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Post by sabongero on Sept 28, 2017 12:36:43 GMT -5
Can I ask, what were JM DeMatteis' Captain America stories like? As in how did his stories differ from let's say Gruenwald's or Waid's? He wrote much of the run from 261-300. He followed not to long after the Stern and Byrne run, which is the ebst of the 80s Cap and some of the best Cap, period. De Matteis used a lot of Cap's symbolic nature, as Stern had and gruenwald would. He also brought back a lot of great characters. The 50s Bucky debuts as Nomad, here, and we see the Ameridroid, as well as a few excellent Red Skull stories. There are some issues by David Alan Kraft in this run (including the reunion with the Howling Commandos). De Matteis also handled the meeting between Cap and Deathlok, reintroduced Helmut Zemo (who had been the Phoenix, earlier on, but is now taking the mantle of Baron Zemo) and brought back Arnim Zola, played a bit with political symbolism, as Cap fights Everyman, who feels he better represents the common man. He continued the romance between Cap and Bernie Rosenthal and I believe he is the one who had her figure out that Cap and Steve Rogers were the same person, after he pretty much gives the same speech, in support of the right to utter hate speech, as part of the First Amendment, though I'm a little hazy on which issue that was. He spent a lot of time working with Mike Zeck on this, which is where Zeck's profile really rose, leading to Punisher and other things. prior to that, Zeck had been a favorite artist on Master of Kung Fu. The lead up to issue 300 is an epic saga of Nomad, the Red Skull and the Skull's daughter, culminating in his battle with Cap, and eventual death, in his original body. It is here we get the full origin of the Skull, including his real name. In many ways, De Matteis laid the groundwork for a lot of Gruenwald's themes; but, so did Roger Stern. I had sporadically bought Cap over the years (more in the Stern era) and this was when I was buying it fairly consistently. Zeck's art took a while for me to accept; but, he grew by leaps and bounds in this series. I think De Matteis handled the relationship aspects of Steve Roger's life better than Gruenwald or Waid and made him into a more rounded character. Gruenwald focused alot on political allegory, as well as just plain got a bit goofy, but had some excellent storylines in there. I don't think he ever quite had the same level of artistry, from his collaborators. Waid spent much of his time trying to undo a lot of the developments that came before, to get back to the Cap he enjoyed. I didn't mind that, too much; but, I also thought he could do better, in spots. I will say it was like Shakespeare, compared to the abomination that ended his run, with Liefeld and then Lee. De Matteis is a really under-rated writer, in my opinion. He had some really good defenders stories and was one of the real lynchpins to Justice League International. Great detailed information codystarbuck. Really appreciate it. I'll delve into DeMatteis' Captain America some time next year after I hopefully finish reading Gruenwald's decade run. On a separate note, I thought DeMatteis was only known for his Justice League International run in collaboration with Giffen. Good to know he had lengthy runs in Marvel as well. |
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Sept 28, 2017 12:52:03 GMT -5
He wrote much of the run from 261-300. He followed not to long after the Stern and Byrne run, which is the ebst of the 80s Cap and some of the best Cap, period. De Matteis used a lot of Cap's symbolic nature, as Stern had and gruenwald would. He also brought back a lot of great characters. The 50s Bucky debuts as Nomad, here, and we see the Ameridroid, as well as a few excellent Red Skull stories. There are some issues by David Alan Kraft in this run (including the reunion with the Howling Commandos). De Matteis also handled the meeting between Cap and Deathlok, reintroduced Helmut Zemo (who had been the Phoenix, earlier on, but is now taking the mantle of Baron Zemo) and brought back Arnim Zola, played a bit with political symbolism, as Cap fights Everyman, who feels he better represents the common man. He continued the romance between Cap and Bernie Rosenthal and I believe he is the one who had her figure out that Cap and Steve Rogers were the same person, after he pretty much gives the same speech, in support of the right to utter hate speech, as part of the First Amendment, though I'm a little hazy on which issue that was. He spent a lot of time working with Mike Zeck on this, which is where Zeck's profile really rose, leading to Punisher and other things. prior to that, Zeck had been a favorite artist on Master of Kung Fu. The lead up to issue 300 is an epic saga of Nomad, the Red Skull and the Skull's daughter, culminating in his battle with Cap, and eventual death, in his original body. It is here we get the full origin of the Skull, including his real name. In many ways, De Matteis laid the groundwork for a lot of Gruenwald's themes; but, so did Roger Stern. I had sporadically bought Cap over the years (more in the Stern era) and this was when I was buying it fairly consistently. Zeck's art took a while for me to accept; but, he grew by leaps and bounds in this series. I think De Matteis handled the relationship aspects of Steve Roger's life better than Gruenwald or Waid and made him into a more rounded character. Gruenwald focused alot on political allegory, as well as just plain got a bit goofy, but had some excellent storylines in there. I don't think he ever quite had the same level of artistry, from his collaborators. Waid spent much of his time trying to undo a lot of the developments that came before, to get back to the Cap he enjoyed. I didn't mind that, too much; but, I also thought he could do better, in spots. I will say it was like Shakespeare, compared to the abomination that ended his run, with Liefeld and then Lee. De Matteis is a really under-rated writer, in my opinion. He had some really good defenders stories and was one of the real lynchpins to Justice League International. Great detailed information codystarbuck. Really appreciate it. I'll delve into DeMatteis' Captain America some time next year after I hopefully finish reading Gruenwald's decade run. On a separate note, I thought DeMatteis was only known for his Justice League International run in collaboration with Giffen. Good to know he had lengthy runs in Marvel as well. He's also known for great series like Moonshadow and the famous Kraven's last hunt in Spider-man, as well as a *ahem* less well-receved run on Conan the barbarian. Generally speaking I quite like what Dematteis writes. |
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Post by sabongero on Sept 28, 2017 14:43:20 GMT -5
