Captain America by Stan LeeMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
This Marvel Pocket Books Captain America collects Cap's Silver Age revival in Avengers #4 and some of his early adventures in Tales of Suspense.
When I was 10, my deaf uncle gave me this. While I had a couple issues of Captain America before, I'd obviously never experienced his first adventures after being revived for the Silver Age in Avengers #4. This was the book that first had me latch on to Captain America for a few years in the late 1980's and into the 90's. Yes, including Cap-Wolf.
Anyway, this book starts with Cap's silver age revival. The first thing that caught my eye was Jack Kirby's art. I'd forgotten how dynamic it really was back in the day. Secondly, it sums up Captain America's spirit nicely. A guy with few powers going up against Namor? Yes, please! The other Avengers were good too, I guess.
The next three stories were primarily extended fight scenes. One was against some of Baron Zemo's thugs, one against some guys who thought they could take the Avengers Mansion since only Cap was on duty, and the third was in a prison.
After that, Bucky is reintroduced and we get some new tales set during Captain America's World War II days, something they did to keep his solo adventures from conflicting with his appearances in the Avengers book, a far cry from Wolverine being in 487 comics a month until recently. The Red Skull is reintroduced and his origin revealed, for the first time if I remember correctly.
The stories are a tad repetitive when read in rapid succession but are pretty exciting for what they are. With the caveat that this is not a modern comic book and it has tremendous nostalgic and sentimental feelings for me, I have to rate it highly. It started me on the path to Captain America fandom and deepened my comics fandom. Four out of five stars.
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