This post covers most of the second half of the "Heroes Reborn" run of Avengers, as the title was transferred to Jim Lee's Wildstorm Studios starting with issue #8 and written by comics legend Walter Simonson for the rest of its short run, during which the team faces a large number of new versions of... Continue Reading →
Captain America #7 (May 1997)
Coming at the halfway point of the "Heroes Reborn" period, his issue serves as a reset of sorts for Captain America himself, as we'll see in the story below, and behind the scenes as well, as responsibility for the title changes hands within Image Comics from Rob Liefeld's Extreme Studios to Jim Lee's Wildstorm. Most... Continue Reading →
Avengers #2-5 (December 1996-March 1997)
In this post we continue with the "Heroes Reborn" run of Avengers: In the first issue, the team found Thor trapped in amber, and in these four issues they face this reality's version of Kang and a new Hulk born from their old reality's Bruce Banner (split from the familiar Hulk in Onslaught: Marvel Universe... Continue Reading →
Captain America #2-5 (December 1996-March 1997)
These four issues continue the "Heroes Reborn" run of Captain America, the background of which was reviewed in the post on the first issue. There, following the final battle with Onslaught, we meet Steve Rogers in a new reality, living in Philadelphia with a wife Peggy and a son Rick, and with no memory of... Continue Reading →
Captain America #450-451 (April-May 1996)
These two issues comprise the first half of the "Man without a Country" storyline, the first time in years that our hero has found himself on the wrong side of the United States government. At the end of the first "Secret Empire" storyline, Steve Rogers resigned the Captain America identity out of disgust with his... 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 →
DC Versus Marvel/Marvel Versus DC #1-4 (February-May 1996)
This four-issue miniseries was the first large-scale crossover between Marvel Comics and DC Comics, following meetings of individual heroes such as Superman and Spider-Man and Batman and the Hulk. Soon to be outdone by JLA/Avengers in 2003, DC Versus Marvel (and vice versa) was a glorified Contest of Champions, much like the recent Avengers/Ultraforce crossover,... Continue Reading →
Captain America #448 (February 1996)
This issue concludes Mark Waid and Ron Garney's first extended storyline in Captain America, which began in issue #445. So far, our hero was revived by Sharon Carter (whom he had long believed to be dead) and the Red Skull (who provided the blood transfusion that saved him), all to save the world from the... Continue Reading →
Captain America #445 (November 1995)
This issue reveals (finally) what happened to Captain America after he appeared to die and then disappeared in issue #443, his still body glimpsed only at the last page of issue #444, along with two shadowy figures whose identities are revealed here as well. All in all, this is the proper first issue of Mark... Continue Reading →
Captain America #443 (September 1995)
This is it, the final issue of Mark Gruenwald's epic 137-issue run on Captain America, starting with issue #307 in July 1985. I'll pay tribute to Gruenwald at the end of his post, but for now, let's focus on Captain America himself, who has really been going through it lately. Cap started feeling weak in... Continue Reading →