These issues introduce two new heroes (one of whom is prominent on the cover to issue #8 above) as well as a threat who is new to the Avengers (but well known to the X-Men, Spider-Man, and Black Panther), and see one of their own leave the team. After opening with a charming scene of... Continue Reading →
Captain America: Sentinel of Liberty #1 (September 1998)
As if one #1 issue for Captain America weren't enough in 1998, we have another: Captain America: Sentinel of Liberty #1, a new series exploring the details of Cap's past (and sometimes his near future), launched by Mark Waid and Ron Garney, the team that successfully began volume 3 of Captain America as part of... Continue Reading →
Captain America #5 (May 1998)
This issue starts the three-part conclusion to the Capmania storyline that launched this volume with its first issue. It opens with the fella featured alongside Captain America on the cover, but after they have an interesting exchange about the nature of fame and idol worship, it's all about Hydra, whose plans are revealed at last.... 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 →
Captain America #446 (December 1995)
This second issue of Mark Waid and Ron Garney's first extended storyline on Captain America finds our hero working very uncomfortably alongside his greatest foe, the Red Skull, and his former love, Sharon Carter, who he (and we) had believed dead since issue #237—and we learn exactly how she has been alive all this time... 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 →
Avengers #382 and Marvel Double Feature #381-382 (December 1994-January 1995)
This post covers Captain America's appearances with the Avengers during these two months, with only his brief appearance in Avengers referencing the health problems that are coming to a head in his own book. (He also appears with the Avengers in Namor the Sub-Mariner #58, but that's covered in another post.) In Avengers #382, the... Continue Reading →
Avengers Annual #23 (1994)
In the final annual of the original run of Avengers, the team faces the dual threat of Loki and Pluto, who engage in the time-honored strategy of switching foes, with Loki taking on Hercules here while Pluto deals with the Odinson in Thor Annual #19. Captain America's failing health, consistently referenced in his appearances still... Continue Reading →