Tags Matching: Captain America

Top 100 Summer Comics #7

By admin | Published September 13, 2010

“I’m a sucker for…” has appeared frequently through my postings here. I’ll at least take solace in my self awareness for knowing the use of certain storylines and visuals draws me in a moth to the flame. For better or worse, but hey… it’s my list and I’ll do what I want to.

#7 – Captain America 16 (vol 4)

Jae Lee is awesome. Captain America is awesome. And for some reason, just as I like football in the snow just a little bit more, any good comic book adventure in the snow / ice / etc is that much better. And I don’t think anyone will accuse Chuck Austen of rewriting any classic novels, but he did a good job with the ice story. During a relatively weak time for Captain America stories, this was an oasis, albeit brief.

Top 100 Summer Comics #10

By admin | Published September 10, 2010

In comics, everyone dies. It’s almost inevitable. Moreso than that, everyone comes back to life. Almost.

There’s a few who I never thought would make it back. And even fewer from that group that I thought would come back and it would be AWESOME… and not corny.

Bucky fell into this rare grouping.

#10 – Captain America 14 (2005)

I urge you, click. See that price tag. Wha? And note, the other copy I found on Ebay was in line with that outrageous price. Still, I understand why. This is the linchpin issue of the modern Captain America saga. Bucky is back as the Winter Soldier – and it’s awesome. The groundwork for Cap getting killed and replaced… and for once, I’d be okay with the replacement keeping the position, even with a resurrected Steve Rogers creeping around the Marvel U again.

Top 100 Summer Comics #49

By admin | Published August 3, 2010

Two-fer today. I zoinked out yesterday. It’s okay.

You know what wasn’t okay? CAPTAIN AMERICA, from about issue 387 to 443. Total garbage. Honestly, killing Steve Rogers was a much more humane and decent treatment compared to the kind of grind he was put through here. It was awful. I think this is where my interest in the Canadian Football League came from – if Captain America was going to suck this much, I’d need to diversify my interest portfolio to some OCONUS activities. Keep my options open.

#49 – Captain America 444

And then a weird thing happened on the way to the Argonauts game (on television). Captain America got good again. REAL good. For a brief sparkle, Mark Waid and Ron Garney stepped to the plate and knocked it out. No surprise, these guys continue to be benchmarks of high quality almost across the board.

Captain America Jetmobile.

By morgado | Published August 2, 2010

Lots of pictures up in this auction, but no word on if this jetmobile actually can be jetted around a room. It sure looks to me like you’re supposed to be able to put a rocket in the back, light a match, and make that puppy zoom. Plus the front is drooped like it’s been near some crazy heat. Maybe I’m just projecting my childhood dreams of a rocket powered all American toy.

Top 100 Summer Comics #55

By admin | Published July 27, 2010

Captain America was right with that whole civil war business.

Everyone shoulda just gone with him. Instead a grip went with the reformed alkie and movie darling, Iron Man.

Bah. Here’s to CAP smacking Iron Man around.

#55 – Captain America 341

I Love Old Stickers.

By morgado | Published July 22, 2010

They’re always much, much cooler looking than modern stickers. These I find especially cool looking…

Only thing is… I feel like, they aren’t actually stickers. I know the auction SAYS they’re stickers, but I’ve never seen any two part stickers before. They look more like the backs of the stickers, like the kind you could collect and put together as a puzzle of sorts.

I’m A Bit Disappointed In Us.

By morgado | Published July 6, 2010

It was the 4th of July this weekend, and we let the entire weekend go by with out touching on a single patriotic comic. No Captain America, no Superman… not even an entry on the American Maid.

I don’t know if I’d go so far as to call us commies, but we kind of blew it.

So here, let me make amends…

How does this make amends? It’s not just the American flag backdrop, it’s because this issue was the first appearance of THE FORCE OF JULY~!

I know you’re saying “who” right now. There’s a reason for that: despite having an awesomely ridiculous name, The Force of July were essentially the DCU’s version of pro-wrestling jobbers, and existed primarily to get their asses handed to them every time out.

