This issue concludes the three-part story of Captain America's battle against Viper and Constrictor, fighting alongside Jack Monroe, originally the Bucky of the 1950s but now operating as Nomad (Cap's brief identity after the Secret Empire episode), as well as S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Gail Runciter, looking an awful lot like Sharon Carter in the issue and... Continue Reading →
Captain America Annual #6 (November 1982)
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 →
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 →
Captain America #272 (August 1982)
This issue welcomes Sam Wilson, aka the Falcon, back into the book that for several years bore his name, in a story that features him and Captain America on separate adventures that test both heroes' resolve and composure in similar ways. We begin with our title hero riding in the rain through "the black heart... Continue Reading →
Captain America #270 (June 1982)
In this issue, we learn the identity of the man we saw briefly in issue #268, who actually represents a milestone in Marvel Comics history, and has a fascinating connection to Captain America. Also, we see Bernie Rosenthal being a hero in her own right (and in her own way). We begin with Steve and... Continue Reading →
Captain America #258 (June 1981)
This issue returns us to Captain America's status quo in Brooklyn Heights after adventures and remembrances kept him in England since issue #253 (excepting the origin issue #255). It also welcomes back one of my favorite Cap artists, Mike Zeck, on both interiors and the cover. Best of all, this issue pays tribute to some... 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 →
Amazing Spider-Man #187 (December 1978)
This comic could very well have been an issue of Marvel Team-Up, which has featured Captain America teaming up with Spider-Man twice by this point (issue #13 and issue #52), except that it actually focuses on Cap more than Spidey, at least after the first few pages referencing the status quo of Spidey's life at... Continue Reading →
Captain America #226-227 (October-November 1978)
These two issues shift from the "Who Is Steve Rogers?" storyline that concluded in the last issue and launches into "Am I Still Captain America?" beginning from that issue's cliffhanger ending: Cap's super-soldier serum was apparently neutralized, leaving him no longer a perfect physical specimen, but rather the original scrawny Steve Rogers, as we see... Continue Reading →
Avengers #174-178, Avengers Annual #8, and Iron Man #114-115 (August-December 1978)
This post covers the last four issues of the Korvac Saga, in which Captain America plays a small very role; the next issue of Avengers and an annual, in which he is marginally more important; and two issues of Iron Man featuring Cap with the Avengers, in which... well you get the idea. The relevant... Continue Reading →