Recently in Captain America Category

Today is Jack Kirby's birthday.  Even though he's not around, I still like to celebrate with a big old stogie and some Kirby comics.  Well, maybe not a real cigar, but here is one classic Marvel image you will like.

This is one of the Marvelmania posters that Jack Kirby did in the late 60s, featuring Captain America, the Fantastic Four, Thor, Spider-Man, Doctor Doom and Silver Surfer.  The Jack Kirby Collector Magazine #47 had this on the cover, which is where the scan came from.

Here is the original un-colored drawing, from Tod Seisser's gallery at ComicArtFans.

For another tribute to the King, check my Amazing Heroes 100 article on Giant-Size Geek that features a few cartoons from Kevin O'Neill, William Messner-Loebs, and Scott Shaw.  Nuff Said!

Link: Tod Seisser's Gallery at ComicArtFans.

Link: TwoMorrows Publishing.

In 1975, the word was given: Jack’s Back.  We read it first in Stan’s Soapbox on the Bullpen Bulletins page, then it re-echoed through fanzines like the Comic Reader.  Fans that also read the Distinguished Competition (DC Comics for you young uns), knew that Jack was leaving, as evidenced by his decreasing role over there.  Marvel die-hards who also subscribed to FOOM got an advance preview of what was to come…

Jack Kirby, super-hero warrior of the pencil, was returning back to the bosom of Marvel.  This issue detailed Kirby’s plans for Captain America as well as a special adaption of 2001 A Space Odyssey.  And they hinted at a future collaboration with Stan Lee on the Silver Surfer.

I had a mixed reaction hearing this news.  I loved Kirby’s Jimmy Olsen, New Gods and Mister Miracle over at DC.  What I knew of Kirby’s Fantastic Four and Thor came from reprints like Marvel’s Greatest Comics—I had started reading Marvel at precisely the time Kirby jumped ship.  While I loved those classic FF stories…as time progressed, I came to admire a slightly deeper level of writing from guys like Steve Englehart, who wrote Captain America from issue 153 to 186 (1972-1975).  Three years of the greatest Captain America arc ever written in my eyes: the racist doppelganger Cap\Bucky of the 1950s, the Secret Empire headed by Richard Nixon, the Nomad arc, topped off by the Red Skull’s return.  Ed Brubaker has been mining this material since he started his Cap run.

Yes, Kirby was back—but wait a minute—that meant Steve Englehart was not coming back! 

Shit!  That was my feeling.  Looking back, it was like a hostage swap.  Marvel got Kirby, DC got Englehart, who worked on Justice League and his famous Batman/Detective run with Marshall Rogers.

This is a weird way to begin a 1970s Kirby tribute.  I still bought his 70s era Marvel comics: Cap, 2001, Eternals, Black Panther, and yes—Devil Dinosaur.  I thought they were bizarre and funky and definitely not as hip as the work produced by Englehart, Don McGregor, and Steve Gerber.  They weren’t as good as his DC Comics work or the old FF run.  I’ve appreciated this material more as time has progressed.  I think Kirby produced some great covers during this period, which I am going to feature here over the next few days. 

Jack Kirby’s cover to Captain America 193 was iconic.  Even better, it was inked by John Romita.  I know a lot of you guys are gonna say that Romita’s inks overpowered Kirby on this cover.  But I think it’s the perfect blend, a great Kirby pose followed with Romita detailing.  I think this cover is just as good as Captain America #100 (the first silver age issue).  You have to love that cover blurb: King Kirby is Back—And Greater Than Ever!

The back cover to FOOM #11 featured Jack Kirby sitting back and dreaming up the covers to Cap 193 and 194.  I don’t know who did this one, if I had to guess, I would say it was Marie Severin.

I am curious if anyone else alive in the 70s had the same reaction to Kirby’s taking over Captain America?  Or did you say, throw that bum Englehart out?  Let me know your thoughts.  Nuff Said!

