Happy 74th birthday Captain America!

Joe Simon and Jack Kirby's Captain America is one of the first political comics ever created. Captain America Comics #1 (cover dated March 1941) pissed off a lot of people by having Cap punch out Hitler. The pro Nazi American's (yes, we did have them before the war) were incensed and even sent Timely Comics death threats.

Captain America has always been a special character ever since his first appearance in Captain America #1, March, 1941. 74 years ago. He speaks to the American spirit in all of us. He stands for the freedom and equality of all people no matter the race, gender, religion or sexual orientation. Whenever someone is trying to oppress another, he will be there to defend their rights to freedom.

the Avengers origin by Walt Simonson!

Have you ever wondered how the Avengers first got together? Well here is the story as told by the ever energetic Walt Simonson. His art is so lively that it virtually explodes off of the page. It's a constant joy and here in this little gem from Avengers #300, Feb 1989, he retells the classic Lee/Kirby tale from Avengers #1, Sep 1963. It's a long forgotten little piece that is well worth remembering.

Happy 97th Birthday Jack Kirby! The Marvel story.

Jack Kirby (August 28, 1917 – February 6, 1994), born Jacob Kurtzberg, was one of the greatest comic creators ever. Not only did he create important comics and heroes of the Golden Age like Captain America but he revitalized the whole industry with his Marvel Comics creations of the 60's and influenced all the succeeding artist for decades afterwards.

Self portrait of Jack Kirby with many of his creations.

Happy 4th of July with John Cassaday's Captain America

"You were 19 the first time you felt this. This disbelief. This anger."

"You'd had the body almost a year. the training. You had scares."

"You'd been shot at so many times that you laughed when you found yourself staring down the barrel of a gun."



Captain America vol. 4 #4, Sep. 2002

 

On this July 4th I'd like to look at a great comic that has been forgotten;

Captain America vol. 4

by John Ney Rieber and John Cassaday

Ultron's Bride! by Jim Shooter and George Perez

It seems that anyone who writes the Avengers all do their take on Ultron, one of their greatest foes, and Jim Shooter and George Perez were no exception when they created the awesome epic tale of Ultron's Bride.

Avengers #58, "Even an Android can Cry"

Avengers #58, "Even an Android can Cry" is one of the truly classic comics of the silver age with writer Roy Thomas and John Buscema at the top of their game. It's one of those era defining comics!

Joe Jusko did an amazing job recreating this classic cover originally by "Big" John Buscema's for Avengers #58.

The Avenger's The Earth's Mightiest Comic title!

There is so much goodness packed into The Avengers over the years with so many amazing creators that each one deserves a essay of their own, but for lack of space and time I'll give you the abridged highlights of the title.

The Avengers issue #177 is one of the first comics I ever owned and made me a life long Avengers fan.

Hey! A Jim Steranko effect! The hallucinatory effect on comics!

"Hey! A Jim Steranko effect!" Neal Adams formed the words using the mist lines radiating from the pit in his Deadman series.

I'm not sure what Adams was referring to because I don't remember Steranko ever spelling things out using visual effects, but he did do some pretty crazy/cool stuff in his day!

The Avengers nemisis - The masters of Evil!

I have been an Avengers fan for as long as I have been a comic fan. One of my very first comics was an Avengers and it still remains a favorite even today. And of the all of the Avengers killer foes, the one that has been the most challenging, the most diabolical, the most deliciously menacing to me has been The Masters Of Evil! They keep popping up giving the Avengers a run for their money!