 Captain America #3380.75 USD/0.95 CAD @ February 1988 "Power Sruggle" Writer: Mark Gruenwald Illustrator: Kieron Dwyer Inker: Tom Morgan Colorist: Gregory Wright Letterer: Jack Morelli Editor: Ralph Macchio Synopsis: We join the new Captain America and Bucky in a one-sided battle outside a castle in upstate New York's Adirondack mountains, against goons dressed up as ancient Roman soldiers. They easily took them down and afterwards they talked about the intel that The Commission gave them. Apparently the owner of the castle is a wealthy scientist and presidential adviser named Anthony Power, who used his wealth to have his mind transferred to his son's healthy physical body, which has a vegetable mind after returning from the Vietnam War as a "basket case." Then Power donned a body armor and created a group called the Secret Empire who main object is to create a nuclear war where only he and his cronies would survive. They tried to nuke Russia twice but were thwarted twice by the superhero group known as the Defenders. He attacked the Defenders and got his brains fried by Moondragon, the psychic mentalist of the group. And was kept by S.H.I.E.L.D. as a "vegetative-state" patient, but escaped last month. So now that Cap updated Bucky who really didn't understand their mission, they proceeded to go inside the castle to find Power and put a stop to him. Inside the duo fought many robots dealing with blasters and gases. As they went through battling the robots, the new Captain America made his way up the stairs and found what looked to be the base of operations room. As they were about to attack the base of operations room, a giant hand crashed through the ground they were standing on and grabbed the new Captain America and Bucky. Meanwhile in a jail cell in Las Vegas, The Captain's group and the Serpent Squad were in opposite jail cells. Nomad complained about helping the authorities, and then being jailed by the same authorities. Falcon warned him to keep it low as small towns like this don't take too kindly to costumed folks like them, and that Steve Rogers is no longer Captain America and isn't recognized as so. Nomad's still in a bad mood and kept ripping on the cops, who warned him to watch what he's saying, all to the annoyance of the Falcon. As Nomad came back to where the group was standing to let them know he wasn't successful convincing the cops that they all used to be partners of Captain America, Siderwinder, the leader of the Serpent Society, suddenly materialized in between both groups' jail cells. Cap instantly blurted out, "Sidewinder!" And this surprised the Serpent Society leader as he didn't recognize Steve Rogers' face, not knowing he's the original Captain America. Sidewinder offered to get the Serpent Squad out of jail. Back at the Adirondacks, the giant took Cap and Bucky and smashed them together unscuccessfully as they brought up their respective shields to block the blow. They couldn't pry themselves away from his fingertips, so Cap hurled his shield to the giant's eye, who released them after getting hurt. Cap and Bucky scrambled through a doorway as the giant tried to squash them by stepping on them. He then put his giant hands through the doorway searching for the two, which grabbed the giant's hand. As the giant pulled his hand back, Cap and Bucky mad their way to his neck and hugged it like a tree and grabbed each other's hands and squeezed. Timber! The Giant fell to the ground unconscious. Back at the Las Vegas jail. Sidewinder is teleporting each member of the Serpent Squad from their jail cell to freedom. As he was about to teleport the last criminal, D-Man bent the bars separating the two groups and Steve Rogers immediately leaped into action. He grabbed him in a full nelson lock. They teleported outside. Unable to shake off an unmasked Steve Rogers, Sidewinder teleported them both back to the jail cell and grabbed the spanish-speaking member of the Serpent Squad's neck and threatened to inject her with poison from his hands. Steve Rogers knows he's bluffing but doubted himself, and let go as he couldn't gamble with another person's life. And Sidewinder gloated teleporting himself and the last member of the Serpent Squad, saying that Steve Rogers was predictable and that he, Sidewinder, would never have hurt her. Just then the cops came in and saw the bent steel bars, and drew their weapons. Falcon was shaking his head as he was just able to convince the cops to release them, only for the cops to find the other half of prisoners gone and the steel bars bent. Nomad told of Cap saying that he should've let her be killed. But Cap was doing what he usually ideally does on those situations. Back at the Adirondacks Cap and Bucky attack the base of operations room which sounded a red alert and the scientists placed Doctor Power in a rocket for him to escape. As the engines were hurtling the rocket for escape, the new Captain America hurled his shield and disabled the rocket, which crashed to a wall. As Cap goes through the debris, he got hold of Doctor Power, who suddenly blasted him with a ray blast from his gloved hand. Cap got hurt but lifted up his shield to block subsequent blows and made his way to Doctor Power and gave him a straight right hand to the face. A pissed off Captain America got the villain down and then in anger kept pummeling Doctor Light for several panels. And stopped. Bucky arrived to congratulate Captain America for winning. John Walker said he blew it, the villain's dead. He's not supposed to kill as he's not the Commission's executioner. The original Captain America wouldn't have killed this villain. Comments: That last panels had me thinking... what if Mark Millar handled this storyline of John Walker as the new Captain America? Ultra-violence to the max would be in the main menu for sure. This issue showcases the difference between the two Captain Americas. The original is gullible and wouldn't risk someone else's life. And the new one, even though he meant well, can get angered and will lose himself in battle and forget that he has to hold back. Given the same situation, I most likely would have killed Doctor Power if I was in John Walker's shoes as Captain America. After all, here's a deranged villain who wants to create a nuclear war, and has sent goons, robots, and giants to kill me. Fuck him, I'd have crashed the adamantium shield over his neck and severed it from his body just to make sure that deranged fucker is dead. |
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Post by codystarbuck on Sept 29, 2017 1:03:19 GMT -5
Great detailed information codystarbuck. Really appreciate it. I'll delve into DeMatteis' Captain America some time next year after I hopefully finish reading Gruenwald's decade run. On a separate note, I thought DeMatteis was only known for his Justice League International run in collaboration with Giffen. Good to know he had lengthy runs in Marvel as well. He's also known for great series like Moonshadow and the famous Kraven's last hunt in Spider-man, as well as a *ahem* less well-receved run on Conan the barbarian. Generally speaking I quite like what Dematteis writes. Not to mention Greenberg, the Vampire. |
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Post by badwolf on Sept 29, 2017 9:31:14 GMT -5
DeMatteis also had a good run in Marvel Team-Up in the last third of the series. One thing I've noticed is that he likes to explore spiritual and psychological themes deeply.
