This issue continues the storyline begun in issues #115-116, in which the Red Skull uses the Cosmic Cube to switch appearances with Captain America, ruining Cap's sterling good name and leaving the real Cap to face his friends and foes in the guise of his worst enemy. At the end of the last issue, the... Continue Reading →
With this run of seven issues of Avengers, issues #34 through 40, we reach a rather fallow period for Captain America as far as ethically interesting content is concerned—in fact, Cap does not appear in issue #39 and in only one panel in #40, warning his fellow Avengers about something that happened in his own... Continue Reading →
Finally… the Red Skull returns! Not only does Captain America’s greatest foe resurface in this issue, but he’s working with AIM (no longer being called Them), and he gets control of their new weapon: the Cosmic Cube, making its debut in the first issue of this storyline. Issue #79 opens with a traditional Cap battle…... Continue Reading →
These six issues see two current Avengers members leave and two originals return... and even more momentous, Captain America and Hawkeye start to heal their wounds (as Clint gets a new punching bag). Issue #26 opens with Cap trying to show his fellow Avengers the new secure messaging device Tony Stark dreamed up, but Hawkeye... Continue Reading →
After eight issues in World War II, we return to the present day, in which Cap battles against a plan the Red Skull launched twenty years ago—and we get the first appearance of Cap’s Kooky Quartet in his own book. Issue #72 begins with Cap telling Hawkeye, Quicksilver, and the Scarlet Witch the story recounted... Continue Reading →
I'm taking this kooky quartet of Avengers issues together because, honestly, there's not a lot of ethical interest to Captain America here. The most interesting thing to me about these issues is that they feature the Avengers breaking up and getting back together, for the first time but definitely not the last, and Cap's tortured... Continue Reading →
I’m taking these eight stories together for two reasons. First, they all take place in World War II with Bucky, so they fit thematically. Second, there’s not much of ethical interest in them, being fairly basic tales of heroism and adventure—and there’s nothing wrong with that, but it doesn’t give me much to talk about... Continue Reading →
Things are a-changin’ as the Avengers roster turns over almost completely, leaving Captain America as the only member without a criminal record. But first, we get some resolution to Cap’s “hunger for revenge” against Baron Zemo. As issue #15 begins, we see that Cap is once again having existential doubts about his meaning and purpose... Continue Reading →
We’ll tackle these two issues together because they are actually linked in a way unusual to the Avengers (or any Marvel Comics) at this point—with an actual cliffhanger (which, to be honest, is the only truly interesting thing to happen in the first issue). TWO FUNNY THINGS IN ISSUE #13 During a battle, Iron Man... Continue Reading →
This issue finds Captain America traveling to Vietnam to negotiate the release of a prisoner of war, the first time we see Cap in a contemporary military setting (even though he isn’t in combat). As many future Cap stories do, this one shows him repaying a debt to a former colleague—in this case, one that... Continue Reading →
THE VIRTUES OF CAPTAIN AMERICA 