These issues are heavy on humor but light on ethically interesting content regarding Captain America, so we'll dispense with them fairly quickly. Issue #221 is a recruitment drive story, as made obvious by the cover and the opening splash page. After declaring their optimal number of members to be six, Janet asks "the boys" what... Continue Reading →
Avengers #217 (March 1982)
This issue is centered around the downward trend in Hank Pym's life, but also contains some interesting moments for Captain America, as well as two significant changes for Janet van Dyne, aka the Wasp. (Normally I wouldn't have dedicated an entire post to this issue, but it fell between two more significant ones, so I... Continue Reading →
Captain America #267 (March 1982)
This issue is one of my favorite from J.M. DeMatteis's several years as the writer of the title, in which he address Captain America's understanding of and relationship with the American dream. This story represents another epiphany for Cap, similar to Stan Lee's later stories (such as issue #122) and the end of Steve Englehart's... Continue Reading →
Captain America #266 (February 1982)
This issue wraps the team-up between Captain America, Spider-Man, and Nick Fury begun in the last issue, in which Cap continues to be overly dramatic, using some lines best saved for the Red Skull on Sultan, a would-be world destroyer-slash-dictator. Naturally, this issue begins with the cliffhanger left over from the last, in which Nick... Continue Reading →
Marvel Two-in-One #82 (December 1981)
This issue marks the last appearance of Captain America as the titled guest-star in Marvel Two-in-One, the Thing's team-up book. Also featured in the book is Bill Foster, a character introduced in Avengers #32 who later became Black Goliath, and at the time of this issue was the second Giant-Man (and would next revert to... Continue Reading →
Avengers #213 (November 1981)
This is a pivotal issue in the lives of Hank Pym and Janet van Dyne, changing how both characters and their relationship were seen from this point on. It also contains some significant reflection on the part of Captain America and other members of the Avengers, and puts Cap in the unique situation of holding... Continue Reading →
Avengers #212 (October 1981)
Not only does this issue feature the first adventure of the new line-up of the Avengers introduced in the last issue, but it also launches a long arc dealing with Hank Pym's breakdown—not his first, but the most eventful, for his own legacy and also for his wife, Janet van Dyne (the Wasp), and the... Continue Reading →
Captain America #262 (October 1981)
This issue continues the story begun in the previous one, in which Captain America traveled to Los Angeles, ostensibly to participate in publicity for a movie made about him. His true purpose is to investigate a mysterious person operating under the name of Nomad, the identity he assumed in issues #180-183 after the Secret Empire... Continue Reading →
Captain America #261 (September 1981)
This issue leads off a three-issue storyline that welcomes back several old foes as well as one previous identity, as you can see on the cover, although it's a mystery who's under the mask. More exciting, at least for me, this issue introduces one of my favorite Captain America writers, J.M. DeMatteis, to the title.... Continue Reading →
Avengers #210-211 and Defenders #98 (August-September 1981)
These two issues of Avengers see Captain America taking charge of the team and very forcefully at that, with questionable reason to do so. At the end, we have new line-up for the team; before that, though, the Avengers appear in Defenders, where Cap is more than happy to defer to a team better suited... Continue Reading →