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 →
This post, covering the second part of Steve Englehart's debut Captain America story, will be the shortest of the four, and deals mostly with the Falcon confronting the strange new Captain America and Bucky that appeared in the last issue, and then enlisting the Avengers to find the real Cap. Speaking of whom, our Steve... Continue Reading →
With this issue and this post, we start not only Steve Englehart's legendary run on Captain America, but also one of the more ethically significant storylines to this point in Cap's history, a four-issue arc that I'll be taking one issue at a time. Even though this issue is a prelude of sorts, not getting... Continue Reading →
These four issues finish Roy Thomas's legendary run on Avengers—with a help from a special guest in issue #101—and sets the stage for Steve Englehart to take over with issue #105 in November (after he starts writing Captain America in September with issue #153). The special guest writer for issue #101 I alluded to above... Continue Reading →
These issues comprise the second half of Gerry Conway's short four-issue run, introducing Mr. Hyde and the Scorpion to these pages, wrapping up Captain America's brief career as a police officer, and introducing an important aspect of Cap's mighty shield. As issue #151 opens, we see who the mysterious speakers at the end of issue... Continue Reading →
These two issues continue the romantic intrigue of the past storyline, while reintroducing Batroc and a new Stranger (not the old Stranger whom we knew so well e still called him the Stranger). These are the first two of four issues scripted by Gerry Conway, which set the stage for Steve Englehart's legendary run starting... Continue Reading →
These three issues, as many of the Avengers issues around this period, are light on Captain America action, much less anything of ethical of interest, but are interesting for the distinctive pencils of Barry Windsor-Smith (who also drew issues #66-67, but without Cap). In the aftermath of the Kree-Skrull War (see the previous post), the... Continue Reading →
These four issues—the last of Gary Friedrich's short run—start out with Captain America facing Hydra (for real, not the fakes of the last issue), then confront him with a classic Spider-Man villain (soon to be a legendary Daredevil villain), and back around to Cap's greatest foe (no need to be coy, he's one of the... Continue Reading →
THE VIRTUES OF CAPTAIN AMERICA 