This issue brings Captain America in contact with several more members of the Serpent Society—including one that he will get to know much better in later issues. It also lands him a new teen sidekick of sorts, one very much up-to-date with the computer lingo of 1986 (which the editors kindly explain). After a few... Continue Reading →
Marvel Graphic Novel #17: Revenge of the Living Monolith (October 1985)
This fun graphic novel fleshes out the history of the Living Pharaoh, also known as the Living Monolith, a minor X-Men villain, and also introduces Apocalypse, a major X-Men villain, albeit in an anonymous appearance in one panel (only to be identified later). This graphic novel features no X-Men, but rather the Fantastic Four, Spider-Man,... Continue Reading →
Captain America #309 (September 1985)
This issue sees Captain America return to New York City after his adventures in England and California the last four issues, reuniting with his fiancée Bernie Rosenthal, his crimefighting partner Nomad (aka Jack Monroe), and... his boss. Which one will he still be with by the end of the issue? Read on and see! After... Continue Reading →
Captain America #307-308 and Secret Wars II #1 (July-August 1985)
These two issues of Captain America launch Mark Gruenwald's decade of writing the book, much of which sits among the very best Cap stories, but it gets off to a slow start: The first issue deals mainly with Cap's crime-fighting partner Nomad, and the second had to tie in with Secret Wars II, the first... Continue Reading →
Avengers #253-254 (March-April 1985)
This post brings the long "Absolute Vision" storyline to its conclusion, as the synthezoid Avenger finally kicks his plan for world control into motion. (See the last post for a quick recap, because Captain America had not been in the book for a while before issue #251.) In issue #253, we see Cap still addressing... Continue Reading →
Avengers #251-252 (January-February 1985)
This post and the next together bring the "Absolute Vision" storyline to a finish. Quick recap: As we saw in issue #233, Vision was knocked unconscious, only to be revived later by Starfox and ISAAC, the computer that runs his home planet of Titan. ISAAC's corrupting influence, combined with a malfunctioning "control crystal" implanted by... Continue Reading →
Captain America #285 and Fantastic Four #258 (September 1983)
This issue continues the "day in the life" theme of the last one, set against the background of the illness of Jeff Mace, former hero known as the Patriot and the second man to serve as Captain America after the "death" of Steve Rogers in 1945. We also spend some time on Steve's relationship with... Continue Reading →
Captain America #284 (August 1983)
This issue is the first of two "day in the life" issues, with Captain America dealing with more down-to-earth problems in both his professional and personal lives. But this shouldn't be taken to suggest that these are easy days for him—this is an incredibly heavy issue of Captain America, with plenty of emotional turmoil for... Continue Reading →
Captain America #277 and Fantastic Four #250 (January 1983)
This issue of Captain America continues the story started in the last issue, after Cap traveled to a castle in Mexico to find his childhood friend Arnie Roth and his boyfriend Michael Bech and was confronted by a number of his enemies, two of whom are presumed to be dead. In the same issue, we... Continue Reading →
Captain America #273-274 (September-October 1982)
This two-parter by regular fill-in writer David Anthony Kraft reunites Captain America with Nick Fury and his Howlin' Commandos from World War II to face a common enemy they assumed was dead—and in the end, they lose one of their own. Issue #273 opens with Cap meeting old friends and making new ones, all the... Continue Reading →