Customer Reviews

Captain America (Marvel Essentials, Vol. 3) (v. 3)

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With the recent "death" of Captain America in the epilogue to the Civil War that has rocked the Marvel Universe I decided to go back and read again the Silver Age adventures of ol' wing head. "Essential Captain America, Volume 3," reprints "Captain America" issues #127-56, which were originally published between 1970 and 1972. Captain America was created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby back in March of 1941 in Timely Comics' "Captain America Comics" #1. Cap entered the Marvel Universe in "Avengers" #4 in March 1964 after spending decades literally frozen in suspended animation, quickly becoming the leader of the group of superheroes. But by the start of the 1970s, Captain America was no longer a member of the Avengers' active roster, which had the Black Panther leading Goliath, the Vision, Quicksilver, and the Scarlet Witch. I mention this T'Challa being the leader of the current Avengers roster compliments the major development in Captain America's own comic book during this period, which was nakedly teaming up with the Falcon (despite the image above, the cover of this collection does not show the duo but just Cap taking on the Red Skull and what looks like the Hulk shooting flame out of his wrists).

The symbolism of Captain America, the embodiment of the American spirit, teaming up with an African-American superhero was certainly worth of note at the time. The Falcon (a.k.a. Sam Wilson), first appeared in "Captain America" #117, created by writer Stan Lee and artist Gene Colan (who had replaced Jack Kirby as the book's main artist). "Snap" Wilson had been a hoodlum in Harlem, but on his way to Rio de Janeiro he crashes on Exile Island and ended up fighting alongside Captain America against the Red Skull. But when we start this particular run of stories Cap is still working closely with Nick Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D., as befitting a friendship that goes back to World War II and Fury's Howling Commando days (hey, when do we get the Essential treatment for those guys? They were the first Marvel comics I ever read). But Fury uses Cap to bait a trap for a traitor (#127), and our hero takes to the road on a motorcycle so that Steve Rogers can find himself (#128). That is right: Captain America as "Easy Rider." Of course, he immediately finds the Red Skull (#129) and then Baron Strucker (#130-31), who apparently has found Bucky Barnes (#132), Cap's partner from WWII. Of course, he is not, which means Modok and AIM must pay for the deception (#133). This is where Cap decides that he has finally found a partner in the Falcon.

Captain America and the Falcon set up shop in Harlem taking on Stone Face (#134), a giant gorilla (#135) and the Mole Man (#136), and then Spider-Man (#137), who joins the duo in a rematch against Stone Face (#138) in the issue where John Romita (Sr.) becomes the artist (For a couple of issues Colan's artwork was inked by Tom Palmer, foreshadowing what we would see through almost the entire run of "Tomb of Dracula"). Steve Rogers then gets a job as a cop walking a beat (#139), where he encounters the Grey Gargoyle (#140) and works with S.H.I.E.L.D. again to bring him down (#141-42). By this time Lee had given the scripting chores for "Captain America" over to Gary Friedrich, who starts quoting John Lennon and getting Cap and the Falcon involved in a potential race riot in Harlem (#143), and providing Sam Wilson with a very angry black woman named Leila as his romantic interest, before temporarily splitting the pair up. While Cap fights Hydra, the Falcon walks the streets of Harlem in new threads (#144). Hydra makes the mistake of shooting Cap's girl friend Sharon Carter (#145) and he goes after the Supreme Hydra to make them pay (#146-47, with Sal Buscema now the artist). This leads to going up against not only the Kingpin but also the Red Skull and his Fifth Sleeper (#148).

Gerry Conway becomes the writer with #149, which features Batroc's Brigade, followed by the Stranger (#150), Mr. Hyde and the Scorpion (#151-52), and a fight with Nick Fury (#153), when Steve Englehart becomes the scripter. This collection has a big finish as the "real" Captain America and Bucky show up to fight Cap and the Falcon (#154-56), with the middle issue in the trilogy explaining "The Incredible Origin of the Other Captain America" before the two shield slingers get down to the climatic big fight. In these issues "Captain America" makes a concerted effort to become more socially relevant, with Cap out among the people as often as he is fighting old Nazis. Keep in mind that Watergate is right around the cover, in reaction to which Steve Rogers will abandon the identity of Captain America to become Nomad in #180. All things considered the comic book suffers a bit during this period from trying to be both socially relevant when Cap and the Falcon are fighting crime in Harlem, while still playing up "The Living Legend of World War II" bit and his work with S.H.I.E.L.D. Both are valid approaches, but jumping back and forth certainly disrupts the flow of the title during this time (having four writers and four artists during this period could not help). But teaming up our hero with the Falcon is definitely a landmark moment in the distinguished history of the character, who I do not believe for a moment is really dead, let alone really most sincerely dead.

