Essential Captain America, Vol. 1 (Marvel Essentials) 
asked by davedriver on November 11, 2006 9:55 PM
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Not in color and not in step with the original Captain America comics of the 1940s that I remember. Don't bother or waste your money on it.
reviewed by stix on November 16, 2006 6:09 AM
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Essential Captain America Vol. 1 reprints in newsprint black-and-white the first silver age Captain America solo stories from Tales of Suspense 59-99 and then after Cap took over the book and the title was changed, Captain America # 100-102. The stories are all written by Stan Lee (to the extent that he wrote early Marvel comics, but that's another issue) and most of them are either drawn or laid out by Jack Kirby, Cap's co-creator from the 1940's and the backbone of Marvel Comics in the sixties. Finished pencils or full art is also provided by such greats as George Tuska, John Romita, Gil Kane, Dick Ayers and Jack Sparling (all legendary names from the history of comics).
Cap had of course been re-introduced in the pages of The Avengers, and these solo stories were an extension of that. As a man out of time, Cap really had no place of his own, so the early stories struggled for direction. For an extended arc, they actually returned back to the forties to tell new golden-age Cap and Bucky stories. Though the stories are very good Stan-n-Jack yarns for the most part, they do lack an overall forward motion. But about halfway through this volume, the stories start to click. Cap's lost love fron WW2 is revealed. His friendship with Nick Fury is revealed and built upon. AIM begins to threaten Cap. And then, one of the all-time Captain America classics takes place: the Red Skull gets possession of a Cosmic Cube. Wow!
After that, there were still some stories better than others, but the series really had momentum! In rapid succession, we get to see Batroc, Hydra, the Super-Adaptoid, Modok and others! The mythos that kept Cap going for decades is born before our eyes. It's solid stuff in the classic Marvel sixties tradition.
One unintended, but funny moment comes in Tales of Suspense # 92, "Before My Eyes, Nick Fury Died". The story is a classic Lee-Kirby collaboration about an AIM mech-assassin attempting to kill Col. Nick Fury. Cap defeats the machine, but not before uttering the following line: "Only one of us is gonna walk out of here under his own steam---and it won't be me!" Either Stan or letterer Artie Simek was asleep at the wheel!
Recommended!
Cap had of course been re-introduced in the pages of The Avengers, and these solo stories were an extension of that. As a man out of time, Cap really had no place of his own, so the early stories struggled for direction. For an extended arc, they actually returned back to the forties to tell new golden-age Cap and Bucky stories. Though the stories are very good Stan-n-Jack yarns for the most part, they do lack an overall forward motion. But about halfway through this volume, the stories start to click. Cap's lost love fron WW2 is revealed. His friendship with Nick Fury is revealed and built upon. AIM begins to threaten Cap. And then, one of the all-time Captain America classics takes place: the Red Skull gets possession of a Cosmic Cube. Wow!
After that, there were still some stories better than others, but the series really had momentum! In rapid succession, we get to see Batroc, Hydra, the Super-Adaptoid, Modok and others! The mythos that kept Cap going for decades is born before our eyes. It's solid stuff in the classic Marvel sixties tradition.
One unintended, but funny moment comes in Tales of Suspense # 92, "Before My Eyes, Nick Fury Died". The story is a classic Lee-Kirby collaboration about an AIM mech-assassin attempting to kill Col. Nick Fury. Cap defeats the machine, but not before uttering the following line: "Only one of us is gonna walk out of here under his own steam---and it won't be me!" Either Stan or letterer Artie Simek was asleep at the wheel!
Recommended!
reviewed by madfool on November 28, 2006 8:16 AM