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Captain America is published by Marvel Comics
 

Captain America: Deathlok Lives 1993 (SC TPB) 64 pages

Written by J.M. DeMatteis. Pencils by Mike Zeck. Inks by John Beatty.
Colours: Bob Sharen. Letters: Diana Albers. Editor: Mark Gruenwald.

Reprinting: Captain America (1st series) #286-288 (1983) - with cover gallery

Rating: * * * * (out of 5)

Number of readings: 1

A time traveller from the post-Apocalyptic 1990s (bear in mind this story was first published in the 1980s) arrives back in 1983 New York, searching for the man he was cloned from...another time-lost figure, the cyborg super-soldier, the original Deathlok. Captain America gets drawn into the hunt, eventually taking him into the (then) future 1990s and joining a band of freedom fighters against an evil, robotic despot.

Deathlok Lives is, I'm guessing, one of those quintessentially comicbooky things -- the "tying-up-loose-ends-from-another-comic" sort of story. Deathlok starred in his own post-apocalyptic adventures in the 1970s in the pages of Astonishing Tales...but that comic was cancelled, and Deathlok was kept in the public eye through some time travelling and occasional guest appearances in assorted Marvel titles. Actually, by the time of this TPB's release (in 1993) Marvel was publishing a regular Deathlok comic...featuring a completely different character! (But that's neither here nor there). But that begged the question for his fans: what happened about the post-Apocalyptic plot threads? Because this ties into an earlier series, there's some re-capping of things that have gone before.

As such, for fans of Deathlok, this story (presumably) was a nice return, wrapping up some dangling threads.

For non-fans, a story like this can be problematic. Handled poorly, it could seem too much like you've arrived in the middle of a story, and the reader can get bored, even annoyed. Fortunately, this is handled pretty well. I wasn't familiar with Deathlok (save an appearance in The Thing: The Project Pegasus Saga, in which Deathlok seemingly gets killed, in a story that takes place before this one) and knew nothing about his 1990s future. But I found myself reasonably caught up in the adventure.

A great deal of that has to be credited to DeMatteis' heavily character-driven story. There's plenty of action and fighting, but what anchors it all is the introspection, as the scenes are filtered through the minds of Cap, Luther Manning (the clone), and Deathlok himself. DeMatteis draws interesting character parallels between them, men who hide behind their missions, or the big ideas and symbols of their action personas, because none of them are quite sure who they really are as men. DeMatteis does a nice job of maintaining the blandly unflappable Captain America persona...while humanizing his Steve Rogers alter ego with heartfelt vulnerability and insecurity. DeMatteis is one of those writers who has tried to elevate super hero adventures with things like thematic threads and deeper character introspection. Heck, it isn't often when, as in one scene, a standard villain's death-trap is considered as a metaphor for the human experience!

DeMatteis makes us care about his heroes (particularly Cap and the clone). But the story is also effective as a moody action thriller, from the assault on a forlorn and seeming abandoned factory in the dark of night, to Cap and Deathlok arriving in the bombed out future. Modern heroes in devastated futures can often be eerily effective (such as X-Men: Days of Future Past, or one or two Superman comics that come to mind). Put the right hero in such a story, and it can make for a nice change-of-pace adventure; eerie, melancholic, and exciting all at once.

Of course, this is only a three issue story, so it doesn't quite become the grandiose epic the early part seems to promise. But it's an entertaining adventure.

Mike Zeck is an artist who's had, it seems to me, different styles over the years. Here his work is effective enough, telling the tale with vigour and clarity, even as the face and figure work may be more O.K. rather than superb. But it serves the story well, not allowing the scenes and the characters to become lost in the artist's indulgences.

