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 →
Captain America #437 and Iron Man #314 (March 1995)
This issue of Captain America is the epilogue to "Fighting Chance," the arc that began a year ago in issue #425 and detailed Captain America's gradual physical decline as his super-soldier serum broke down. At the end of the last issue, he was completely paralyzed and suffered a heart attack while his fellow Avenger Hank... Continue Reading →
Captain America/Nick Fury: Blood Truce #1 (February 1995)
This one-shot, like last month's Tales of Suspense #1, sees Captain America team up with an old friend to confront the state of geopolitics following the fall of the Berlin Wall and the dissolution of the Soviet Union, this story in particular taking place soon after that event (according to an editorial note on the... Continue Reading →
Tales of Suspense #1 (January 1995)
This one-off issue of Tales of Suspense honors the title in which Iron Man debuted in 1962 and in which Captain America had his first modern-age solo stories starting in 1964. They shared the title until 1968 when it changed to Captain America with issue #100 and Iron Man got his own shiny #1 (after... Continue Reading →