This issue of Avengers brings the team into conflict with the Thunderbolts for the first time since the team of villains broke with Baron Zemo and tried to go straight (for real), and also reunites them with Hawkeye for the first time since he walked out on the team at the end of Avengers #9. As... Continue Reading →
Iron Man/Captain America Annual 1998
This annual sees Captain America and Iron Man team up to face some familiar foes, as seen on the cover above, ending up in one of their classic disagreements and previewing arguments they will make during the Civil War in a few years' time. The issue opens with the two heroes arrive on an island,... Continue Reading →
Avengers #10-11, Iron Man #10, Quicksilver #13, The Incredible Hulk #470, Silver Surfer #146, and X-Man #46 (November-December 1998)
These two issues of Avengers begin with a celebration of the 35th anniversary of the team's founding (in September 1963's Avengers #1) and end of the somber return of some fallen colleagues, followed by a grab-bag of minor appearances of Captain America and the team across the Marvel Universe. (Even though the cover to #10... Continue Reading →
Captain America: Sentinel of Liberty #2-4 (October-December 1998)
These three issues comprise a fantastic Invaders story set in 1942, narrated by Captain America—to whom is not clear, but he does note it's "nearly sixty years" later, so he is probably telling this story in 1998 (or even 2001, when the last issue took place for some reason). Anyway, Grandpa's war story gives us... Continue Reading →
Captain America #10 and Excalibur #125 (October 1998)
This issue continues the story begun in the last issue, which ended with Captain America and Sharon Carter trapped under the collapsed ruins of a construction site after rushing in to save one last worker. We also learn more about the madness affecting prominent heroic American citizens—especially when it affects the title character himself. As... Continue Reading →
Avengers #8-9 (September-October 1998)
These issues introduce two new heroes (one of whom is prominent on the cover to issue #8 above) as well as a threat who is new to the Avengers (but well known to the X-Men, Spider-Man, and Black Panther), and see one of their own leave the team. After opening with a charming scene of... Continue Reading →
Captain America #9 (September 1998)
With this issue we begin a new storyline, this one dealing with a madness that seems to afflict a very particular group of people... but you wouldn't know this from the cover, which highlights Captain America's glowy new best friend. The story starts out with Sharon Carter talking to a police detective about a superstar... Continue Reading →
Avengers/Squadron Supreme Annual 1998 and Silver Surfer/Thor Annual 1998
The annual featuring the Avengers and the Justice League of America Squadron Supreme follows up on their "tense" team-up in Avengers #5-6 and offers a good old-fashioned "split into smaller teams to defeat the Big Bad's threat" story, while the Silver Surfer/Thor Annual from around the same time features one page with the Avengers, with... Continue Reading →
Captain America #8 and Avengers #7 (August 1998)
These two issues are half of the "Live Kree or Die!" crossover that begins in Iron Man #7 and also includes Quicksilver #10 (although Captain America appears in neither). The Kree are presumably jealous of the recent attention the Skrulls have received in recent issue of Captain America, so a faction called—I am not kidding—the... Continue Reading →
Avengers #5-6 (June-July 1998)
These two issues see the return of the Squadron Supreme, the interdimensional analogue of the Justice League of America who debuted in Avengers #85, as well as several very minor characters drawn from Marvel lore. More relevant to us, we see Captain America encounter several leadership challenges, particularly with Carol Danvers, now going under the... Continue Reading →