The original issues seem to have been edited occasionally. There are no explicit breaks between chapters (a similar editorial decision was employed in Captain America: The Bloodstone Hunt), but judging by where the original issues presumably began and ended, the page counts run from 22 pages (right for the time period) to 18 pages! Perhaps unrelated sub-plots were edited out. As well, some of the basic ideas in the story are left undealt with. Cap learns that the devastated future comes about because all super heroes were destroyed in 1983 -- the year in which he lives! And though, knowing that, and who is responsible, Cap (and his fellow heroes) can effectively defend themselves...it's not actually shown, or even commented on. As well, if he does change his future/Deathlok's past...wouldn't that wipe out Deathlok's future? Obviously not -- I mean, even in this story references are made to the notion of alternate realities/timelines. But it still leaves a certain ambiguity to what will come next (even though, as this paragraph demonstrates, one can easily extrapolate how things would work out). But whether such things were left for the fans to fill in, or whether later Captain America comics dealt with it, I don't know.

Still, despite those qualms, Deathlok Lives emerges as a fast-paced, at times unusual adventure, elevated a notch or two by DeMatteis' attention to the humanity of his characters, giving this saga a heart and brain, not just a fist. A nice read.

Cover price: $6.25 CDN./$4.95 USA.

Captain America: War & Remembrance 1990 (SC TPB) 194 pages

Writen and co-plotted by Roger Stern. Drawn and co-plotted by John Byrne. Inked by Joe Rubinstein.
Colours: Bob Sharen, George Roussos. Letters: various. Editor: Jim Salicrup.

Reprinting: Captain America (1st series) #247-255 (1980)

Additional notes: intros by Stern and editor Salicrup; cover gallery; rarely seen six (wordless) pages from the aborted, never published "10th" issue by Stern-Byrne.

Rating: * * * * (out of 5)

Number of readings: 1 (some more)

War and Remembrance collects the complete run of Captain America comics by Roger Stern and John Byrne (and inker Joe Rubinstein). Their run being limited as they had creative differences with the then-editorial regime and left the comic. It was first collected in 1990, in the days when TPB collections were meant to be noteworthy -- as opposed to now where, well, everything seems to end up in a TPB eventually.

Admittedly, there's little here that stands out as "classic" or "must have"...but it's an entertaining collection. And it's a relatively self-contained read, with little in the way of nagging sub-plots left dangling by the creative team's abrupt departure (the only thing that comes to mind is a letter Cap receives from the army, which maybe was supposed to lead into something).

Stern and Byrne seem heavily into Cap's history, resulting in recurring themes that act as unifying threads. The collection begins with a story in which Stern rewrites a bit of Cap's history (suggesting a previous story of his childhood was a false memory) in one of those retcons that are soooo common in comics...and ends with a re-telling of Cap's origin, creating a book-ends feel to this collection. Inbetween, there's a story wherein Cap reunites with some now-aged British members of The Invaders -- the WW II team he fought with. In this collected form, it actually feels like it's all part of a master plan.

Along the way, there are appearances by some regular allies (Nick Fury and SHIELD), familiar foes (Batroc, Mr. Hyde, and Baron Strucker -- sort of), and the non-super then-supporting cast (introducing love interest, Bernie Rosenthal). One of the best arcs in this collection is the opening one, in which the foe (seems to be) relatively original and it even builds to a pathos-tinged surprise ending. That story arc follows upon some earlier stories, but not in a way that it's really crucial to have read them. Which is why I say that this is kind of self-contained. Despite the recurring foes, the references to Cap's history, and the few asterix'd footnotes -- it's all explained, not demanding you bring an encyclopedia of Cap lore to the table.

I've complained before that Cap can be a problematic figure, depending on the writer's impulses -- and Stern and Byrne's Cap is decidedly of the more bland, unsubtle variety. That being said, he's not an unpersonable character. As a Canadian, I've never had the knee-jerk response to the character that, I suspect, American readers are supposed to. And some runs -- notably Stern's -- suffer from too many brazenly jingoistic captions reminding us how great Cap is, and how awe-inspiring he is (funny for a guy with no powers: in an early scene where Cap is running down the street, you realize just how truly ineffective he would be in reality -- on foot, it would probably take him most of the day just to cross part of the city).

