These three issues are as much (if not more) about Deathlok, cyborg super-soldier from a dystopian near-future, as they are about Captain America, so we can discuss them as a group. As the best writers do, J.M. DeMatteis finds the humanity inside this sci-fi tale of cyborgs and time travel, and connects the events to... Continue Reading →
Captain America #252 (December 1980)
This issue wraps up the story begun in the previous one, in which Captain America faced Batroc the Leaper and Mr. Hyde and ended up in quite a pickle, as shown in the opening splash page below—and as you would expect, Cap remains defiant as ever. Poor Mr. Hyde is frustrated by how strong... Continue Reading →
Captain America #247 (July 1980)
This issue is a big deal for several reasons. In general, it launches the short run (nine issues) by Roger Stern and John Byrne, which not only remains one of the premiere runs on Captain America to this day, but also leads to a tremendously rich extended period on the book featuring writers such as... 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 #237 (September 1979)
This issue serves as an aftermath to the six-issue storyline, which began in issue #231 and ended in the last issue, involving Captain America fighting against the white supremacist Grand Director (who ended up being someone from his past—see the last issue if you don't know who), his National Force, and the man behind it... Continue Reading →
Captain America #226-227 (October-November 1978)
These two issues shift from the "Who Is Steve Rogers?" storyline that concluded in the last issue and launches into "Am I Still Captain America?" beginning from that issue's cliffhanger ending: Cap's super-soldier serum was apparently neutralized, leaving him no longer a perfect physical specimen, but rather the original scrawny Steve Rogers, as we see... Continue Reading →
Captain America #222 (June 1978)
In this issue, Captain America finally starts to get some answers to his quest, begun in issue #215, into his forgotten life before Project Rebirth... but those answers will sound strange, and for good reason. We also get some flattering exposition, and sound introspection on Cap's part, while he struggles against the villainous Corporation, acting... Continue Reading →
Captain America #216-218 (December 1977-February 1978)
These three issues—really two, because the first is a reprint with only one new page—continue the "Who Is Steve Rogers?" storyline that began in issue #215, in which Captain America searches for information about his life before Project Rebirth. This leads into a Newfoundland adventure starting in issue #218 that eventually reveals some new... 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 →
Captain America #184 (April 1975)
This issue is the first of Steve Englehart's final story, taking up his last three issues on Captain America, after a run that took the title to a higher level in terms of ethical substance (and sales). It features Cap and Falcon facing off against the Red Skull, allows Cap to get off his chest... Continue Reading →