It wouldn’t be the Fourth of July without some Captain America news!
Fans new and old will be able to relive some of Cap’s adventures from 1983 and 1984 in August’s Captain America: Sturm Und Drang Epic Collection.
The latest Epic Collection (eleven if you are keeping score) contains Captain America #286-301 and features the end of J.M. DeMatteis, Mike Zeck, and John Beatty’s run, starting with the three part Deathlok story, “One Man in Search of Himself” (which has one of the best Zeck covers of all time with Cap in the Cyborg’s sights).
After #289, Zeck and Beatty would leave the title, and DeMatteis sets up his almost year long storyline that sees Cap, Nomad, Falcon, and current girlfriend Bernie Rosenthal, encounter Mother Superior and the Sisters of Sin, Baron Zemo, Black Crow, the Slayer, and eventually the true mastermind and arch villain of Cap, the Red Skull. DeMatteis is joined by artists Ron Frenz, Herb Trimpe, Paul Neary, Steve Leialoha, Jack Abel, Ed Baretto, Joe Rubinstein, Brett Breeding, Sam DeLaRosa, Roy Richardson, and Dennis Janke for the culmination of his own run on Captain America. DeMatteis’ farewell storyline reverses Steve Roger’s youthful appearance and tells the origins of the early days of the Red Skull, including his history with Hitler and the Nazi Party, before a much older looking Cap once again saves the world from destruction.
Writer Michael Carlin wraps up the previous storyline in #301 (along with Neary and Janke) as the Avengers attempt to de-age Cap after his encounter with the Skull.
In addition to all of the action from Cap’s solo title, the man formerly known as Jim Owsley (a.k.a. Christopher Priest), Paul Smith, Vince Colletta, Mike Gustowch, and Mark Bright take on Steve’s partner and one of the Captain Americas of the future, Sam Wilson, in the original Falcon mini-series. The four issue mini (one of the first produced by Marvel Comics) has Sam protecting Harlem, fighting a sentinel, and protecting the president from Electro when Cap falls by the wayside.
Captain America Annual #7 is also part of the the Sturm and Drang Epic Collection, which includes a story by Peter Gillis, Brian Postman, and Kim DeMulder that details the strange, convoluted origins of the Cosmic Cube.
The Captain America: Sturm Und Drang Epic Collection contains 520 pages, for a suggested retail price of $49.99. Look for the latest collection on August 10, graced with Paul Neary’s original cover from Captain America #299.