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Post by spoon on Sept 29, 2017 16:45:01 GMT -5
Captain America #3380.75 USD/0.95 CAD @ February 1988 "Power Sruggle" Writer: Mark Gruenwald Illustrator: Kieron Dwyer Inker: Tom Morgan Colorist: Gregory Wright Letterer: Jack Morelli Editor: Ralph Macchio Synopsis: We join the new Captain America and Bucky in a one-sided battle outside a castle in upstate New York's Adirondack mountains, against goons dressed up as ancient Roman soldiers. They easily took them down and afterwards they talked about the intel that The Commission gave them. Apparently the owner of the castle is a wealthy scientist and presidential adviser named Anthony Power, who used his wealth to have his mind transferred to his son's healthy physical body, which has a vegetable mind after returning from the Vietnam War as a "basket case." Then Power donned a body armor and created a group called the Secret Empire who main object is to create a nuclear war where only he and his cronies would survive. They tried to nuke Russia twice but were thwarted twice by the superhero group known as the Defenders. He attacked the Defenders and got his brains fried by Moondragon, the psychic mentalist of the group. And was kept by S.H.I.E.L.D. as a "vegetative-state" patient, but escaped last month. So now that Cap updated Bucky who really didn't understand their mission, they proceeded to go inside the castle to find Power and put a stop to him. Inside the duo fought many robots dealing with blasters and gases. As they went through battling the robots, the new Captain America made his way up the stairs and found what looked to be the base of operations room. As they were about to attack the base of operations room, a giant hand crashed through the ground they were standing on and grabbed the new Captain America and Bucky. Meanwhile in a jail cell in Las Vegas, The Captain's group and the Serpent Squad were in opposite jail cells. Nomad complained about helping the authorities, and then being jailed by the same authorities. Falcon warned him to keep it low as small towns like this don't take too kindly to costumed folks like them, and that Steve Rogers is no longer Captain America and isn't recognized as so. Nomad's still in a bad mood and kept ripping on the cops, who warned him to watch what he's saying, all to the annoyance of the Falcon. As Nomad came back to where the group was standing to let them know he wasn't successful convincing the cops that they all used to be partners of Captain America, Siderwinder, the leader of the Serpent Society, suddenly materialized in between both groups' jail cells. Cap instantly blurted out, "Sidewinder!" And this surprised the Serpent Society leader as he didn't recognize Steve Rogers' face, not knowing he's the original Captain America. Sidewinder offered to get the Serpent Squad out of jail. Back at the Adirondacks, the giant took Cap and Bucky and smashed them together unscuccessfully as they brought up their respective shields to block the blow. They couldn't pry themselves away from his fingertips, so Cap hurled his shield to the giant's eye, who released them after getting hurt. Cap and Bucky scrambled through a doorway as the giant tried to squash them by stepping on them. He then put his giant hands through the doorway searching for the two, which grabbed the giant's hand. As the giant pulled his hand back, Cap and Bucky mad their way to his neck and hugged it like a tree and grabbed each other's hands and squeezed. Timber! The Giant fell to the ground unconscious. Back at the Las Vegas jail. Sidewinder is teleporting each member of the Serpent Squad from their jail cell to freedom. As he was about to teleport the last criminal, D-Man bent the bars separating the two groups and Steve Rogers immediately leaped into action. He grabbed him in a full nelson lock. They teleported outside. Unable to shake off an unmasked Steve Rogers, Sidewinder teleported them both back to the jail cell and grabbed the spanish-speaking member of the Serpent Squad's neck and threatened to inject her with poison from his hands. Steve Rogers knows he's bluffing but doubted himself, and let go as he couldn't gamble with another person's life. And Sidewinder gloated teleporting himself and the last member of the Serpent Squad, saying that Steve Rogers was predictable and that he, Sidewinder, would never have hurt her. Just then the cops came in and saw the bent steel bars, and drew their weapons. Falcon was shaking his head as he was just able to convince the cops to release them, only for the cops to find the other half of prisoners gone and the steel bars bent. Nomad told of Cap saying that he should've let her be killed. But Cap was doing what he usually ideally does on those situations. Back at the Adirondacks Cap and Bucky attack the base of operations room which sounded a red alert and the scientists placed Doctor Power in a rocket for him to escape. As the engines were hurtling the rocket for escape, the new Captain America hurled his shield and disabled the rocket, which crashed to a wall. As Cap goes through the debris, he got hold of Doctor Power, who suddenly blasted him with a ray blast from his gloved hand. Cap got hurt but lifted up his shield to block subsequent blows and made his way to Doctor Power and gave him a straight right hand to the face. A pissed off Captain America got the villain down and then in anger kept pummeling Doctor Light for several panels. And stopped. Bucky arrived to congratulate Captain America for winning. John Walker said he blew it, the villain's dead. He's not supposed to kill as he's not the Commission's executioner. The original Captain America wouldn't have killed this villain. Comments: That last panels had me thinking... what if Mark Millar handled this storyline of John Walker as the new Captain America? Ultra-violence to the max would be in the main menu for sure. This issue showcases the difference between the two Captain Americas. The original is gullible and wouldn't risk someone else's life. And the new one, even though he meant well, can get angered and will lose himself in battle and forget that he has to hold back. Given the same