This issue of Captain America revisits a number of recent storylines as well as an important topic raised in issue #269, one that remains all too relevant in the real world of today. (Cap also had a short story in the anthology title Marvel Fanfare this month that makes a valuable point, but very simply,... Continue Reading →
Avengers #213 (November 1981)
This is a pivotal issue in the lives of Hank Pym and Janet van Dyne, changing how both characters and their relationship were seen from this point on. It also contains some significant reflection on the part of Captain America and other members of the Avengers, and puts Cap in the unique situation of holding... 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 #251 (November 1980)
This issue and the next are a return to traditional superheroics after the presidential diversion of the last issue as two classic villains—at least one of them beloved on this blog—team up to face Captain America, who continues to adjust to his new life as Steve Rogers, freelance artist, with new friends and neighbors in... Continue Reading →
Captain America #250 (October 1980)
This well-timed anniversary issue, published just several months before the 1980 United States presidential election, deals with an obvious hypothetical: Should Captain America be president? I actually dealt with this issue years ago when the Ultimate Universe version of Cap actually did become president in his world, but in a very different political context—there, the... Continue Reading →
Captain America #241 (January 1980)
In this issue, Captain America meets Frank Castle, aka the Punisher, in one of Frank's earliest appearances outside of Amazing Spider-Man, two years before he appeared in Daredevil and six years before he got his first title. Accordingly, we get our first look at the differences between the two men, which we will see from... Continue Reading →
Avengers #167-169 (January-March 1978)
The first two of these three issues comprise the start of the "Korvac Saga," a ten-issue storyline in Avengers in which Captain America does not play a very prominent role, so I will primarily be highlighting character moments with less synopsis than usual. In this two issues in particular, we see Cap's first significant conflicts... Continue Reading →
Iron Fist #12 (April 1977)
No, you didn't stumble onto my The Tao of Iron Fist site. (Not yet, at least.) Much more than your average guest appearance, this issue near the end of Iron Fist's first 15-issue series (following nearly a year's run in Marvel Premiere, all collected here) is more like an issue of Marvel Team-Up or Marvel... Continue Reading →
Super-Villain Team-Up #10-12 (February-June 1977)
Wait, Captain America... in a supervillain book? Did he "hail Hydra" already? Is this "Secret Empire 1.5"? Don't click on that "back" button, my friends: Cap features in these three issues, but not as part of a super-villain team-up. (Whew!) Instead, his archfoe the Red Skull joins Namor and Doctor Doom in "their" book, and... Continue Reading →
Captain America #185-186 (May-June 1975)
The spotlight is on the Falcon in these last two issues of Steve Englehart's run (with a co-write from his successor John Warner on issue #186), as the Red Skull reveals secrets about him that will shake both heroes (although we see more of the effects on Captain America, for reasons that will become clear).... Continue Reading →