Captain America hurls his might shield in this 1982 cover to The Comic Reader #204 by Bill Sienkiewicz (in his Neal Adams period) and Bob Layton.  You must YIELD!  Nuff Said!

I don't talk about modern comics very much--there's tons of other blogs that do everyday much better than I can.  But I do get a box every month from Discount Comic Book Service, and Amazing Spider-Man is always in there.  I think one of the most talented artists working at Marvel these days is Marcos Martin. 

Marcos Martin brings a crazy, kinetic style of energy on Spider-Man that hasn't been seen since the days of Steve Ditko.  Coupled with Dan Slott's high-energy mania, this is a creator marriage made in comic-book heaven.

I was particularly bowled over by the above splash page, where Spidey is standing over a craps table.  The story title and credits are cleverly laid out along the table grid.  A very clever idea!

I really find Martin's innovative use of logos (such as the blood dripping off Spidey's masthead on issue 619) to be very much in the vein of Will Eisner.  Eisner did all kinds of things with the Spirit's logo (or logo-forms as Alan Moore called them) by shooting them with bullet holes and having all kinds of liquids dripping from them.

The cover to the forthcoming Amazing Spider-Man Annual #37 does another twist on the logo, by turning it into a neon sign.  Again, this cover seems very Eisner-like to me, with Spidey and Cap standing on different levels of a building.

You have to dig the old-fashioned shout-out to "Collector's Item Classic" here as well!

Marcos Martin has also done outstanding work on Dr Strange (The Oath mini-series with Brian K. Vaughan) and the Captain America 70th Anniversary special.  Here's the black and white version of a page where Cap addresses the troops on a WW2 aircraft carrier.

There's a cool interview with Martin over at The Beat by Michel Fiffe.  Like his fellow countryman, Carlos Pacheco, Marcos Martin appears to have respect for the creators who made these characters great.  Nuff Said!

Every comics company loves to give their heroes a new look from time to time.  During the Shooter-era of the 1980s, the Marvel heroes were re-designed with new looks and costumes.

Spider-Man: Black costume from Secret Wars, sans the symbiote.

Iron Man: Tony Stark designed this red and silver armor in Iron Man #200.

Hulk: Grey Hulk from Peter David’s tenure on the series.

Thor: Walt Simonson designed this new battle armor and let the Thunder God grow a beard.

Captain America: Steve Rogers put on this costume and became a free agent for a while.  Later on, US Agent wore this costume whenever a team needed a third-rate Captain America—like the current Mighty Avengers series.

Were these Marvel makeovers as bad as shoulder pads and mullets?  I liked the Grey Hulk the best out of this lineup.  Nuff Said!

Here’s a nifty little pinup that John Romita Sr drew, featuring Captain America, She-Hulk, and Spider-Man standing together in a group hug.  I think I saved this scan from Romitaman.  Nuff said!

My big plan to do a weekly review column was too ambitious.  I haven’t reviewed a modern comic since July!  The problem is that I switched to a monthly discount comic book service.  Out of the stack that I just received, here’s what I liked the best.

Captain America Reborn #3 continues to amaze with Steve Rogers becoming unstuck in time while his friends and enemies try to fish his body out of the time pool.  I won’t reprint the amazing wraparound Hitch cover that you’ve all seen—but I think this alternate John Cassaday cover featuring his take on the Invaders is pretty nifty.

The Slaughterhouse Five device allows Bryan Hitch to revisit classic Marvel moments, such as the one above where Namor accidentally releases Captain America from his icy entombment.  This scene was originally presented in the classic Avengers #4 by Jack Kirby in a few panels.  Hitch opens this scene up in breathtaking cinemascope, as you can see in the above double page splash.  Ed Brubaker described his experience working with Hitch on Word Balloon (Part 2 The Brubaker Testimony Sept 2009).  Sequences such as these were supposed to last a page or two, and Hitch opened them up and added even more to the action.