Captain America really starts stepping up here. He gets a new sidekick in The Falcon, guest stars galore, the "return" of Bucky Barnes, and of course SHIELD shows up often. The weakness here however has to be the development of the Falcon. Perhaps the writers were unsure how to handle the character, and the years have definitely been kinder to Sam Wilson than his beginnings here, but it seems almost laughable at times. First, he fights hard to prove himself and become Captain America's new partner. Then he finally gets his name on the cover, and suddenly decides he doesn't want to be Cap's partner anymore. He wants to "stay and help the brothers in Harlem", so Cap says he understands and tries to leave him alone. Then Cap gets in trouble and SHIELD comes to get the Falcon's help, so he does then immediately quits Cap again after that mission. Then he tries to hunt down Spider-Man (remember, he was considered a menace by the press in the 70's), only to get beat down royally and helped by Cap again...before telling Cap he quit again. Then Cap needs help on a mission and Sam helps again...then quits again. Taken over a span of years as these monthly comics were originally published, this might not have been so obvious, but taken as a whole it really detracts from the story. Why would a hero like Cap keep coming back for help from the one man who doesn't want to give it when he has the entire Avengers roster to choose from? And why would Sam Wilson fight so hard to become a hero then decide "Ok, got that done, now leave me alone"?

But there are positive notes here. Cap's turn as Nomad is coming up in the next collection, but we see shadows of it turning up here. There are some nice SHIELD stories, and the return of Bucky was a cool storyline (though I think they really should have stretched it out a lot further before revealing his real origin). The issues starring Spidey worked well because they always made a good team back in the 70's. So the weaknesses are here, but the strong points help make them passable. Not the best of times for Cap, but these are still strong points and they lead up to what soon becomes Cap's better storylines of the decade.

This awesome volume of Captain America is filled with power packed action that only Uncle Sam's children will love. This is ONE of the best Captain America essentials EVER made. Captain America fights against AIM,Hydra,and the all powerful Red Skull. Captain America has new crime fighting partners you never thought you would ever see, like The Falcon. This Books has Gangsters, Gorillas, A Mysterious Stranger, Nazis, Robots, Spider-Man, Daredevil, The Avengers, and Nomad. Plus an awesome special apperance from the dead!?!?! He fights a familiar face as welll... but can it be BUCKY'S!?

I WANT YOU....TO PICK UP THIS BOOK AND READ!!!!!!!!!!

Finished reading this phonebook-sized collection of 1970s Captain America stories late last night. Took me quite a while to finish it. As usual, it's another Essential volume of black-and-white reprints that total up to about 600 pages! Cap was in a transitory stage when these stories were written - we were moving from the short run by Jim Steranko (collected in Vol. 2) back to Stan Lee again and then some truly great stories by Gary Friedrich, some not-so-great work by the young Gerry Conway before Steve Englehart came on board as one of the truly great Cap-scribes. The beginning of the Englehart run is collected here but the true gems of his run (i.e. the "Secret Empire" and "Nomad" arcs) can only be savoured in Volume 4.

Despite the change in scribing duties throughout this volume, the whole thing actually connects in a seamless manner throughout. The writers set up three sets of supporting characters for Cap to interact with: 1) S.H.I.E.L.D. (featuring on the love/hate relationship between Cap and Nick Fury, and the soapy/mushy romance stuff with Sharon Carter - with Contessa Val thrown in to mess up the kitchen), 2) the Falcon and the Harlem area (with Leila thrown in as mouthpiece for the racial tensions in '70s America) and 3) the police force (where Steve Rogers had his day-job as a beat cop). As for villains, the Red Skull appears again and again and again in this volume. It's like, whenever a new writer comes on board, he has to do his own *definitive* Red Skull story. So we get the Red Skull messing up with Cap's relationships in S.H.I.E.L.D., the Red Skull messing up the Kingpin's relationships in Hydra and the Red Skull masterminding the black-racist activist group that involved Falcon and Leila.

