Comic Book Review: Essential Captain America, Vol. 2 written by Stan Lee, art by various.
In 1941, war raged in Europe and Asia. Though the United States was not yet directly involved, it was preparing for the day when it might be pulled in to World War Two. Among other things, this meant recruiting many more men for the military. Steve Rogers, a particularly patriotic young man from New York City, hoped he’d be chosen. Alas, this was something of a delusion as Steve was a puny fellow who qualified as 4-F, medically unfit for duty. But even then, his superior willpower and courage struck a chord with an observing officer, who recruited the boy for a medical experiment.
The brilliant Professor Joseph Reinstein (birth name Abraham Erskine) had devised a way in which ordinary men could be brought to the height of physical perfection to become super-soldiers. Steve Rogers was the first successful survivor of this process involving vita-rays and super-soldier serum. Unfortunately, the Nazis had managed to slip a spy into the official observers, and he killed Reinstein. The professor had kept vital parts of the formulas in his own head to avoid having them stolen, but this meant the process could never be fully recreated.
Now unique, Steve Rogers was given a distinctive costume and shield, trained in combat, and became the hero Captain America! A teenager named Bucky Barnes became his sidekick under the less-original codename Bucky, and they fought together against the Axis until near the end of the war. During a last mission, a rocket exploded, killing Bucky and sending Steve into shock and a coma.
Somehow, Steve wound up frozen in ice and worshipped by a Northern tribe. Namor the Sub-Mariner, who was then partially amnesiac, threw the ice into the ocean again in a fit of pique. The ice melted just enough that the Avengers, then looking for Namor, realized there was a man inside. A man who turned out to be Captain America. “And so, a legend lived again!”
This volume contains Captain America issues #103-126 (1968-1970). We open with Steve trying to have a moment’s relaxation with Sharon Carter, aka Agent 13 of SHIELD, the woman he loves. Unfortunately, the Red Skull, Captain America’s greatest enemy from the war years, has returned, and orchestrates Sharon’s abduction. This turns out to be an elaborate plan to lure Captain America to the Isle of Exiles so that the Skull can plant a nuclear detonator on his body.
In #104, the Red Skull reveals the existence of the bomb to force Cap to return to the Isle, and fight the Skull’s Chiefs of Staff, also known as the Exiles. They’re a motley lot of evil leftovers, the most distinctive of whom is the elderly Cadavus, Master of the Murder Chair. Cap manages to survive long enough for SHIELD to disarm the bomb, and that agency manages to capture most of the minion Nazis even though the Skull and Exiles escape.
#106 has the Red Chinese steal a SHIELD Life Model Decoy (robot that can perfectly mimic the human it looks like) and turn it into a Steve Rogers lookalike so that it can kill and replace Captain America. It fails, but I mention this one because some of the issue takes place in Hollywood, where the “Lucas Brothers” are making a big-budget “sci-fix” epic. Sadly, Willie and Cyril Lucas aren’t as lucky as their real-life counterpart George.
#107 has Captain America particularly haunted by nightmares of the death of Bucky. This turns out to be a plot by the evil psychiatrist Dr. Faustus (first appearance!) to destroy Cap. The game is given away because Faustus oversells the “these pills will help” angle.
#109 retells Captain America’s origin as he then knew it as memories he’s discussing with Nick Fury, head of SHIELD.
#110 has a brief appearance by the Hulk, just long enough to break ol’ Jade-Jaws up for a while with his teen sidekick Rick Jones. Rick has sidekicking in his blood, and soon signs up to be “substitute Bucky” for Captain America. They soon run afoul of the evil organization HYDRA, currently under the command of Madame Hydra. The supposedly disfigured woman (we never see under her concealing hairstyle) vows vengeance.
#111: HYDRA manages to kill Captain America!
#112: Is a special issue in which Captain America’s heroism and its impact on others is reviewed in light of his recent death.
#113: Captain America turns out not to be dead after all, but this does allow his secret identity to be restored with the fig leaf that “Steve Rogers” was just an alias that Cap used. However, Sharon Carter is now deep undercover and unaware of his return, and the sweethearts continue not quite getting together.
#115-119 is an epic plotline in which the Red Skull returns, having regained possession of the Cosmic Cube, a device that allows the wielder to alter reality at his whim. After trying out some tortures, the Skull decides that the most cruel thing he can do is switch bodies with Captain America.
Now Cap looks like a criminal that pretty much everyone hates, and is hunted by the law. Meanwhile, the Skull enjoys some of the perks that come with being America’s greatest hero. Surprisingly, no one attacks the Skull while he’s impersonating Captain America, but he does manage to alienate Rick Jones. (Rick would go on to sidekick for Captain Mar-Vell.)
Since Captain America in the Red Skull’s body proves too elusive to be captured, the Skull then teleports him to the new Isle of Exiles. It seems the Skull promptly betrayed his Chiefs of Staff the moment he got the Cube, and he thinks it would be funny to let them have revenge on the wrong man.
On the Isle, Steve Rogers finally remembers that the Red Skull’s skull is actually just a mask and takes it off. He uses some clay to disguise the human features of the Skull (which we do not see at this time) and blends in with the inhabitants of the Isle. One of the inhabitants is Sam Wilson, a bird fancier from Harlem who’d been tricked into bringing his hunting falcon Redwing to the Isle to amuse the Exiles.
Steve trains Sam in combat and gets him a costume to become the Falcon, one of Marvel Comics’ few black superheroes of the time. (Later this would be retconned to all be part of the Skull’s plan, but it’s pretty clear in the original that this is not true.) After Steve and the Falcon take out the Exiles, the Red Skull decides he’s had enough and teleports the two heroes to Berchtesgaden (which has happy memories for the Skull) to swap bodies back.
In a subplot, MODOK (Mental Organism Designed Only for Killing), leader of AIM (Advanced Idea Mechanics), turns out to be alive, and since he originally created the Cosmic Cube (kind of, long story) decides that if he can’t have it, no one can. Just as he’s about to triumph, the Red Skull loses control of the Cube, and he and it vanish.
After a few one-shot stories, including topical pieces on campus riots and the Vietnam War, #126 finishes the volume with a story where the Falcon has been framed for a crime by the Diamond Heads, a black radical group spreading hate in the ghetto. Unsurprisingly, their masked leader turns out to be a white dude hoping to use his dupes to make a pile of money.
Stan Lee and his less-credited co-writers (Jack Kirby in particular did a lot of heavy lifting on storylines) put out some nifty stories here. Art by Kirby, Jim Steranko and Gene Colan (with a couple of others) is dynamic and fun to look at.
During this time period, Steve Rogers being a man out of his time is a large part of his characterization. He’s not really down with the social changes of the late 1960s, particularly suspicion of the establishment. As part of the establishment, he feels alienated. This would later shift into Captain America being more about the spirit of America than an agent of its government.
The romance angle is played strictly for soap opera. Steve wants Sharon to stop putting her life in danger, as that should be his job, but her personality and skillset suit her best for being a field agent. For her part, she’d much rather be his sidekick than the little lady at home, but can’t quite bring herself to be honest about that.
The idea of evil versions of Captain America comes up several times, but none of these stories really uses that to full advantage. Even when the Red Skull is impersonating Cap, he plays him as a swell-headed celebrity to get free stuff rather than really working to destroy Cap’s reputation. (Indeed, the entire Cosmic Cube storyline has him never quite sticking to a single plan as he gets “better” idea after better idea.)
It’s a good run, but not the greatest. This volume is recommended to Captain America fans, though ones without a lot of money will want to see if they can get this through the library.
