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 →
This issue is the latest entry in the proud Avengers tradition of "putting a team together" stories, which includes issues #151, #181, #211, #221, and #329 from volume 1 (all collected in the Avengers: I Am an Avenger trade paperback, with the current issue reprinted in the sequel). It's full of great character moments—beautifully illustrated... Continue Reading →
This issue sees Captain America deal with the continuing Hydra threat, the return of Batroc the Leaper, and the growing "Capmania" around him since returning from the "Heroes Reborn" world. Along for the ride is Cap's favorite pal, Hawkeye... is he just one more thing Cap has to deal with? We open on a record... Continue Reading →
In this post we see Captain America process the loss of his beloved shield in the last issue, while he also deals with the "Capmania" that broke out while he was "dead" for a year and which exploded when he returned. (Oh yeah, and Hydra too, again.) After a couple pages setting up Hydra's invasion... Continue Reading →
This is the first issue of the third volume of Avengers, following the return of the core of the team from the "Heroes Reborn" universe in what is also a wonderful return to form for the Avengers and the book, now in the hands of Kurt Busiek and George Pérez. (See editor Tom Brevoort's reflections... Continue Reading →
While we eagerly await the heroes' return from the "Heroes Reborn" universe, this issue of Thunderbolts provides a welcome flashback to earlier days: specifically, the beginning of "Cap's Kooky Quartet" from Avengers #16, as told by Black Widow to two members of the Thunderbolts. (Also, we have a bonus page from a Spider-Man one-off that... Continue Reading →
This post concludes this blog's coverage of "Heroes Reborn," the year during which Rob Liefeld and Jim Lee of Image Comics took over four Marvel titles in an attempt to make them "kewl" and "Xtreme," only to see the initiative collapse halfway through, with Jim Lee's Wildstorm Studios carrying the ball over the finish line... Continue Reading →
These two issues see Captain America, having severed his ties with SHIELD in the last issue, taking to a motorcycle to reacquaint himself with America and eventually confronting white supremacism (operating under a familiar name). As issue #8 opens—and as is prominent on the Jim Lee cover above—Cap explains to his partner of five minutes,... Continue Reading →
These four issues continue the "Heroes Reborn" run of Captain America, the background of which was reviewed in the post on the first issue. There, following the final battle with Onslaught, we meet Steve Rogers in a new reality, living in Philadelphia with a wife Peggy and a son Rick, and with no memory of... Continue Reading →
The big 400th issue of Avengers is a celebration of the team's history, written by Mark Waid and penciled by Mike Wieringo, who had collaborated on a well-received Flash run (1993-1994) and would later produce a legendary Fantastic Four run (2002-2005) before Wieringo's untimely death in 2007. The anniversary issue is preceded by the final page of... Continue Reading →
THE VIRTUES OF CAPTAIN AMERICA 