This issue concludes the story begun in the last issue in which Captain America returned to England to reunite with Lord Fallsworth (the original Union Jack from World War I) and Jackie Fallsworth (Spitfire from Cap's WWII team, the Invaders) to investigate mysterious murders that turned out to be the work of Lord Fallsworth's archfoe... Continue Reading →
Captain America #246 (June 1980)
In this issue—a fill-in before the legendary run by Roger Stern and John Byrne begins in the next issue—Captain America once again encounters a villain with more to his story than he initially appreciates, emphasizing the theme of mercy made at the end of the last issue. The issue opens with a NYC school board... Continue Reading →
Captain America #242 (February 1980)
This issue sees our hero manipulated by a fiend known as—wait, "the Manipulator," really?—who puts him through a series of set-ups and illusions to try to break him mentally. Although the Manipulator pushes all the right buttons, some of them enabled by Cap's innocent gullibility, it is no surprise that at the end Cap emerges... Continue Reading →
Captain America #229-230 and The Incredible Hulk #232 (January-February 1979)
These three comics finish up Captain America's search for the Falcon that began in the last issue, and which also brings in the Hulk for a cross-over at the end—and we find out who the mystery Jim is who the Falcon went looking for in the first place! Captain America #229 opens where the last... Continue Reading →
Marvel Two-in-One #42-43 (August-September 1978)
This second of three team-ups of Captain America and the Thing in the pages of Marvel Two-in-One is no less wild than their first (in 1974's issues #4-5), but it does have more meaningful content relevant to Cap's ethics (if somewhat dodgy at times, as we shall see). We'll skip the opening one-page splash of... Continue Reading →
Captain America #215 (November 1977)
With this issue, the Captain America series launches an examination of "Who is Steve Rogers?", which unfortunately is not the sort of juicy existentialist dilemma that might interest us here, but merely a matter of Captain America being unable to remember anything about his life before Project Rebirth transformed him into the Sentinel of Liberty.... Continue Reading →
Avengers #141-144 (November 1975-February 1976)
These four issues see Captain America's return to the Avengers after a long spell away while he was battling the Secret Empire, abandoning his superhero identity to become Nomad, and then dealing with the Red Skull and the revelations about the Falcon's past. (See the posts on Captain America from issue #169 to issue #192.)... Continue Reading →
Captain America #177-178 (September-October 1974)
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 →
Captain America #168 (December 1973)
This issue is a fill-in story, written by Roy Thomas and Tony Isabella before regular writer Steve Englehart's epic "Secret Empire" storyline begins, and it both recaps Captain America's current status and introduces a villain who will become a major player once he truly embraces the family business. (And before you ask, the Phoenix in... Continue Reading →
Captain America #165-167 (September-November 1973)
After the prelude in issue #164, we have here the main three-parter featuring Captain America and the Falcon fighting the Yellow Claw, a Fu Manchu-type villain (see also: the Mandarin) who starred in his own short-lived Atlas comic in the 1950s, who reappeared in the 1960s to fight S.H.I.E.L.D. (including behind the scenes in Strange... Continue Reading →