This twelve-part series paid tribute to the original run of Fantastic Four by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby by imagining new stories occurring between issue #100 and issue #101, with the writing and art done by a team of stellar comics professionals as an homage to Stan and Jack. Captain America appears in only three of the issues—which fall in between issue #132 and issue #133 of his own title—but they’re all a wonderful read if you’re a fan of Marvel’s First Family.
Before we see Cap in issue #4, we see the Falcon, who overhears three men planning to start a race riot to lower property values.
Before he can investigate further, however, he is jumped by AIM agents, whom he easily takes care of until they bring out a secret weapon—but it turns out Sam has one of his own, whether he knows it or not.
‘Nuff said!
Cap explains how he happened to be on the scene, and Sam suggests a partnership (which would begin soon when the title is renamed Captain America and Falcon with issue #134, at least on the cover).
Eventually MODOK shows up, followed by the Fantastic Four, so we get to see the Thing deliver his classic catchphrase before Cap makes a Nazi allusion and Sam hails his role as a moral exemplar.
Gotta love the light humor between Cap and Ben…
…followed later by subtle self-loathing on Ben’s part (the theme of my chapter on him in my book Ethics of the Fantastic Four).
As he often does, Cap makes sure to credit Reed’s smarts, though he is not so sure himself (for a definite reason this time, as he suspects someone has planted mental inhibitors in his brain).
Cap wraps up his appearance in this issue by citing each person’s responsibility to call out racism we see it, then follows up on Sam’s earlier suggestion before they take their leave.
Even though we don’t see him much in this post, Doom lingers in the background of this entire story, and in this issue he explores the ocean to find the Comic Cube. (Surely a typo, but an unintentionally hilarious one.)
In issue #8, Cap appears with the Avengers of that time, whom he commands on the field of battle…
…against his old friend Namor, whom he calls an “undersea invader,” a nod to their history together in the Invaders (which would be retroactively established in 1975’s Giant-Size Invaders #1).
Cap acknowledges that the Sub-Mariner is stronger and faster than he is, but refuses to give up. (Namor also confused Johnny for the the original Human Torch, Jim Hammond, which helps Reed realize later that someone is controlling him.)
Cap may be down for the count, but he lends Ben his shield and tells him what to do with it…
…which he does to amazing effect on the next page.
(Apparently, the footnote refers to this being the 2000th time Ben has said you-know-what.)
Ben is pleased and tries to give credit to the shield, but Cap reminds him who really deserves the credit.
Before we leave this issue, let me show another Doom-ish page, this time with an excellent homage to Jack Kirby’s collage work in the original FF run.
Finally, Cap shows up, again alongside the Avengers, in issue #11, after Doom makes his menace apparent and Cap pledges the entire team’s help and stresses the enormous stakes of resisting the fascist dictator of Latveria.
ISSUE DETAILS
Fantastic Four: The World’s Greatest Comics Magazine #4, May 2001: Erik Larsen, Eric Stephenson, and Jeph Loeb (writers), Erik Larsen, Ron Frenz, Keith Giffen, and Shannon Denton (pencils), Bruce Timm, Joe Sinnott, Al Gordon, and Al Milgrom (inks), Eric Stephenson (colors), Richard Starkings and Comicraft (letters). (More details at Marvel Database.)
Fantastic Four: The World’s Greatest Comics Magazine #8, September 2001: Erik Larsen, Eric Stephenson, and Jeph Loeb (writers), Ron Frenz, Jorge Lucas, Bill Wray, and Rick Veitch (pencils), Bruce Timm, Al Milgrom, Bill Wray, and Terry Beatty (inks), Eric Stephenson (colors), Richard Starkings and Comicraft (letters). (More details at Marvel Database.)
Fantastic Four: The World’s Greatest Comics Magazine #11, December 2001: Erik Larsen and Eric Stephenson (writers), Ron Frenz, Frank Fosco, and Al Milgrom (pencils), Bruce Timm, Mike Royer, Paul Ryan, and Joe Sinnott (inks), Eric Stephenson (colors), Richard Starkings and Comicraft (letters). (More details at Marvel Database.)
Collected in: Fantastic Four: The World’s Greatest Comics Magazine.
THE VIRTUES OF CAPTAIN AMERICA 
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