This issue returns us to Captain America's status quo in Brooklyn Heights after adventures and remembrances kept him in England since issue #253 (excepting the origin issue #255). It also welcomes back one of my favorite Cap artists, Mike Zeck, on both interiors and the cover. Best of all, this issue pays tribute to some... Continue Reading →
Avengers #204-206, Incredible Hulk #258, and Dazzler #1-2 (February-April 1981)
These six issues contain minimal Captain American content for our purposes, so I'm bundling them all together for your convenience—and value! As I do in these cases, there will be less story synopsis than stories in which Cap is the focus, though I encourage you to seek out the full stories in the links at... Continue Reading →
Captain America #254 (February 1981)
This issue concludes the story begun in the last issue in which Captain America returned to England to reunite with Lord Fallsworth (the original Union Jack from World War I) and Jackie Fallsworth (Spitfire from Cap's WWII team, the Invaders) to investigate mysterious murders that turned out to be the work of Lord Fallsworth's archfoe... Continue Reading →
Avengers #201-203 and Marvel Two-in-One #69 (November 1980-January 1981)
These issues see a return to normalcy after the controversial Avengers #200, if by "normalcy" you mean the return of Ultron—not to be defeated, unfortunately, by Jarvis, seen above in one of my favorite Avengers covers. (The cover refers more to the solo Jarvis back-up story, from which we'll see only one panel here). Plus,... Continue Reading →
Avengers #200 (October 1980)
As mentioned in the last post, Avengers #200 is very controversial (and rightfully so), and even though Captain America has little to do directly with the controversy itself, the issue merits its own post, with copious links to more thorough treatments below. (Warning: There is discussion of sexual violence later in this post.) The main... Continue Reading →
Captain America #249 (September 1980)
This issue concludes Captain America's battle with Machinesmith that began in issue #247, finally bringing the Sentinel of Liberty face to face with his foe as well as a number of other familiar faces (kind of). We also touch base with Cap's new friend, Bernie Rosenthal, although you'll have to tell Cap about it, as... Continue Reading →
Captain America #248 (August 1980)
This issue continues Captain America's battle with Machinesmith from the last issue, with the addition of a Fantastic Four character, the robotic Dragon Man (seen both on the cover to your right and earlier, behind the scenes in Avengers #42). We also touch base with Steve Rogers's personal life, watching him as he looks for... Continue Reading →
Avengers #197-199 and Fantastic Four #220 (July-September 1980)
These three issues of Avengers are great action-packed superhero comics, but not ones with a lot of ethically interesting Captain America content, except for demonstrating his strong leadership. (These issues are perhaps better known for setting up the extremely controversial issue #200, as we'll see near the end of the post.) As an added bonus,... Continue Reading →
Captain America #246 (June 1980)
In this issue—a fill-in before the legendary run by Roger Stern and John Byrne begins in the next issue—Captain America once again encounters a villain with more to his story than he initially appreciates, emphasizing the theme of mercy made at the end of the last issue. The issue opens with a NYC school board... Continue Reading →
Captain America #243-244 (March-April 1980)
These two issues bring us back to Captain America's main storyline (after the last issue), in that it references Steve Rogers's burgeoning artistic career, while still having the feel of a fill-in story, this one about a fella named Adonis who definitely isn't. (No judgment... neither am I!) Issue #243 opens with Cap fighting unknown... Continue Reading →