Although these two comics were published in the middle of the Onslaught Saga, both take place slightly earlier—although the cover of Marvel Fanfare, which hypes the story as Captain America and the Falcon's "final adventure", does not bode well for the conclusion of that massive crossover storyline! Note also the George Pérez cover to the... Continue Reading →
Avengers #402, The Incredible Hulk #445, and X-Men #56 (September 1996)
This is the second post focused on the Onslaught Saga, which brings the Avengers, X-Men, and Fantastic Four together to battle Onslaught, an entity formed from the warped consciousnesses of Professor Xavier and Magneto, who plans to wipe out humanity for the sake of mutants. More important for us, the issue of Avengers covered here... Continue Reading →
Avengers #401, Uncanny X-Men #335, Onslaught: X-Men #1, and X-Men #55 (August 1996)
This post covers the first month of the Onslaught event that spelled the end of the first volumes of many Marvel titles, including Captain America and Avengers, which were relaunched afterwards as part of the "Heroes Reborn" initiative (on which more soon). In the story itself, a psionic entity known as Onslaught, formed from the... Continue Reading →
Captain America #449, Avengers #396, Iron Man #326, and Thor #496 (March 1996)
These four issues compromise the "First Sign" crossover that was meant to fully bring the "Avengers Prime" back into the team after they were all brought into the aftermath of "The Crossing." (Why is the Iron Man cover missing above? Cap ain't on it, of course!) Fair warning: Most of the interesting material with Captain... Continue Reading →
Captain America #447 and The Savage Hulk #1 (January 1996)
This issue continues "Operation Rebirth," the first full storyline in Mark Waid and Ron Garney's first run on Captain America, which finds our hero fighting alongside Sharon Carter—who has been alive this whole time, as explained in the last issue—and the Red Skull, who gave him a blood transfusion to save his life so he... Continue Reading →
Captain America #444 (October 1995)
"Where is Captain America?" is the question that leads off Mark Waid and Ron Garney's first run on this title, following Mark Gruenwald's 137-issue run that ended last month. The conclusion of that issue will be recapped below, so for now I'll just say that this issue is more of a tribute to Captain America,... 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 #442 and Thunderstrike #23-24 (August-September 1995)
As Mark Gruenwald approaches the end of his long run on Captain America, he starts to revisit concepts from throughout his run (and even earlier), as well as fixing continuity glitches, as he was wont to do. Plus, the last two issues of the Thunderstrike series see Cap and the Avengers join to watch Eric... Continue Reading →
Captain America #441 and Avengers #388 (July 1995)
These issues of Captain America and Avengers complete the "Taking AIM" crossover, in which all of Captain America's friends, Avengers and otherwise, plus the Red Skull, are assembled on AIM Island to investigate Cosmic Cube-related energy blasts. Also present are Diamondback and Superia, the latter of whom gave Cap a small dose of her cure... Continue Reading →
Captain America #440 and Avengers #387 (June 1995)
These issues of Captain America and Avengers comprise the first half of the "Taking AIM" crossover, in which Captain America assembles a team of heroes to help him investigate strange energy emissions from AIM Island—which have also attracted the attentions of the Red Skull. The story begins in Captain America #440 as Cap asks his... Continue Reading →