situation, I most likely would have killed Doctor Power if I was in John Walker's shoes as Captain America. After all, here's a deranged villain who wants to create a nuclear war, and has sent goons, robots, and giants to kill me. Fuck him, I'd have crashed the adamantium shield over his neck and severed it from his body just to make sure that deranged fucker is dead. I think this issue marks an important development in the run for a couple reasons. First, Kieron Dwyer takes over as penciller. He ends up make his mark on the title and he's one of the first artists I think of when I think of Captain America. Second, since Steve Rogers has quit, each issue has focused on either John Walker or Steve Rogers. This is the first issue that features plotlines both the new Captain America and the Captain (beyond just a cameo). So the trend toward weaving the two separate threads into a really cool story is getting underway. Notice that Sidewinder and the four jailed snake-themed criminals don't actually know each personally. They're not Serpent Society members at this point, but they have gotten Sidewinder's attention. Hmmm. Another interesting thing is how Gruenwald has put together a diverse group of villains. Two of the four new snakes are female, as are a number of existing Society members and Fer-de-Lance is a Spanish speaker. As the president of the "John Walker is a Sociopath Society", I disagree about Walker's response to Professor Power. The idea that Power escaped while in a vegetative state didn't make sense. How does a vegetable do anything that requires conscious thought. So of course, it turns out Power is still a vegetable, but he's put in a machine called a cerebral stimulator (apparently to revive him). Walker and Battlestar see this and overhear this, so the find out Power is still a vegetable. It seems to me that Professor Power was unconscious for most of the issue, and just groggily shoots as a reflex when the new Cap grabs him. Gruenwald tells us this by having Power mumbling in a slurred voice. So I think it's clear that Power didn't actually send goons, robots, and giants to kill Walker. Power had no idea what the heck was going on. Of course, that doesn't excuse all that Power did before, but I think Walker killing Power was mostly due to rage. Walker was pissed that he had to do so much fighting and he was going to take it out on a barely conscious super-villain in no real position to fight back. Steve Rogers is being impractically morally rigid. This goes back to codystarbuck's criticism of Rogers's characterization on the first page of this thread. Rogers is doing plenty of vigilante activities, so it's ridiculous that he'll selectively paint himself in the corner by refusing to break the law in times of great necessity (like not breaking out of jail). I think it's a little weird that no one seems to recognize The Captain. He's chosen a costume that's pretty obvious a variant of the official one (like the black Spider-Man costume). |
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Post by sabongero on Sept 29, 2017 17:19:53 GMT -5
Notice that Sidewinder and the four jailed snake-themed criminals don't actually know each personally. They're not Serpent Society members at this point, but they have gotten Sidewinder's attention. Hmmm. Another interesting thing is how Gruenwald has put together a diverse group of villains. Two of the four new snakes are female, as are a number of existing Society members and Fer-de-Lance is a Spanish speaker. As the president of the "John Walker is a Sociopath Society", I disagree about Walker's response to Professor Power. The idea that Power escaped while in a vegetative state didn't make sense. How does a vegetable do anything that requires conscious thought. So of course, it turns out Power is still a vegetable, but he's put in a machine called a cerebral stimulator (apparently to revive him). Walker and Battlestar see this and overhear this, so the find out Power is still a vegetable. It seems to me that Professor Power was unconscious for most of the issue, and just groggily shoots as a reflex when the new Cap grabs him. Gruenwald tells us this by having Power mumbling in a slurred voice. So I think it's clear that Power didn't actually send goons, robots, and giants to kill Walker. Power had no idea what the heck was going on. Of course, that doesn't excuse all that Power did before, but I think Walker killing Power was mostly due to rage. Walker was pissed that he had to do so much fighting and he was going to take it out on a barely conscious super-villain in no real position to fight back. Steve Rogers is being impractically morally rigid. This goes back to codystarbuck's criticism of Rogers's characterization on the first page of this thread. Rogers is doing plenty of vigilante activities, so it's ridiculous that he'll selectively paint himself in the corner by refusing to break the law in times of great necessity (like not breaking out of jail). I think it's a little weird that no one seems to recognize The Captain. He's chosen a costume that's pretty obvious a variant of the official one (like the black Spider-Man costume). Great commentary on this issue Spoon. Thanks for sharing your opinion. |
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Post by sabongero on Sept 29, 2017 17:20:04 GMT -5
