This issue is an exciting, back-to-basics, done-in-one tale of Captain America versus Hydra, ending in a significant status change for our hero (who you'd think has had enough such changes over the last year or so). I think it may be time for me to hang up my regular objections to Cap being shown throwing... Continue Reading →
Avengers #2-3 and Thunderbolts #11-12 (February-April 1998)
The two issues of Avengers covered in this post really have to seen in their entirety to be appreciated, presenting us a smorgasbord of George Pérez brilliance as he designed Arthurian-era outfits for dozens of heroes after they were transported by the sorceress Morgana le Fey, using the powers of the captured Scarlet Witch, to... Continue Reading →
Avengers #1 (February 1998)
This is the first issue of the third volume of Avengers, following the return of the core of the team from the "Heroes Reborn" universe in what is also a wonderful return to form for the Avengers and the book, now in the hands of Kurt Busiek and George Pérez. (See editor Tom Brevoort's reflections... Continue Reading →
Captain America #1 (January 1998)
Over 500 posts to get a Captain America #1, and now we get another one a dozen posts later? Welcome to modern Marvel Comics, where we go from new #1s to triple-digit legacy numbering and back again in the blink of an eye. The "Heroes Return" era brings our lost heroes—Captain America, Iron Man, Thor,... Continue Reading →
Thunderbolts #9 and Spider-Man/Kingpin: To the Death (November 1997)
While we eagerly await the heroes' return from the "Heroes Reborn" universe, this issue of Thunderbolts provides a welcome flashback to earlier days: specifically, the beginning of "Cap's Kooky Quartet" from Avengers #16, as told by Black Widow to two members of the Thunderbolts. (Also, we have a bonus page from a Spider-Man one-off that... Continue Reading →
Captain America #13, Iron Man #13, and Heroes Reborn: The Return #3-4 (November-December 1997)
This post concludes this blog's coverage of "Heroes Reborn," the year during which Rob Liefeld and Jim Lee of Image Comics took over four Marvel titles in an attempt to make them "kewl" and "Xtreme," only to see the initiative collapse halfway through, with Jim Lee's Wildstorm Studios carrying the ball over the finish line... Continue Reading →
Captain America #12 (October 1997)
This issue finishes the "Heroes Reunited" storyline across the twelfth issues of the four "Heroes Reborn" titles (begun here), as well as the main part of the "Heroes Reborn" period itself, with only the "World War III" crossover with the Wildstorm universe and the Heroes Reborn: The Return miniseries left to get our heroes back... Continue Reading →
Avengers #12, Fantastic Four #12, and Iron Man #12 (October 1997)
These oversized issues comprise three quarters of "Heroes Reunited," the crossover event between the twelfth issues of the four "Heroes Reborn" titles that serves as the official* end of the Image Comics experiment and ends with Captain America #12 (covered in a separate post, despite being included in the collected cover image above). * I... Continue Reading →
Captain America #10-11 (August-September 1997)
These two issues continue Captain America's fight against the white-supremacist Sons of Serpent that began in the last two issues, while bringing Bucky and the Falcon back into the picture—with a shocking revelation about Nick Fury at the end. (Shocking, that is, unless you've ever read a Nick Fury story before.) And if the cover... Continue Reading →
Captain America #8-9 (June-July 1997)
These two issues see Captain America, having severed his ties with SHIELD in the last issue, taking to a motorcycle to reacquaint himself with America and eventually confronting white supremacism (operating under a familiar name). As issue #8 opens—and as is prominent on the Jim Lee cover above—Cap explains to his partner of five minutes,... Continue Reading →