Somewhere in the middle of all that, we even get a cosmic baddie Jakar (the Stranger?) kidnapping kids in Harlem by hiring Batroc and his Brigade. We always knew those stinkin' French guys with the corny moustaches were up to no good, don't we? Of course, Batroc later teamed up with Cap and the Falcon to defeat the cosmic baddie and freed the kids. Scorpion and Mister Hyde also put in a memorable appearance to both tie up a story began in the pages of Amazing Spider-Man and Iron Man as well as to showcase Cap and Falcon at their grittiest best when the villains kidnapped Sharon Carter. After that, Cap and Sharon Carter helped Nick Fury and Contessa Val get over their mutual jealousies before taking a vacation in the Bahamas! What amused me to no end was how Cap actually faked his SICK LEAVE with the police because he wanted to take his girlfriend for a holiday - all that in the middle of a huge police scandal wherein Cap's boss, Sgt. Muldoon, was accused of police misdemeanour!

That afore-mentioned vacation was cut short with the appearance of the 1950s Captain America and Bucky. Steve Englehart was roped in to tie up one of the most buggin' continuity glitches in Silver Age Marvel. You see, Joe Simon and Jack Kirby did Cap in the 1940s. Cap was so popular that he was published throughout the 1950s as well. Problem was, Stan Lee told the world (in Avengers #4) that Cap and Bucky disappeared in the 1940s - sometime before Hiroshima! Who then were the 1950s Cap and Bucky as seen in comics such as Young Men #24 (December 1953)? Englehart came up with a creepy tale about a fan of Cap who had plastic surgery to look like Steve Rogers - even using cut-and-paste John Romita panels from Young Men #24 to explain how all that happened. See? Englehart was using this technique long before Bendis employed it in "Alias"! :)

The artwork throughout were by Gene Colan, Gil Kane, John Romita and Sal Buscema. All of them were Silver Age greats who did very reliable and clear action-packed storytelling. Nothing really cutting-edge like what Jim Steranko did before them but they served their purposes as storytellers first, innovators second. Overall, this is a very enjoyable volume and should definitely be read by today's fans who think that Ed Brubaker is the best writer on Cap! Truth is, many of these old tales were far more appealing than anything that Brubaker has ever written.

Note: Young Men #24 (the Cap and Bucky tale) is reprinted in the John Romita Sr. Visionaries hardcover.

This is an awesome book whether you're a Cap fan or not. Good stories and some of the best art to grace the pages of Marvel comics..Nuff said

The stories in this Essential Volume has more depth, the late 60s and early 70s society is reflected in the plots and the characters are less naive. Maybe the art is not iconic like the Kirby and Steranko stuff, but I think Gene Colan is the best artist for Captain America. In this Essential we have the art of John Romita Sr. and Sal Buscema too, so maybe this volume is one must have for the Cap lovers.

A very big Essential Book With Good and Interesting Stories. Not to mention its always interesting to see Captain America struggle with being relevant.

This is another very good go-around with America's star-spangled hero. Cap goes through a lot of personal turmoil in this collection, including his relationship with Sharon Carter and how he is viewed by the American public. The Red Skull shows up a few times as well as Hydra, the Cap & Bucky from the 50s, and assorted other villains. This is also the official beginning of the Cap/Falcon team. The Gene Colan artwork is superb at the beginning, followed by the incomparable John Romita, and the stylistic Sal Buscema.

Hearken back three-and-a-half decades to the early 1970s. The 1960s may have been over, but they were still felt. Vietnam, the civil rights movement and the counterculture were all still fresh, and a man like Captain America - a walking version of the flag - seemed not only irrelevant but somehow ridiculous. In the Essential Captain America Volume 3, Cap realizes this and tries to remake himself.

It starts right off the bat, as Cap is forced to prove his loyalty to SHIELD; he does so, but feels betrayed in the process, leading him to take a leave and hit the road to find himself. Even then, he gets in tangles, particularly with the Red Skull. (The Skull is also a man of the wrong era, but unlike Cap, who tries to adapt to the new world, the Skull tries to remake the world to fit his own design.) Cap eventually comes home and teams up with the Falcon, who will soon share cover billing with the Star-Spangled Avenger (but make no mistake, this is still Cap's book).

The Falcon, one of the earlier black superheroes in the Marvel Universe, seems to be partnered with Cap to give the latter some street credibility. The Falcon is more interested in crime in his own neighborhood than in super villains, which creates a constant conflict between the two. As the Falcon fights for race equality, Cap's girlfriend, SHIELD agent Sharon Carter fights for equality of the sexes.

While this is all entertaining, this is also a period in Captain America's run that has a bad reputation. While it is awkward trying to watch a square guy trying to be hip, this is still a decent series of issues. Even if this is not Captain America at its best, it's still a lot of fun.