But now that Cap/Steve Rogers has been killed off by the editorial "geniuses" at Marvel, I find I can regard these stories with more nostalgic affection. As well, in a sense I was unfair -- Cap was less supposed to be a propagandistic representation of American reality...and more a symbol of the nobler American ideals.

Part of the appeal of these issues is, of course, John Byrne's art. I used to be a huge Byrne fan (in his '70s/'80s X-Men days) but had kind of moved away from his camp, becoming a little too aware of the stylistic shortcomings (a kind of flatness to the figures) and as his style evolved into a looser, sketchier form (the cover to this collection demonstrates some of that). So even though I picked this up, partly thinking "Cool -- Byrne", another part of me thought "Oh, wait -- Byrne". But reading these, I'm reminded of the "Cool -- Byrne!" mentality. The art is good, and solid. There's a much solider line work and (in combination with inker Joe Rubinstein) a greater use of shadow -- making for some richly textured, atmospheric scenes, particularly useful in the Invaders-themed story as Cap takes on the vampire, Baron Blood (a solid two-parter mixing action, character, and some surprise twists and turns).

There's also a largely actionless story where Cap is wooed to run for president. It's an interesting idea, not badly handled...but not especially well handled. Cap's decision doesn't seem to derive from anything that occurred in the story itself. Ironically, Cap decides not to run because he feels that he must support the ideals of America...but a politician must be prepared to compromise. Isn't that Cap really denouncing his own ideals if even he is, essentially, saying they are impractical in a real world context?

The collection comes to an end with a retelling of Cap's origin. Before TPB reprints proliferated, the idea of retelling origins periodically made sense, for those who missed 'em the first time -- but, I'll admit, I've already read Cap's origin a few times...and it just ain't that complex or interesting. In an introduction, it is said they were "challenged" to tell Cap's origin in a single, cohesive issue...but it's not like there are really a lot of disparate threads and ideas that need to be tied together (heck, a few years later, there was whopping 200 page mini-series of it...and it still seemed lacking in embellishment and nuance). Perhaps they were inspired by The Untold Legend of the Batman, which came out around that time -- but Batman's origin had been added to so much over the years, putting it together in one story did make sense.

The Stern-Byrne take reads like a kind of Coles notes version, hitting all the necessary marks, but not really making it breathe. I rather liked Lee-Kirby's telling of it from Captain America #109 (collected in Essential Captain America 2 -- reviewed above), but though Stern and Byrne even repeat much of the same dialogue, it just doesn't seem to live and breathe. Ultimately, they reiterate the material, but bring nothing fresh.

Interestingly, in Marvel Super-Heroes #3 (a 1980s anthology comic) there was a story retelling Cap's origin...by inserting an"untold" story into the middle of it involving Steve Rogers (prior to becoming Cap) encountering Marvel's 1930's era adventurer, Dominc Fortune. It was a neat story because it added to the mythos, not just repeated it (if Marvel collected Cap #109, Marvel Super-Heroes #3, and maybe one or two other stories that might likewise add to the legend, they could craft a far more interesting "definitive" origin...than simply getting creative teams to re-stage the same scenes over and over again).

And, of course, viewed through modern eyes, there's just something so wrong about fighting a war gainst a regime that believed in a master race...by creating a blonde, blue-eyed, "super" man.

Anyway, despite some ups and downs, this emerges as a solid collection -- an agreeable page turner and a snap shot of a creative era. It's one of those books that I came upon in the store, unaware such a collection even existed, and picked it up on a whim...and am kind of glad I did. (The Cap-Baron Blood story, and the Cap-for-president story were earlier collected in a black and white pocket book format).

Original cover price: $__ CDN./ $12.95 USA

Essential Captain America, vol. 2 2002 (SC TPB) 524 pages

Written by Stan Lee, with Jim Steranko. Pencils by Jack Kirby, Gene Colan, Jim Steranko, with John Romita, John Buscema. Inks by Joe Sinnott, Syd Shores, Sal Buscema, others.
Black & white. Letter: Artie Simek, San Rosen, others.