The best thing about getting a monthly package is reading four issues of Amazing Spider-Man in one sitting, including ASM # 606-607, which features the return of the Black Cat.  This story by Joe Kelly is pure fun, with great execution by artist Mike McKone. One of the great things about the new Brand New Day era is seeing Peter Parker’s romantic entanglements.  Peter’s made a faux pas after sleeping with his roommate Michele, and in this story, spends the night with the Black Cat.  As a result of Mephisto’s gift (yeah I don’t call it a curse, you One New Day whiners)—Black Cat has no memory of Peter’s identity.  Since she’s more enamored with his costumed persona, they make love in the dark.  We’ll see if she made good on her promise not to look at his face while they were asleep.

Dark Reign The List Daredevil has really proved that I have to continue buying this comic now that Andy Diggle has taken over.  The idea of Matt Murdock leading the Hand is just too irresistible.  Diggle has placed him against both the Kingpin and Norman Osborne, with Bullseye and Lady Bullseye also in the mix as well.  The final splash page by Billy Tan, showing Daredevil leading the Hand (now with new hornhead-inspired ninja costumes) promises great things to come.

Not to mention this lineup of Liltin' Landmarks: 

Ghost Riders Heavens on Fire #2:  I’ve loved Jason Aaron’s Ghost Rider since he took over the series.  Any comic that features the Son of Satan (Daimon Hellstrom) teaming up with Johnny Blaze is great in my eyes.  They’ve restored a lot of Hellstrom’s classic elements—the inverted Satan symbol on his chest, his trident pitchfork, and even his hellish chariot made an appearance in the first issue.  The only thing I don’t like is that Hellstrom looks Anton LaVey (Aaron’s idea) now.  I had no idea how Johnny Blaze was going to get to heaven, but we learn how by the end of this issue: Danny Ketch has sold his soul to the Devil.  Yikes, now I gotta wait a month to see what happens.

Spider-Woman #1:  I honestly wasn’t sure Alex Maleev was the right artist for this series.  Hoo boy, was I wrong, Maleev’s art is superb.  He does the inking and coloring as well.  I have to say that Maleev’s work has never been better as a result, as you can see in the above panel, with Jessica Drew in Madripoor.  Bendis’ story is wonderfully I-Spy in the Marvel Universe, as Agent Brand from SWORD recruits Jessica to hunt down all kinds of nasty aliens lurking in the dark corners of the world.  Bendis is also interviewed on a recent Word Balloon (Part 2 The Bendis Tapes Fall Edition 2009) where he says that Maleev should always color his own work—I wholeheartedly agree!  Nuff said.

Beginning in 1991, Marvel started publishing an annual series of Swimsuit magazines, full color pinups of heroes and villains in skimpy beach ware.  Modeled after Sports Illustrated, each issue took place in one of Marvel's fictional locations.  The first issue took place in the Savage Land.  Here's a trio of pinups from 1991 featuring the Avengers.

Captain America and Diamondback.  Although it's not signed, I believe this was drawn by Michael Golden!  The other Swimsuit issues often featured Cap in a red white and blue speedo, but this was probably the best one.  If you like that sort of thing...not that there's anything wrong with that.  Diamondback was Cap's gal pal during this period.  I have fond memories of her.  She's featured in all the other swimsuit issues as well.

Thor and Sif relaxing as Loki lurks in the background.  Drawn by Ron Frenz and Joe Sinnott.  Thank goodness that Frezy didn't draw Thor in a speedo.  Hard for me to imagine a Thunder God on the beach in a resort:  Verily, I'd like another Pina Colada.  What would Loki do?  Make it a virgin?

Here is one of the best illustrations in all these swimsuit specials: Scarlet Witch by Mike Mignola.  She's sexy without being voluptuous and Mignola's use of shadows and blacks really makes the magic seem wonderful.  Nuff said.