 Captain America #339"America the Scorched" 0.75 USD @ March 1988 Writer: Mark Gruenwald Penciler: Kieron Dwyer Inker: Tony DeZuniga Colorist: Gregory Wright Letter: John Morelli Editor: Ralph Macchio & Marc Siry Editor-in-Chief: Tom Defalco Synopsis: We join the story with Famine causing havoc in the countryside, causing death and decay by killing a farmer, cattles, and various crops. And she does this to acres and acres of land. In another location, the original Captain America, Steve Rogers, in his Captain America costume is fighting a bureaucrat the size of the Hulk in a three-piece suit. They are in a chamber hall somewhere. His opponent told him the shield and costume doesn't belong to him. And they both disappeared. He found "The Captain" costume on his feet, and put it on, but his opponent said that he is obsolete and he can never get through the red tape, at which, steel red tape binds him and mummifies him. He tries to rip the face off his opponent to see who it is, but all he saw was the President, and then himself. And suddenly he woke up in a plane ride with his teammates, D-Man, Nomad, Vagabond, and Falcon. Apparently he was having a nightmare. He shoots the breeze with Falcon and D-Man. He resigned himself to his fate that his no longer Captain America, and that's that. The Falcon disagrees with his decision. The pilot of the chartered flight, well paid by D-Man, told them a problem occurring in Kansas. They head over to Kansas to take care of the problem. At Fort Meade, Maryland, the new Captain America and Bucky who are heading for some R&R are talking about what happened last issue when they heard a commotion up ahead. And it's Freedom Force members Pyro, Avalanche, and Blob. Blob laughingly told the two that he saw the X-Men die in Hawaii. This didn't sit well with Cap as he didn't want to hear anyone die after he lost control and killed Doctor Power in the previous issue. Then the PR system came alive with orders summoning for Cap and Bucky. They're given new orders to take down a supervillain causing havoc in the midwest, it's Famine. In Kansas, several military helicopters chase Famine, but are themselves taken down by the Horseman. And the helicopters crashed down on the Earth. Famine didn't have time to celebrate as he was attacked by Falcon. He is followed by the parachuting trio of The Captain, D-Man, and Nomad. Falcon took down Famine from her flying "horse-monster", but the touch of Famine damaged Falcon as he landed and double turned in pain. As Famine tried to do more damage to Falcon, she is attacked by Nomad's disks which halted her attack on Falcon. A melee ensued. The remaining heroes fighting the Horseman and her "horse-monster." The Captain made sure Falcon was okay, and then ripped the side of tractor and used it as a shield and rejoined the melee. She dispatched Nomad. D-Man gets the better of the "horse-monster." The Captain managed to hold her hands apart preventing her from blasting or touching anything. She then bellowed to her master, and she was suddenly teleported and is suddenly nowhere to be seen. The group re-grouped as they have casualties from this encounter. Three hours later, the new Captain America and Bucky arrived, perplexed as there is no sign of Famine anywhere, and they know they are in the right place. A couple of weeks later, Steve Rogers drops by Stark Enterprises and meets with Tony Stark. D-Man recovered the van in Washington, and Falcon and Nomad are in the hospital recovering from their painful encounter with Famine. Back in Tony's office, the two went to his training area and gave Steve Rogers a new adamntium shield. And Steve tried it out and gave it a little practice session, and was feeling like his old self. He missed having his shield, even though this is not like the original. It is close. Tony told him it's Steve's on permanent loan. Tony internally told himself that his next battle with the U.S. government itself, he knows, Steve won't interfere. That story is in Iron Man #228. Comments: This is a Fall of the Mutants tie-in with Apocalypse's horseman, Famine as the antagonist of the story. The mutants are dealing with a villain named Apocalypse and his four Horsemen, in their respective comic book titles. There are several dramas occuring at the same time. Steve Rogers losing the Captain America persona is disturbing him even in his sleep, giving him nightmares. John Walker's taking the life of a villain the previous issue is still bothering him. His brief encounter with Freedom Force shows he isn't up to date regarding who are the good guys and who are the bad guys. Without good intel, Steve Rogers' group loses half their members as they were hurt badly in their encounter with Famine. And at the end Tony Stark somehow "bribes" Steve with a new shield so as to prevent him from interfering in his upcoming battles with the U.S. government in the so call Armor Wars saga. |
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Post by wildfire2099 on Sept 29, 2017 17:52:59 GMT -5
So called Armor Wars??? That is one of the best Iron Man stories (arguably the best)... certainly my favorite. Sure, it's passe for heroes to fight NOW, but at the time it was crazy. I didn't realize this issue tied in too... I'll have to check that out. I've read a few issue of this era of Cap here and there, but not that much... your excellent reviews are very tempting  |
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Post by sabongero on Sept 29, 2017 18:22:23 GMT -5
So called Armor Wars??? That is one of the best Iron Man stories (arguably the best)... certainly my favorite. Sure, it's passe for heroes to fight NOW, but at the time it was crazy. I didn't realize this issue tied in too... I'll have to check that out. I've read a few issue of this era of Cap here and there, but not that much... your excellent reviews are very tempting I have read up on it on Wikipedia. And I have to say that it is a very interesting storyarc. I have probable read less issues of Iron Man than there is in my hand, but I have read a lot of Iron Man in team books like the Avengers and in big events limited series. I am interested in reading that storyarc some time this year. Who knows perhaps I might review it if I have time. The appeal to me on the Gruenwald Cap era is these were the Captain America stories I read as a kid so I really enjoy them. Perhaps Wildfire2099 you should review that Iron Man Armor Wars storyarc. Man I liked reading your Silver Age Green Lantern reviews and the early X-Men from the beginning reviews you created and posted here. |
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Post by masterofquackfu on Sept 29, 2017 20:26:53 GMT -5
I'm no longer a fan of the character, but I remember buying Gruenwald's Captain America quite frequently back in the day. Loved a lot of the villains during that time period. I especially liked Crossbones and also the Serpent Society. Flag Smasher was also cool. He did an excellent job with those villains. His stories weren't convoluted, but had a nice density to them.
