These three issues tell the story of Hector Santiago, a.k.a. "the Swine," a vicious Latin American prison warden/warlord who actually doesn't survive issue #208, and appears very little in this post at all. However, the story does leave us with another character who is perhaps the greatest contribution that Jack Kirby gave to the... Continue Reading →
This two-part story is starts out with an epilogue of sorts to the saga of the Night People in the last three issues (as that story did with the Madbomb tale that preceded it), but soon transitions into a yarn about a strange being named Agron (no relation to the Glee actress, as far as... Continue Reading →
The three issues of Captain America covered here make up the second extended storyline of Jack Kirby's return to the character he co-created before World War II (not including the massive Bicentennial Battles Treasury Edition and Captain America Annual #3). Our story starts in issue #201, in which Cap and Falcon take on the "Night... Continue Reading →
These four issues of Invaders introduce several characters who will become important elements of the book going forward (as well as the broader Marvel Universe). As I explained in the first Invaders post, these World War II-era stories feature a younger, less experienced Captain America, with the same virtues that we know well, albeit less emphasis... Continue Reading →
These three issues finish out Jack Kirby's "Madbomb" storyline, with which he began his return to writing and drawing Captain America earlier in 1976. As I explained earlier, Kirby's 1976-1978 run was light on explicitly ethics-related content, so I cover these issues in batches and fairly quickly. In fact, the most interesting part of these... Continue Reading →
This issue is the first of Steve Englehart's final story, taking up his last three issues on Captain America, after a run that took the title to a higher level in terms of ethical substance (and sales). It features Cap and Falcon facing off against the Red Skull, allows Cap to get off his chest... Continue Reading →
In this issue, we meet Steve Rogers's new superhero identity, which he doesn't adopt until halfway through the comic but is spoiled nonetheless on the cover and the splash page. (Sigh.) Note the language in the exposition below—"the rubble that is politics, 1974"—not far from the language used today. His current disillusionment with politics and... Continue Reading →
In this issue we meet the Golden Avenger, a familiar-looking fella who seems to have it out for Steve Rogers (and also seems to know he used to be Captain America, hmm). But there's more to this encounter than meets the eye, and it ends up changing Steve's views on being a costumed hero. Also,... Continue Reading →
These three issues (re)introduce an important character only glimpsed once before, as well as adding new wrinkles to Captain America's relationships with both the Falcon and Sharon Carter. Issue #160 opens with Cap and Sam fighting some random thugs, and Cap reminds us of his new super-strength (picked up in the last storyline), although not... Continue Reading →
