best for his longtime friend and colleague…
…but a better plan arrives in the form of Bruce Banner, who merges with the creature and forces all the townspeople out. When our heroes discover that all of this was merely a distraction by Diablo (a frequent annoyance to the Fantastic Four), who was defeated by another group of Avengers, Cap pronounces judgment on his mental state.
Unfortunately Cap spoke too soon: Diablo disappears and Iron Man lapses in despair. But Cap keeps his chin up, confident that his new approach to Avengering is worth pursuing as long as they don’t lose their resolve.
“The Kang Dynasty” starts in earnest in issue #41, launching the latest initiative of the eponymous conqueror to… well… conquer 20th century Earth. You wouldn’t know it from the panels shown here, though, because Cap is kept busy dealing with a situation in Russia, where he leads an ersatz team of Avengers, now featuring Firebird and the Black Knight.
Issue #42 brings in the Winter Guard, the premier Russian super-team, as well as Pietro’s surprise that everyone is not as multilingual as he and his sister are.
Below, Kang leaves the other Avengers, hinting that his plans have already begun in Russia, where Cap and his squad find one of the Winter Guard…
…as well as the Russian villain known as the Presence (father to Vanguard and Darkstar from the Winter Guard). In issue #43, while the Russian Avengers squad fights against the Presence’s radioactive creatures, both Cap and Thor acknowledge Quicksilver’s newfound ingenuity and leadership skills, although Pietro puts a more depressing spin on it.
Finally, the Presence addresses the Avengers, but when Cap challenges him on what he’s done to the people he irradiated, he is not happy…
…and when the smoke clears, only Thor and Firebird are left standing. So where’s Cap?
Uh oh.
Thor fights his transformed allies in issue #44, urging Cap to break the hold the Presence has over him. Firebird tries to convince him Cap and the others are dead, but Thor refuses to believe it…
…and lashes out to the heavens in support of his friend, whose value he affirms in terms similar to how Kang defended him at the end of issue #38 above.
Thor does manage to save Cap, but he will be out of commission for a while, as we’ll see in the next issue.
Finally, in the back-up story in the 2001 Annual—the main story deals with Hank Pym’s odd behavior of late—Jarvis answers questions from online commenters. (Remember when that was a good idea? No, me neither.) Many of the questions deal with the changes in several of the Avengers following their Heroes Reborn experience, but there are two that involve Cap directly. First, there is the matter of Iron Man’s guilt over the three people he killed during the Timeslide episode, which resulted in a court martial soon after the Heroes Returned…
…during which Cap assures him he was under Kang’s control the entire time and is therefore not responsible for his actions because they were, in a very real sense, not his actions at all.
This much was known to us, but not to Tony—or at least not this Tony, who may not be the same Tony that sacrificed himself at the end of Timeslide, or the “teen Tony” that sacrificed himself during the battle with Onslaught and reappeared as an adult on the Heroes Reborn world.
Finally, Jarvis answers a persnickety question from their government liaison Duane Freeman about Cap’s shield and merely clarifies what was revealed in Captain America #303. But it’s nice to be reminded.
ISSUE DETAILS
Avengers (vol. 3) #38, March 2001: Kurt Busiek (writer), Alan Davis (pencils), Mark Farmer (inks), Tom Smith (colors), Richard Starkings, John Gaushell, and Albert Deschesne (letters). (More details at Marvel Database.)
Avengers (vol. 3) #39, April 2001: Kurt Busiek (writer), Alan Davis (pencils), Mark Farmer (inks), Tom Smith (colors), Richard Starkings and Albert Deschesne (letters). (More details at Marvel Database.)
Avengers (vol. 3) #40, May 2001: Kurt Busiek (writer), Alan Davis (pencils), Mark Farmer (inks), Tom Smith (colors), Richard Starkings and Saida Temofonte (letters). (More details at Marvel Database.)
Collected in Avengers Assemble Volume 4.
Avengers (vol. 3) #41, June 2001: Kurt Busiek (writer), Alan Davis (pencils), Mark Farmer (inks), Tom Smith (colors), Richard Starkings and Albert Deschesne (letters). (More details at Marvel Database.)
Avengers (vol. 3) #42, July 2001: Kurt Busiek (writer), Alan Davis (pencils), Mark Farmer (inks), Tom Smith (colors), Richard Starkings and Jason Levine (letters). (More details at Marvel Database.)
Avengers (vol. 3) #43, August 2001: Kurt Busiek (writer), Alan Davis (pencils), Mark Farmer (inks), Tom Smith (colors), Richard Starkings and Albert Deschesne (letters). (More details at Marvel Database.)
Avengers (vol. 3) #44, September 2001: Kurt Busiek (writer), Manuel Garcia (pencils), Bob Layton (inks), Tom Smith (colors), Richard Starkings and Albert Deschesne (letters). (More details at Marvel Database.)
Avengers Annual 2001, “House Cleaning”: Kurt Busiek (writer), Ian Churchill (pencils), Norm Rapmund (inks), Tom Smith (colors), Richard Starkings, Comicraft, and Albert Deschesne (letters). (More details at Marvel Database.)
Collected in Avengers Assemble Volume 5.
PREVIOUS ISSUES: Avengers #36-37 (January-February 2001)
ALSO THESE MONTHS: Captain America #39 (March 2001), Captain America #40, Iron Man #39, and X-Men #111 (April 2001), Captain America #41-43 and Iron Man #42 (May-July 2001), Black Panther #30 (May 2001), Thunderbolts #50-54 (May-September 2001), Fantastic Four: The World’s Greatest Comics Magazine #4 and #8 (May and September 2001), Captain America #44 (August 2001), and Captain America #45 and USAgent #2 (September 2001)
NEXT ISSUES: Avengers #45-46 (October-November 2001)
THE VIRTUES OF CAPTAIN AMERICA 
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