Reprinting: Captain America (1960s series) #103-126 (1968-1970)

Rating: * * * * * (out of 5)

Number of readings: 1

Although I have nothing against Captain America (as evidenced by the fact that I've read a few Cap comics over the years) I'm not really a huge fan of him, either. Cap has always been a bit of a bland figure -- bland powers (that is to say, no poweers, really, save the cool shield) and often written to be blandly iconic, the living, unflappable embodiment of America. Some writers have succeeded in investing the character with endearing doubts and insecurities (such as J. M. DeMatteis in Deathlok Lives! and other writers have explored the character's sense of alienation as a bi-product of a bygone era -- a 1940s hero who spent decades in suspended animation -- attempting to make his way through the modern world).

I picked up this collection -- one of Marvel's massive, delightfully economical "Essential" books -- largely for the Gene Colan art. As well as for some vintage Kirby. I'm not a huge Kirby fan, but I like his stuff from time to time. As well, this collection includes a multipart story drawn by Jim Steranko, a talent who dabbled in comics only briefly, but became something of a legend. I wasn't necessarily getting it for the stories. After all, one review I read of Captain America in general summarily dismissed this entire period as eminently forgettable.

Imagine my surprise to find that these early Stan Lee scripted stories not only were thoroughly enjoyable...but actually made me dig the character.

Lee, who at the time was writing the angst-riddled exploits of Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four, brings the same pre-occupations to Captain America. I don't think Cap has ever seemed more human. Passionate and courageous, sometimes bitter and flinty, lonely, confused by the world and his place in it, and, in true Lee fashion, almost wholly pre-occupied with his star-crossed romance with SHIELD secret agent, Sharon Carter. Cap's had subsequent love interests but Lee, ever the romantic, actually makes it paramount in the character's thoughts. I actually found myself caring about Captain America as a person, not just as a super hero.

Interestingly enough, some of Lee's early 1960s heroines, like the Invisible Girl, were passive second stringers, but Sharon Carter really is as capable as the boys. It's Cap's attitudes that are old fashioned and sexist, not the portrayal of Sharon herself.

Most of the stories are single issue affairs, and the plotting is pretty simple, with Cap a de facto agent of SHIELD, receiving assignments, culminating in a fight. I won't say it's sophisticated, but it is fast paced and entertaining and colourful (euphemistically speaking as the stories are reprinted in moody black and white) with just enough atypical stories, human drama, or quirky milieus (a Hollywood sound stage; a tropical island jungle) to keep things fresh. Familiar foes crop up, from the Red Skull and The Exiles (his goon squad of grotesque multi-ethnic dictators) who appear more than once, plus Batroc, The Trapster, AIM, Hydra, Modok, and more, with appearances by the Avengers, plus some flashback stories recalling Cap's origin and W.W. II days. In addition to the single issue exploits, there's a nice, off beat multi-part epic (begun by John Romita, Sr., then John Buscema, but mainly drawn by Colan) in which the Red Skull manages to switch bodies with Cap, trapping him in the guise of his mortal enemy. It's a clever saga that also introduces the Falcon, later to be Cap's regular co-star/sidekick.

The art on the series is highly effective. I'm used to seeing Kirby on bombastic series, with lots of techno-gadgets and monsters and battles that level city blocks. Here, he brings a definite dynamism to things, but also a surprising sensitivity and restraint, needed for a story about a guy without powers, and where people spend as much time sitting around, talking (or brooding) as having knockdown drag out fights. And the fight scenes boast an effective brutality. You really can feel that when Cap tackles, say, Batroc, these really are two guys slamming into each other. Romita and Buscema do nice work on their sole issues -- Romita, whom I had never seen draw Cap before, delivers particularly striking work. And Colan, who draws almost half the issues, is, of course, wonderful, even inked by sturdy Joe Sinnott, a combination I wasn't sure would work, but does. Colan was playing in a whole other sand box than many of his contemporaries, with his moody use of shadow, his weirdly organic, strangely realistic style and innovative angles.

