As we continue the story, begun in issue #231, of Captain America fighting the white nationalist Grand Director and his National Front, we finally learn the identity of the person behind the hate movement (who was glimpsed in silhouette in the last issue) as well as a hint as to who the Grand Director himself... Continue Reading →
The first three of these four issues tie up the storyline from the last post, with the fourth exploring the origin of Toro (with minimal Cap content). The most interesting part may the return of a former Invader, as seen on the cover to issue #20 above... but did Lord Fallsworth get better, or... Continue Reading →
These four issues, continuing from the storyline in issues #206-208 that ended with Captain America and his new friend Donna Maria Puentes meeting Arnim Zola, brings Sharon back into the fold in a big way and also "welcomes back" a classic Cap villain with an equally classic devious plan. (Yes, I'm being coy about the... Continue Reading →
These three issues tell the story of Hector Santiago, a.k.a. "the Swine," a vicious Latin American prison warden/warlord who actually doesn't survive issue #208, and appears very little in this post at all. However, the story does leave us with another character who is perhaps the greatest contribution that Jack Kirby gave to the... Continue Reading →
This two-part story is starts out with an epilogue of sorts to the saga of the Night People in the last three issues (as that story did with the Madbomb tale that preceded it), but soon transitions into a yarn about a strange being named Agron (no relation to the Glee actress, as far as... Continue Reading →
In this issue, we meet Steve Rogers's new superhero identity, which he doesn't adopt until halfway through the comic but is spoiled nonetheless on the cover and the splash page. (Sigh.) Note the language in the exposition below—"the rubble that is politics, 1974"—not far from the language used today. His current disillusionment with politics and... Continue Reading →
The two issues represent the beginning of Steve Rogers's "retirement," after the pivotal issue #176 in which he decided, after much pointless advice from his friends, to give up being Captain America out of disillusionment with the American government. Much of these two issues is taken up by the Falcon's battle with a bad guy... Continue Reading →
This is perhaps the most pivotal and significant issue we've covered yet on this blog, encapsulating so many problems that Captain America has struggled with, not only since the beginning of the "Secret Empire" storyline (in issue #169) but ever since emerging from the ice as a "man out of time" in Avengers #4. Also,... Continue Reading →
With this issue and this post, we start not only Steve Englehart's legendary run on Captain America, but also one of the more ethically significant storylines to this point in Cap's history, a four-issue arc that I'll be taking one issue at a time. Even though this issue is a prelude of sorts, not getting... Continue Reading →
