This is a fun graphic novel with a combined Avengers team made up of East Coast and West Coast members, working alongside the mutant team Freedom Force to combat a prison break led by Venom and featuring a huge number of super-criminals. (I think this is the first time Captain America has met Venom, no?)... Continue Reading →
The Adventures of Captain America #1 (September 1991)
This amazing four-part miniseries—the first devoted solely to Captain America—is written by Fabian Nicieza and drawn by master of facial expressions Kevin Maguire, and elaborates significantly on Cap's earliest days, providing additional details and emotional weight to Steve Rogers' desire to serve his country, the Project Rebirth procedure and the training that preceded and followed... Continue Reading →
Nomad #3-4 (January-February 1991)
These two issues finish up Jack Monroe's first miniseries in style, after his actions in the first two issues, which involved intervening in the illegal drug trade—and interfering with a government undercover operation to the same end—attract the attention of the Super Powers Commission, who commission a psychiatrist to evaluate Monroe. In issue #3, they... Continue Reading →
Avengers #327-328, Avengers Spotlight #40, and Thor #427 (December 1990-January 1991)
These two issues of Avengers finish the storyline that introduces Rage, "guest-stars" founding member Iron Man, and leads into the landmark issue #329, in which yet another new line-up is introduced. Also, at the end we see a few panels from a Vision story in Avengers Spotlight and a Thor story in... well, Thor. (Surprise?)... Continue Reading →
Thor #420-421 (August 1990)
These two issues of Thor are part of a larger story called "The Black Galaxy Saga," in which the God of Thunder is called to... well, you know... in response to the latest scheme of the High Evolutionary. The story began in issue #419, where a Replicoid was sent by the Celestials to gather Thor,... Continue Reading →
Captain America #358-360 (September-October 1989)
"The Bloodstone Hunt," the story which (barely) began in issue #357, continues in these three issues (and wraps up in the next two), in shorter-than-usual installments to make room for the U.S. Agent back-ups (and the biweekly shipping schedule). Cap doesn't face a lot of significant moral dilemmas here, but it's a cracking fun story... Continue Reading →
Captain America #336 (December 1987)
After three issues without his presence (but not without his influence), Steve Rogers returns to his title, as he chooses what to do with his life now that he's longer Captain America. Meanwhile, his Partners Three, shown in floating heads on the cover, band together to look for him as well. (Does anyone remember the... Continue Reading →
Captain America #326 (February 1987)
This Halloween issue takes us out of the current storylines about Nomad, ULTIMATUM, and John Walker—for the most part—and instead returns us to Skullhouse, the setting of "the death of Red Skull" from issue #300, where Captain America will see some ghosts, revisit some memories, and engage in a lot of internal monologue. (A lot.)... Continue Reading →
Captain America #323 and Marvel Fanfare #29 (November 1986)
This issue of Captain America introduces John Walker and Lemar Hoskins, albeit in a way that will be unrecognizable to readers familiar with them only from The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. (However, John's career will follow the same broad trajectory, and Lemar fares much better than he does in the show!) Storywise, this issue... Continue Reading →
Captain America #310 (October 1985)
In addition to ramping up the Serpent Society storyline that has been slithering behind the scenes of Captain America since Mark Gruenwald took over as writer with issue #307, this issue also features a new development in the artistic career of Steve Rogers, which will comprise most of the coverage in this post (and the... Continue Reading →