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Post by spoon on Sept 30, 2017 14:02:54 GMT -5
Captain America #339"America the Scorched" 0.75 USD @ March 1988 Writer: Mark Gruenwald Penciler: Kieron Dwyer Inker: Tony DeZuniga Colorist: Gregory Wright Letter: John Morelli Editor: Ralph Macchio & Marc Siry Editor-in-Chief: Tom Defalco Synopsis: We join the story with Famine causing havoc in the countryside, causing death and decay by killing a farmer, cattles, and various crops. And she does this to acres and acres of land. In another location, the original Captain America, Steve Rogers, in his Captain America costume is fighting a bureaucrat the size of the Hulk in a three-piece suit. They are in a chamber hall somewhere. His opponent told him the shield and costume doesn't belong to him. And they both disappeared. He found "The Captain" costume on his feet, and put it on, but his opponent said that he is obsolete and he can never get through the red tape, at which, steel red tape binds him and mummifies him. He tries to rip the face off his opponent to see who it is, but all he saw was the President, and then himself. And suddenly he woke up in a plane ride with his teammates, D-Man, Nomad, Vagabond, and Falcon. Apparently he was having a nightmare. He shoots the breeze with Falcon and D-Man. He resigned himself to his fate that his no longer Captain America, and that's that. The Falcon disagrees with his decision. The pilot of the chartered flight, well paid by D-Man, told them a problem occurring in Kansas. They head over to Kansas to take care of the problem. At Fort Meade, Maryland, the new Captain America and Bucky who are heading for some R&R are talking about what happened last issue when they heard a commotion up ahead. And it's Freedom Force members Pyro, Avalanche, and Blob. Blob laughingly told the two that he saw the X-Men die in Hawaii. This didn't sit well with Cap as he didn't want to hear anyone die after he lost control and killed Doctor Power in the previous issue. Then the PR system came alive with orders summoning for Cap and Bucky. They're given new orders to take down a supervillain causing havoc in the midwest, it's Famine. In Kansas, several military helicopters chase Famine, but are themselves taken down by the Horseman. And the helicopters crashed down on the Earth. Famine didn't have time to celebrate as he was attacked by Falcon. He is followed by the parachuting trio of The Captain, D-Man, and Nomad. Falcon took down Famine from her flying "horse-monster", but the touch of Famine damaged Falcon as he landed and double turned in pain. As Famine tried to do more damage to Falcon, she is attacked by Nomad's disks which halted her attack on Falcon. A melee ensued. The remaining heroes fighting the Horseman and her "horse-monster." The Captain made sure Falcon was okay, and then ripped the side of tractor and used it as a shield and rejoined the melee. She dispatched Nomad. D-Man gets the better of the "horse-monster." The Captain managed to hold her hands apart preventing her from blasting or touching anything. She then bellowed to her master, and she was suddenly teleported and is suddenly nowhere to be seen. The group re-grouped as they have casualties from this encounter. Three hours later, the new Captain America and Bucky arrived, perplexed as there is no sign of Famine anywhere, and they know they are in the right place. A couple of weeks later, Steve Rogers drops by Stark Enterprises and meets with Tony Stark. D-Man recovered the van in Washington, and Falcon and Nomad are in the hospital recovering from their painful encounter with Famine. Back in Tony's office, the two went to his training area and gave Steve Rogers a new adamntium shield. And Steve tried it out and gave it a little practice session, and was feeling like his old self. He missed having his shield, even though this is not like the original. It is close. Tony told him it's Steve's on permanent loan. Tony internally told himself that his next battle with the U.S. government itself, he knows, Steve won't interfere. That story is in Iron Man #228. Comments: This is a Fall of the Mutants tie-in with Apocalypse's horseman, Famine as the antagonist of the story. The mutants are dealing with a villain named Apocalypse and his four Horsemen, in their respective comic book titles. There are several dramas occuring at the same time. Steve Rogers losing the Captain America persona is disturbing him even in his sleep, giving him nightmares. John Walker's taking the life of a villain the previous issue is still bothering him. His brief encounter with Freedom Force shows he isn't up to date regarding who are the good guys and who are the bad guys. Without good intel, Steve Rogers' group loses half their members as they were hurt badly in their encounter with Famine. And at the end Tony Stark somehow "bribes" Steve with a new shield so as to prevent him from interfering in his upcoming battles with the U.S. government in the so call Armor Wars saga. This may have been the first issue of Captain America I ever read. My older brother had a copy. Then, my school library end up carrying Marvel Comics (crazy, I know!), and I read several issues of the Gruenwald/Dwyer run there. The X-Men died in Dallas. If you check the dialogue, Blob doesn't say "Hawaii"; he says, "Haw, haw!" He's laughing in his bullying style. Blob's comment made me think of the odd nature of the "Fall of the Mutants" event. It's sort of a non-crossover crossover. The three X-titles (X-Men, New Mutants, and X-Factor) ran plotlines that were basically independent. Any crossing over basically occurred between X-Factor (with its