tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8419605150672201683.post6364793725124940380..comments2024-03-01T14:01:34.480-08:00Comments on Marvel in the Silver Age: Captain America: A Man Out of TimeAirPiratePresshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13136561512898563240noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8419605150672201683.post-23602161131089156362016-01-13T23:00:18.681-08:002016-01-13T23:00:18.681-08:00Re: Marvel's scenes being grimier and more rea...Re: Marvel's scenes being grimier and more realistic than the squeaky clean landscapes in Silver Age DC, I'm reminded of an interview with Fred Hembeck in a fan magazine in the 1980's. He mentioned Fantastic Four #4, where Johnny Storm left the team and ended up on skid row. The men there actually looked like drunks and vagrants. While, in DC comics, even the bank robbers and muggers wore suits and ties, and looked like lawyers and accountants. TChttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13686814973788356726noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8419605150672201683.post-4144673294622107902016-01-13T22:53:28.270-08:002016-01-13T22:53:28.270-08:00What If #4 (Aug. 1977) also featured the postwar C...What If #4 (Aug. 1977) also featured the postwar Captain America. IIRC, the government recruited another hero, the Patriot or the Spirit of '76, to impersonate Cap, so his disappearance wouldn't start a panic or hurt morale. No one seemed to miss the Patriot or Spirit of 76, though. <br /><br />In the 1960's and earlier, the publishers assumed (probably correctly) that comic book readership turned over completely every seven years or so. A kid reading comics in 1964 would not remember a comic published in 1949 or 1953. (And the 1953 revivals of Marvel's superheroes were unpopular and short-lived, anyway.) So Stan and Jack may have simply forgotten the later (1945-49 and 1953) Captain America stories, or they may have decided that their readers would not know the difference. Later, when Marvel reprinted some of the postwar stuff in Fantasy Masterpieces and Marvel Super Heroes, fans began asking for more consistency and continuity, thus the Engelhart retcon.TChttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13686814973788356726noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8419605150672201683.post-6062856913765597232015-11-25T20:07:01.047-08:002015-11-25T20:07:01.047-08:00I've just acquired the Captain America Epic ed...I've just acquired the Captain America Epic edition. Had quite a few of the stories already, but it' a very nice package.Kidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07224781868125924337noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8419605150672201683.post-43278066494865360042015-11-19T01:37:29.088-08:002015-11-19T01:37:29.088-08:00Engelhart used the 1950s Cap as a villain in the &...Engelhart used the 1950s Cap as a villain in the "Hero or Hoax" story arc in Captain America and The Falcon 153-156 (1972), which is what I had in mind. I'll add Annual 6 to my "must get" list :-)AirPiratePresshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13136561512898563240noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8419605150672201683.post-86009917843828118212015-11-18T15:20:54.947-08:002015-11-18T15:20:54.947-08:00Guys, My suspicion is that neither Lee or Kirby ha...Guys, My suspicion is that neither Lee or Kirby had even recalled the brief revival of Cap in the 1950s. Like Namor, Lee and Kirby took the basic elements of the character and transferred them into the modern Marvel age. The explanation of Cap's being frozen in ice was just a plot device (and it reads to me like a Lee plot device) but the powers that be had little interest in developing any real continuity with the Timley era. That was left to others, particularly Roy Thomas and Steve Englehart. <br /><br />A very enjoyable post. Next to Spidey, Cap was also a favorite of mine as a kid. Cap was a heroic character, his stories were filled with action and the Red Skull was one of the greatest villains in comics. What was there not to like! In many ways it was quite different from the melodrama that pervaded most Marvel heroes, but Kirby's enthusiasm was infectious, and Lee did a fine job on the dialogue, keeping the puns to a minimum and adding an air of drama to the proceedings. Nick Caputohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05096100224095280865noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8419605150672201683.post-47013914829290483512015-11-18T07:05:32.669-08:002015-11-18T07:05:32.669-08:00The details of the '50s Cap were covered in Ca...The details of the '50s Cap were covered in Captain America Annual #6, 1982, Al. That's all you'll need. To be honest, I don't know if the subject was ever touched on in the regular mag prior to this, but it may have been.Kidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07224781868125924337noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8419605150672201683.post-15980964151491218322015-11-18T05:25:55.242-08:002015-11-18T05:25:55.242-08:00Jack was fairly well-known for ignoring what other...Jack was fairly well-known for ignoring what other people had done with characters before he started on them. I'm guessing neither he nor Stan would want to try to explain how Cap could have been operating during the 1950s while he was also frozen in a block of ice. I've never read Steve Englehart's run on Captain America, so I'm not familiar with the ret-con he did on the character (though I was aware of it). I should probably track down those issues and read them. But I think you're right ... I wasn't seeing much Stan in those early (ToS 59-64) Cap stories ...AirPiratePresshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13136561512898563240noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8419605150672201683.post-10541096275328015322015-11-18T02:33:19.013-08:002015-11-18T02:33:19.013-08:00I always found it interesting that Cap's '...I always found it interesting that Cap's '50s adventures were ignored when he returned in the '60s, and weren't retconned into continuity until much later (early '80s, I think). I imagine it was Martin Goodman's decision to reintroduce Cap in the '60s, and Kirby was perhaps just unaware of the short-lived '50s series, hence his ignoring it. Assuming, of course, that Jack was mainly responsible for the plotting of Cap's return after a discussion with Stan, who was content for Jack to work out the details. Don't suppose we'll ever know for sure 'though. Kidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07224781868125924337noreply@blogger.com