With this run of seven issues of Avengers, issues #34 through 40, we reach a rather fallow period for Captain America as far as ethically interesting content is concerned—in fact, Cap does not appear in issue #39 and in only one panel in #40, warning his fellow Avengers about something that happened in his own... Continue Reading →
This story introduces the Adaptoid, a creation of A.I.M.—the organization that also brought us the Cosmic Cube and evil beekeeper suits—that takes Captain America’s form but finds out that stunning good looks are not enough to be the Sentinel of Liberty. (But they do help.) As many early stories both in Tales of Suspense and... Continue Reading →
These two issues are not heavy on ethical content related to Captain America specifically, but it is a particularly timely story... unfortunately. It deals with a white nationalist movement that, under the cartoonish guise of the Sons of the Serpent, rallies populist fervor and gains some mainstream respectability until the Avengers reveal them for the... Continue Reading →
Finally… the Red Skull returns! Not only does Captain America’s greatest foe resurface in this issue, but he’s working with AIM (no longer being called Them), and he gets control of their new weapon: the Cosmic Cube, making its debut in the first issue of this storyline. Issue #79 opens with a traditional Cap battle…... Continue Reading →
These six issues see two current Avengers members leave and two originals return... and even more momentous, Captain America and Hawkeye start to heal their wounds (as Clint gets a new punching bag). Issue #26 opens with Cap trying to show his fellow Avengers the new secure messaging device Tony Stark dreamed up, but Hawkeye... Continue Reading →
I’m taking these four issues together because they all deal with Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. ... kind of. Notably, the first three issues introduce a new reason of Cap to despair his past—the loss of a woman he knew and loved during World War II, whom we now know to be Peggy Carter—and a new reason... Continue Reading →
This issue sees the Avengers fight Doctor Doom for the first time, which should have been epic, but ol' Vic was not then the majestic villain we now know him to be. Furthermore, little of the material of interest to us here has to do with Doom, one of the few comics villains I find... Continue Reading →
After eight issues in World War II, we return to the present day, in which Cap battles against a plan the Red Skull launched twenty years ago—and we get the first appearance of Cap’s Kooky Quartet in his own book. Issue #72 begins with Cap telling Hawkeye, Quicksilver, and the Scarlet Witch the story recounted... Continue Reading →
I'm taking this kooky quartet of Avengers issues together because, honestly, there's not a lot of ethical interest to Captain America here. The most interesting thing to me about these issues is that they feature the Avengers breaking up and getting back together, for the first time but definitely not the last, and Cap's tortured... Continue Reading →
THE VIRTUES OF CAPTAIN AMERICA 