New York based plot) and non-mutant titles like Power Pack and Daredevil (indirectly). Famine teleports from a scene in X-Factor #25 to fight the Captain and his allies in Kansas in this issue of Captain America. The paradox is that there one more issue FotM tie-in issue of X-Factor after that issue, but based on Blob's comments, the FotM tie-in issues of X-Men had already ended and Freedom Force had flown back from Dallas to D.C. But because X-Men and X-Factor didn't directly tie together during FotM, I guess that could work. I like how Captain American feels like a team book with the Captain working with Falcon, Nomad, D-Man, and Vagabond. Vagabond basically stays on the sidelines, but that's realistic, because she's basically Nomad's girlfriend who has no powers and only a brief history of training as a fighter. The team has a hard time with just Famine and her robot horse. In contrast, Marvel Girl basically tackles Famine alone in the pages of X-Factor just before this. But D-Man is really a newbie and Nomad is still written as a relatively new even though he's been a hero for few years (and the 1950s Bucky before that). The skills of The Captain's team are treating somewhat inconsistently in this run, but I like the idea of some of them learning on the job. This issue teases the possibility of a meeting between The Captain and Captain America by having them both head to face Famine, but snatches the possibility by having Walker & Hoskins arrive late. This works well because it keeps building anticipation. Walker & Hoskins were probably late because they were traveling farther to get their, but it also suggests they may not be ready for prime time. Dwyer draws Hoskins with a kind, realistic face, which a contrast to the caricature he was depicted as, for example, back on the splash page of #327 by another art team. It shows how the portrayal of the character has changed. |
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Post by sabongero on Oct 3, 2017 17:20:04 GMT -5
I'm no longer a fan of the character, but I remember buying Gruenwald's Captain America quite frequently back in the day. Loved a lot of the villains during that time period. I especially liked Crossbones and also the Serpent Society. Flag Smasher was also cool. He did an excellent job with those villains. His stories weren't convoluted, but had a nice density to them. I didn't even know Crossbones was created under Gruenwald's watch. |
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Post by sabongero on Oct 3, 2017 17:22:53 GMT -5
The X-Men died in Dallas. If you check the dialogue, Blob doesn't say "Hawaii"; he says, "Haw, haw!" He's laughing in his bullying style. Blob's comment made me think of the odd nature of the "Fall of the Mutants" event. It's sort of a non-crossover crossover. The three X-titles (X-Men, New Mutants, and X-Factor) ran plotlines that were basically independent. Any crossing over basically occurred between X-Factor (with its New York based plot) and non-mutant titles like Power Pack and Daredevil (indirectly). Famine teleports from a scene in X-Factor #25 to fight the Captain and his allies in Kansas in this issue of Captain America. The paradox is that there one more issue FotM tie-in issue of X-Factor after that issue, but based on Blob's comments, the FotM tie-in issues of X-Men had already ended and Freedom Force had flown back from Dallas to D.C. But because X-Men and X-Factor didn't directly tie together during FotM, I guess that could work. I like how Captain American feels like a team book with the Captain working with Falcon, Nomad, D-Man, and Vagabond. Vagabond basically stays on the sidelines, but that's realistic, because she's basically Nomad's girlfriend who has no powers and only a brief history of training as a fighter. The team has a hard time with just Famine and her robot horse. In contrast, Marvel Girl basically tackles Famine alone in the pages of X-Factor just before this. But D-Man is really a newbie and Nomad is still written as a relatively new even though he's been a hero for few years (and the 1950s Bucky before that). The skills of The Captain's team are treating somewhat inconsistently in this run, but I like the idea of some of them learning on the job. This issue teases the possibility of a meeting between The Captain and Captain America by having them both head to face Famine, but snatches the possibility by having Walker & Hoskins arrive late. This works well because it keeps building anticipation. Walker & Hoskins were probably late because they were traveling farther to get their, but it also suggests they may not be ready for prime time. Dwyer draws Hoskins with a kind, realistic face, which a contrast to the caricature he was depicted as, for example, back on the splash page of #327 by another art team. It shows how the portrayal of the character has changed. Good eyes. I looked back, and yup you're right. The Blob was just laughing "Haw haw." So the X-Men didn't die in Hawaii, Blob just said they died and he laughed, "Haw haw." I liked your detailed comments. You must have read a lot of other comic books in this era. The only thing I remember about Fall of the Mutants was Angel's wings getting pinned against a wall and being slaughtered by the Marauders in an X-Factor issue. |
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Post by sabongero on Oct 4, 2017 17:16:59 GMT -5
