This issue strikes a solemn note, as Captain America gets reflective about the nature of war and is reminded of the circumstances of the "death" of his young partner Bucky Barnes, while at the same time conflicts deepen between him and his girlfriend Connie Ferrari regarding the legal services she provides to unsavory characters and... Continue Reading →
Captain America: Sentinel of Liberty #10-12 (June-August 1999)
These last three issues of the first volume of Captain America: Sentinel of Liberty are a mixed bag: the first is literally a joke, the second is a fun and snarky look at the first appearance of "Captain America" in the 1960s, and the third is a heartfelt tribute to James Buchanan "Bucky" Barnes, heralded on... Continue Reading →
Captain America #18 and Nova #2 (June 1999)
This issue, the penultimate in the current storyline which began in issue #14, is a unique entry in the Captain America canon, a time-travel story in which he dies a lot, but keeps coming back to fight for liberty and justice. (You may have seen this movie.) In the last issue, Cap leapt into the... Continue Reading →
Captain America/Citizen V Annual 1998
This annual feels more like a Thunderbolts comic than a Captain America, for good reason: Citizen V was Baron Zemo's identity when the team were pretending to be heroes while many of the real heroes were "reborn" elsewhere. The name came from a Golden Age hero, John Watkins, who appeared twice (Daring Mystery Comics #8... Continue Reading →
Thor #1-2 (July-August 1998)
Finally, a new Thor series following "Heroes Return," and the first #1 issue of Thor ever (because his original title took over the numbering of Journey into Mystery with #126 and he didn't get his own "Heroes Reborn" title). As we know, Thor was delayed coming back to the 616 with the gang after he... Continue Reading →
Avengers #12, Fantastic Four #12, and Iron Man #12 (October 1997)
These oversized issues comprise three quarters of "Heroes Reunited," the crossover event between the twelfth issues of the four "Heroes Reborn" titles that serves as the official* end of the Image Comics experiment and ends with Captain America #12 (covered in a separate post, despite being included in the collected cover image above). * I... Continue Reading →
Captain America #10-11 (August-September 1997)
These two issues continue Captain America's fight against the white-supremacist Sons of Serpent that began in the last two issues, while bringing Bucky and the Falcon back into the picture—with a shocking revelation about Nick Fury at the end. (Shocking, that is, unless you've ever read a Nick Fury story before.) And if the cover... Continue Reading →
Onslaught: Marvel Universe #1 (October 1996)
This is it, the culmination of the Onslaught Saga and the issue that leads to... well, let's not get ahead of ourselves. As with the first two installments of this story (here and here), Captain America serves mainly as field leader and—as emphasized in Avengers #402—supporter of morale among his fellow heroes and the population... Continue Reading →
Captain America #452-453 (June-July 1996)
These two issues finish the "Man without a Country" storyline, in which Steve Rogers is stripped of the Captain America title and his American citizenship after President Bill Clinton accused him of conspiring with the Red Skull: specifically, trading secrets about an anti-aircraft weapon in exchange for the blood transfusion that saved his life (in... Continue Reading →
Avengers #395, Avengers: Timeslide #1, Iron Man #325, and Age of Innocence: The Rebirth of Iron Man #1 (February 1996)
Oh boy... this one's gonna take some explaining. Since the Avengers found Captain America missing and presumed dead at the end of Captain America #443, they (and the poor readers) had to endure "The Crossing," a mini-event between their own title, Force Works, Iron Man, and War Machine, that involved many interweaving events. Most important... Continue Reading →