Curiously, the weaker issues are Steranko's. Steranko became a legend for his experimental way of breaking down scenes, bringing an almost cinematic eye to a sequence, utilizing close ups of hands or eyes, or breaking down an action almost in slow motion across a series of panels. It's certainly striking. But Steranko's actual drawing skill, I'd argue, is weaker than the other gentlemen represented here. As well, the very way he likes to break down a scene can be indulgent and actually slow up the action. Sometimes less can be more -- or at least more effective. Still, it's nifty work -- but I'd take Kirby and Colan over it.

(Recently re-reading the Steranko issues by themselves -- and so not contrasting them with the other issues -- I actually enjoyed them more, appreciating Steranko's visual experiments better. The crux of the story -- the adopting Rick Jones as his sidekick -- also works better taken in isolation, given that in the overall continuity of the surrounding issues it seems kind of awkward)

There is a certain haphazardness to the plotting at times -- inevitably made more glaring when commics published months apart are read back-to-back. Cap spends the first few issues alone (well, working as an agent for SHIELD and with Sharon at his side), then he hooks up with Rick Jones -- Marvel's perennial sidekick, who was hanging with the Hulk (jade jaws makes a cameo). Cap takes Rick as his new sidekick, with Rick even adopting the garb of Cap's 1940s sidekick, the late Bucky Barnes. Fine. Except, barely have we spent a few issues integrating Rick into Cap's world -- than he is summarily written out again (a move that makes more sense when you realize that it was in the Steranko issues that Rick is introduced, as if he wanted to insert the kid sidekick...but Lee had less interest in continuing the idea). At first this seems to be to make way for the Falcon -- a black, inner city hero who Lee might have felt better suited the times than just another white, boy sidekick. However it's not clear the Falcon was originally intended as a regular (after being introduced in the Red Skull epic, he only appears in one other adventure in this TPB). So Cap is right back to being alone. Likewise, Cap's decision to fake his alter ego's death (because, apparently, everyone knew Steve Rogers was Cap) doesn't seem to lead to any new directions in the series. Towards the end of this collection, Cap breaks up with Sharon over a misunderstanding, but you can't tell if that was the end of the relationship or not (I guess you'd have to get Essential Captain America, vol. 3). And there's a kind of odd issue where SHIELD head, Nick Fury, essentially brainwashes Cap into taking an assignment...and yet that doesn't seem as though that's supposed to be a bad thing!

Lee's writing is often heavy handed, his moralizing a tad naive (like a story where Cap goes to Vietnam, which basically advocates both sides trying to find a peaceful solution...while managing to pretty much ignore American involvement in the escalating conflict!), but what Lee had going for him in the 1960s was a (seeming) genuiness. You believe in his passion, and the passion of his characters. When Cap speaks of freedom and liberty, you don't groan, thinking of American propaganda ...you believe he, and Lee, mean every word of it. In fact, it takes on an oddly poignant resonance. This was before Richard Nixon's impeachment, before George W. Bush. You really do believe Cap as an idealist who believes in the rights of all people to be free (Lee gets extra points for not couching Cap's speeches in parochial, strictly American contexts).

These stories are at once rooted in their time of Cold War politics, campus protests, black militants, and Vietnam. Yet oddly, and sadly, they're also timeless, as Cap battles an array of terrorists and spies that could be intended to reflect today's headlines -- the almost religious fervor of the, ostensibly secular, Hydra is particularly prescient given the current fanaticism of terrorism.

I picked this up, more on a whim, and for the art. And found it a truly enjoyable ride, perhaps as much for its blend of childish simplicity, and heartfelt humanity...and a lot of knockdown drag out fights, too. Beautifully drawn (in its different styles), fun, passionate...definitely one of my favourite reads over the last few months.

Cover price: $21.95 CDN./ $14.95 USA.

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