 Captain America #340"Breakout" 0.75 USD @ April 1988 Writer: Mark Gruenwald Penciler: Kieron Dwyer Inker: Al Milgrom Colorist: Gregory Wright Letter: John Morelli Editor: Ralph Macchio & Marc Siry Editor-in-Chief: Tom Defalco Synopsis: We join the action in this issue continued from Iron Man #228. Iron Man in the Red and Silver armor electrocuting The Captain, as Steve was trying to assist a fallen Guardsman in The Vault. Iron Man attached a negator device on the Guardsman's armor, as Iron Man's and the immobilized Captain's eyes met. And Jim Rhodes and Iron Man walked out of The Vault. Steve remembered Tony giving him a shield like his original one, citing it is a bribe for him not to interfere with Tony's "war" with the government. When Steve was alright, he quickly moved outside and saw Iron Man was gone. Other security personnel outside suddenly attacked him, mistaking him for an intruder. He quickly avoided them and made his way to the cliff and worked his way down, being met halfway down by a flying Falcon who gave him a lift down. As they arrived to meet the team, a jealous Nomad and D-Man were at it again with Nomad thinking D-Man was hitting on his girl, Vagabond. All were happy to see Steve. Back in The Vault, security personnel were using flashlights as they made their way through the corridors as the electrical grid was down. Mr. Hyde snuck up from behind them and mashed their heads together. He made his way to another jail cell. It's Titania, the Absorbing Man's girlfriend. She was asking him for the keys. She bolted and grabbed the elevator key from one of the fallen security guards. Armadillo was sneaking up behind her, and she pasted him with a fist. Titania and Mr. Hyde took the elevator up, while being followed by the villain, Armadillo. Below them, Griffin and Vibro were also trying to take advantage and escape the Vault. Cap told Vagabond to stay in the van. Then, Cap's group got in their motorcycles and made their way to The Vault. Cap's mind is on Stark. Nomad cannot wait to get into action, whilde D-Man is a little worried because all the prisoners has superhuman powers, and he's still new to all this. Falcon does some recon above, and was suddenly attacked by the flying Griffin. Vibro is at the side of the cliff making his way slowly down. Outside The Vault, Titania makes easy work of the human security personnel, tossing them and their vehicles all over the place. the same thing with Mr. Hyde. They grab a truck and quickly drive away. Armadillo makes his way outside, and as the security personnel shoots at him ineffectively, he makes his way to the cliff and works his way down. Cap's group met up with the truck, and it sideswiped the motorcyle riding D-Man and Nomad, with the latter crashing on the cliffside below, and directly plowing into Steve Rogers, destroying his motorcycle. Cap ended up in the hood of the truck, grabbing it, and instantly recognizing Mr. Hyde. D-Man heads towards the truck, while Nomad is stuck hanging on to the side of the cliff. Steve crashed his shield through the windshield hitting Hyde in the neck really hard. Steve still remembered Hyde beating up a defenseless Jarvis when the Masters of Evil attacked the Avengers Mansion during the "Under Siege" storyline, and wasn't sorry for Hyde. Titania grabbed the steering wheel to prevent the truck from crashing, but didn't know her own strength as the wheel ripped off its hinges and she was thrown through the passenger door and ended up holding the side road and from falling beneath in the side cliff. Just then an arriving D-Man was spotted by Titania and she hurled the steering wheel at him, destroying D-Man's motorcycle. He escaped in time and did battle with her. He claimed he benched 15 tons and for her not to mess with him. She hurled him miles away telling him last she checked, she benched 85 tons. At another side of the cliff, Nomad encountered Vibro and threw something at him. Vibro responded by vibrating towards Nomad but he moved to the side, and the rocks loosened and Vibro lost his grip, thus falling to the depths below. Nomad just laughed it off, feeling good about his triumph. A hurtling D-Man was caught by Falcon, and was pursued by Griffin, whom D-Man quickly pummeled in the middle of the air. And Falcon placed D-Man back on the ground. Meanwhile Vagabond in the van, unknown to her, is being approached by Armadillo. The truck Cap and Hyde was on veered off course and feel off the side of the cliff while both jumped off in the nick of time. Hyde grabbed a fallen bumper and attached The Captain who still had his shield. Remembering what Hyde did, he kept reciting how Hyde beat up a defenseless butler, as he mercilessly beat the crap out of Hyde with unrelenting punches and kicks and shield attacks. Hyde finally lunged at Cap who sidestepped him and whacked him in the back of the head with the shield, propelling Hyde to go over the side of the cliff about to fall an unfathomable height. Cap hated to save him, but did. An escaping Titania was coming across where D-Man was, and he hid from her, not wanting to engage her in combat. He just hopes no one found out he cowered in fear. Then, Vagabond pulls up the van next to The Captain with Armadillo in the passenger seat, who said that Vagabond talked him into surrendering to the authorities. In the next issue The Captain vs Iron Man. Comments: It's good that prior storylines from other comic books resonated in the book. And Steve Rogers remembered when he was tied up and helpless and couldn't save Jarvis from the beatings from a super powered Mr. Hyde. There's a lot of side plots going on here. Nomad is still jealous of losing his girlfriend to D-Man. And D-Man being a newbie superhero, showed cowardice against a superior opponent. Looks like there's going to be a showdown between Tony Stark and Steve Rogers in the upcoming future issues. |
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