In these four issues, the Avengers get mixed up in the business of Atlantis, an adventure that involves both Namor the Sub-Mariner and Doctor Doom that necessitates a quick crossover with Super-Villain Team-Up (a book in which Cap will appear by himself in the next three issues). Not much Cap in this story, so this... Continue Reading →
Invaders #11-13 (December 1976-February 1977)
These three issues conclude the saga of the Fallsworths that began in issues #7-10, and brings the end of one superhero career and the start of a new one. As issue #11 opens, the Invaders are rushing Lord Fallsworth and Jacqueline to the hospital, after the vampire Baron Blood smashed his legs and bit her... Continue Reading →
Captain America #204-205 (December 1976-January 1977)
This two-part story is starts out with an epilogue of sorts to the saga of the Night People in the last three issues (as that story did with the Madbomb tale that preceded it), but soon transitions into a yarn about a strange being named Agron (no relation to the Glee actress, as far as... Continue Reading →
Marvel Team-Up #52 (December 1976)
This second issue of Marvel Team-Up to co-star Captain America alongside the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man actually provides important if not essential story details between issues #203 and #204 of Cap's main title, exemplifying what I explained in the post on Marvel Team-Up #13 regarding the impressive interconnectedness of Marvel's team-up books, especially compared to those... Continue Reading →
Captain America #201-203 (September-November 1976)
The three issues of Captain America covered here make up the second extended storyline of Jack Kirby's return to the character he co-created before World War II (not including the massive Bicentennial Battles Treasury Edition and Captain America Annual #3). Our story starts in issue #201, in which Cap and Falcon take on the "Night... Continue Reading →
Avengers #150-153 and Annual #6 (August-November 1976)
These five comics are, to put it lightly, a mixed bag. The first two are partially reprinted panels and pages from throughout Avengers history, stretched out over two issues because writer Steve Englehart quit in the middle. Then an old friend returns to the fold, the team takes a trip to New Orleans, and then... Continue Reading →
Captain America’s Bicentennial Battles (1976)
Released in June 1976, this 84-page Marvel Treasury Special—really more of an early graphic novel than a comic—is a massive tribute to Captain America and America herself from Jack "The King" Kirby on the year of the country's bicentennial. In it, Cap is sent by a strange being named "Mister Buda" on a time travel... Continue Reading →
Captain America Annual #3 (1976)
Amongst the 22 regular issues of Captain America that Jack Kirby write and drew in 1976 and 1977, he also produced two annuals and the massive Bicentennial Battles Treasury Edition. (If you think this is a lot of output, consider that this was not the only book Jack was writing and drawing at the time.)... Continue Reading →
Invaders #7-10 (July-November 1976)
These four issues of Invaders introduce several characters who will become important elements of the book going forward (as well as the broader Marvel Universe). As I explained in the first Invaders post, these World War II-era stories feature a younger, less experienced Captain America, with the same virtues that we know well, albeit less emphasis... Continue Reading →
Captain America #198-200 (June-August 1976)
These three issues finish out Jack Kirby's "Madbomb" storyline, with which he began his return to writing and drawing Captain America earlier in 1976. As I explained earlier, Kirby's 1976-1978 run was light on explicitly ethics-related content, so I cover these issues in batches and fairly quickly. In fact, the most interesting part of these... Continue Reading →