In this post, we're looking at the entire 12-issue Secret Wars series, the first major line-wide crossover event in comics, which expanded significantly on the model of 1982's Contest of Champions and cast the mold for the subsequent annual crossover event comics at both Marvel and DC. (You can read more on the origin and... Continue Reading →
As usual with Avengers around this time, these are great team stories with only occasional ethically interesting Captain America content, so we'll discuss these three issues together (plus a page from another Avenger's first solo title). Personal note: Avengers Annual #12 was the first Marvel comic I ever bought, a purchase from a hospital gift... Continue Reading →
This issue once again sees the Avengers facing a foe traditionally associated with the Fantastic Four, in this case the Wizard (after dealing with Annihilus in issue #233). The underlying theme of this issue, though, is Wasp's leadership of the team, which Captain America has always supported. As we see here, though, this does not... Continue Reading →
As is typical during this period of Avengers, these two issues have spotty Captain America content, especially of the ethically interesting variety, but we nonetheless find things to talk about, usually in the form of meaningful interpersonal moments between Cap and his teammates. In issue #231, Avengers past and present are gathered in memory of... Continue Reading →
These four issues of The Incredible Hulk, in which the Green Goliath, fully under the control of Bruce Banner at this point, battles his foe the Leader. The Avengers feature in the last two issues (shown above), in which Captain America has an opportunity to show leadership (in space!) and even travels through time and... Continue Reading →
This issue of Captain America concludes the storyline with Baron Zemo that started in issue #276, although it leaves one thread to be resolved in the next issue (as we'll see on the final page of the main story). It also wraps up the back-up storyline dealing with Sam Wilson's struggles with his past persona... Continue Reading →
This is a wild story that brings together the four men who have served as Captain America at this point in time. It is a spiritual successor to Jack Kirby's magisterial Bicentennial Battles from 1976, in which the enigmatic Mister Buda sent Captain America on a time-traveling adventure; it also capitalizes on Roy Thomas's exercise... Continue Reading →
This post is somewhat of a grab-bag, centered on Avengers Annual #11, written by then-regular Captain America and Defenders writer J.M. DeMatteis, followed by a few panels from assorted other Cap appearances that month, including two other annuals. (The Amazing Spider-Man Annual #16 from the same month—which introduced Monica Rambeau, the new Captain Marvel—is covered... Continue Reading →
These four issues feature Captain America and his fellow Avengers alongside the Fantastic Four, plus (supposedly) every other Marvel hero at the time in Marvel Super Hero Contest of Champions, the company's very first miniseries (or "limited series" as they were called then). In Fantastic Four #243, the Avengers find themselves in a mansion with... Continue Reading →
This story in this issue of Captain America, which concludes in Defenders with an aftermath in the next issue, is one of two follow-ups to issue #264 (the other one being Avengers #218), all written by regular Captain America and Defenders scribe J.M. DeMatteis. In Captain America #268, after an introduction to the Defenders' part... Continue Reading →
