These issues of Captain America and Avengers complete the "Taking AIM" crossover, in which all of Captain America's friends, Avengers and otherwise, plus the Red Skull, are assembled on AIM Island to investigate Cosmic Cube-related energy blasts. Also present are Diamondback and Superia, the latter of whom gave Cap a small dose of her cure... Continue Reading →
Captain America #440 and Avengers #387 (June 1995)
These issues of Captain America and Avengers comprise the first half of the "Taking AIM" crossover, in which Captain America assembles a team of heroes to help him investigate strange energy emissions from AIM Island—which have also attracted the attentions of the Red Skull. The story begins in Captain America #440 as Cap asks his... Continue Reading →
Captain America #439, Avengers #386, and ClanDestine #8 (May 1995)
This issue of Captain America continues our hero's process of "taking care of business" in his new Stark-designed armor that grants him mobility after his body completely gave out on him due to depleted super-soldier serum. It also returns to the topic of the new Super-Patriot (who was presumed dead after disappearing in a fire... Continue Reading →
Captain America #437 and Iron Man #314 (March 1995)
This issue of Captain America is the epilogue to "Fighting Chance," the arc that began a year ago in issue #425 and detailed Captain America's gradual physical decline as his super-soldier serum broke down. At the end of the last issue, he was completely paralyzed and suffered a heart attack while his fellow Avenger Hank... Continue Reading →
Captain America Annual #13 (1994)
This annual contains two stories, each significant for its own reasons. The first is a Roy Thomas-penned extravaganza involving all the Captains America to date, including the two he introduced in What If? #4 to clear up the appearances of Cap and Bucky in the Golden Age comics after their early 1945 deaths (a concept ... Continue Reading →
Captain America #420, Nomad #18, and Thor Corps #1-2 (September-October 1993)
Captain America #420 starts off a run of five relatively disconnected issues that suggest the creators are running out the clock until the beginning of "Fighting Chance" storyline in issue #425. Here, we meet a new Blazing Skull—and the existence of another Blazing Skull, seen in the recent Invaders miniseries, is not even mentioned until... Continue Reading →
Captain Britain #15-27 (January-April 1977)
This post corrects an egregious oversight: specifically, the baker's dozen of issues of the weekly Marvel UK comic Captain Britain in which Captain America guest-starred in early 1977, which I seem to have skipped. It's a fun, fact-paced story that calls back to Cap's early adventures in Tales of Suspense, and I'm happy to bring... Continue Reading →
Captain America #418-419 and Silver Sable and the Wild Pack #15 (August-September 1993)
The first of these three comics focuses mainly on Dennis Dunphy's subterranean struggles and his eventual emergence into daylight, with Cap playing a lesser role—but he has a much larger one in the following two-issue crossover with Silver Sable and the Funky Bunch, which contains some fine examples of necessary moral compromise (an issue also... Continue Reading →
Captain America #409-410, West Coast Avengers #88, and Soviet Super-Soldiers #1 (November-December 1992)
These two issues finally reconnect Captain America with Diamondback, aka Rachel Leighton, his sort-of ladyfriend, who was abducted in issue #396 and held hostage by Crossbones, as shown in recent back-up stories (for the most part not covered here). To be fair, Cap's been busy, what with Operation: Galactic Empire, Citizen Kang, and being a... Continue Reading →
Captain America Annual #11, Thor Annual #17, and Avengers Annual #21 (October 1992)
These three annuals—plus Fantastic Four Annual #25, in which Captain America does not appear—comprise the "Citizen Kang" storyline, in which the master time manipulator puts the various heroes through their paces before bringing them together at the end for a grand showdown. (Sadly, he does not escape at the end on his time-sled Rosebud.) Most... Continue Reading →