The only original member who really ever meant anything, let alone survived their Suicide Squad appearances, was Major Victory (aka the unconscious guy being held up on the above SS cover), who actually ended up IN the Squad for the remainder of the series before ending up one of the D-listers who were massacred to put over Eclipso as a major DC Universe villain in Eclipso #13.

Fortunately, you can’t keep a good cheesily awesome concept down, and during Infinite Crisis an all new version of the Force turned up in Battle For Bludhaven, this time using the name Freedom’s Ring (sadly, new versions of original members Mayflower and Sparkler would not appear. And by “sadly”, I mean “fortunately”).

They may look cooler, but Freedom’s Ring just doesn’t roll off the tongue the way Force of July does. You might say it doesn’t have the same “ring” to it…

In the end, the name change really didn’t do them any good, as the team continued their reign as the DCU’s government JOB Squad: the new Silent Majority and Lady Liberty didn’t even make it out of issue 2 alive, and the new Major Victory received a major league beating courtesy of his own severed arm when new team member (and Captain Atom’s lone notable super villain) Major Force went berserk and pulled it off of him like a chicken wing. Since then Major Victory has reappeared with a new arm, we’ve gone through 2 more Lady Liberty’s, and the team has been absorbed into a similar government team called First Strike, serving as opponents of the new Uncle Sam and the Freedom Fighters.

So yeah. Total D-list jobbers. But man. Force of July. What a great name.

Top 100 Summer Comics… #79

By admin | Published July 1, 2010

Crossovers are kind of a pet peeve of mine.

They all start great. Most, I should say. But inevitably, they gunk up the system. Writers are forced to change the flow of their stories to fit in with the event, and usually that leads to some pretty awkward writing.

But sometimes… very rarely… they make for some pretty cool stuff.

#79 – Infinity Gauntlet 3

Like this cover. It’s the comic equivalent of Bam-Bam. There’s nothing subtle about this coolness, it’s smashing you over the head. No nuanced writing – just every kickass Marvel character charging at you.

And as cool as the Infinity Gauntlet was, it led to the Infinity War. Which led to the Infinity Crusade. Gross.

Rob Liefeld: Fraud or Victim?

By pkindlon | Published June 30, 2010

Is it the artist’s fault if his work is inappropriately lauded? Is it his responsibility to stop the train and say, “hey, everyone, I’m not actually all that great”? Or is he just a man, and as such, given to bouts of self-aggrandizement and even greed?

Here’s the thing: as a kid, I hated this dude. I wasn’t fooled then, and I’m even less convinced now. But as an adult, I understand you gotta get in where you fit in. If people are willing to hand me money, I take it. How am I going to attack a man for acting as I would?

No hard feelings, Mr. Liefeld. You saw your opening and you acted. Kudos. Only one of us has a Levi’s commercial.

Top 100 Summer Comics… #85

By admin | Published June 26, 2010

Whew. This one came in close to the wire. We ain’t going out like that.

It’s 11:50 pm (central time for those curious of my living situation) and I just completed a long drive to Dallas, TX.

What better way to celebrate such an All-American City than by featuring a classic Captain America caper?

#86 – Captain America 357

Baron Zemo was my favorite villain. At some point, I’ll get into my issues with his unlikely hero turn(?) in Thunderbolts, but this is just exactly why it didn’t work. He was a bad guy’s bad guy. He was just evil. Marvel has never had a whole lot of BAD for the sake of BAD types. Zemo was one of them. This issue was wrapping up a weird Cap as a teen story that I am convinced was just testing the waters for an X-Babies like Teen Cap miniseries, but geniusly setting up a truly great hunt for powerful stones. THIS WORKS PEOPLE. I am somehow compelled like many others by this mystical search for precious gems. No clue why. But be it Indiana Jones or Flintheart Glomgold or Thanos, I want to see/read/etc about evil vs. good in a dire search for power…ful stones. Loved this arc… and the last time Diamondback was actually written well / cool.