This post covers, in very little detail, the Avengers' underseas adventure with Namor in Avengers and Alpha Flight, as well as Captain America's two minor appearances alongside the team in the final issues of Eternals and Power Man and Iron Fist. (Not a good sign to have the Avengers guest-star in your book, I guess—watch... Continue Reading →
Avengers #270 (August 1986)
This issue mostly follows up on the protests over Namor joining the Avengers that we've seen in recent issues, and, as one of his oldest friends—one of his only friends, really—Captain America is affected personally by this. (Am I reading too much in the cover, or could it be a bit of an homage to... Continue Reading →
The Incredible Hulk #320-323 (June-September 1986)
The story in these four issues has a very simple premise: After being split from Dr. Bruce Banner in issue #315, the Hulk has become a being of pure rage with no moderating intellect or rationality, and as a result is now more uncontrollably violent than ever. Both Avengers teams now have to confront the... Continue Reading →
New Mutants #40 (June 1986)
This issue sees the Avengers called in on a very special case dealing with Magneto, the mutant master of magnetism, but all is not what it seems—although Captain America didn't know that as of the time of the cover shoot! (It is a very striking cover by Barry Windsor-Smith, isn't it?) There's a lot going... Continue Reading →
Captain America #318 (June 1986)
This issue is the first of three that focus on the story of the Scourge of the Underworld, a mysterious individual who has been killing minor villains across various Marvel titles for the last few months, including Captain America #311, in what was actually an editorial "housecleaning" mechanism designed by editor and current Captain America... Continue Reading →
Avengers #267-269 (May-July 1986)
These three issues present a story of Kang... or Kangs, as it were. The plot resembles the films Highlander or Jet Li's The One in that one Kang tries to eliminate other Kangs created by divergences in the timeline due to all his time-travel shenanigans over the years (extending into the past and future). We... Continue Reading →
Avengers #266 and Vision and the Scarlet Witch #7 (April 1986)
This epilogue to Secret Wars II focuses on the Molecule Man, not the Beyonder, and guest-stars the Silver Surfer (as seen on the cover) and the Fantastic Four (who didn't make the cut, apparently, or else Reed forgot when the photo shoot was). With this issue we finally say goodbye to this sad sequel to... Continue Reading →
Avengers #265, Secret Wars II #9, Vision and the Scarlet Witch #6, and Wonder Man #1 (March 1986)
Out of the four issues covered in this post, Avengers has the most content relevant to this blog, as Captain America and his teammates face off with the Beyonder. This is followed by the conclusion of Secret Wars II, in which Cap and dozens of other Marvel heroes join forces to see Mr. Jumpsuit off... Continue Reading →
Captain America #314, Avengers #264, and Secret Wars II #8 (February 1986)
This time around we cover all three of a month's appearances of Captain America in one post: Most of Cap's action in February 1986 occurs in his own title, where he struggles with issues of duty and extradimensional jurisdiction, while he features in just one page of each of this month's Avengers and Secret Wars... Continue Reading →
Avengers #263 and Fantastic Four #286 (January 1986)
Fresh from their crossover in the recent Avengers and Fantastic Four annuals, the two teams meet once again in their regular titles in a story that—no surprise, given the FF cover—reintroduces Jean Grey, who seemed to perish during the "Dark Phoenix Saga," and in turn leads into the first X-Factor series, starring the reunited original... Continue Reading →