Captain America in the Marvel Age (A Review Thread)
Nov 20, 2018 3:53:04 GMT -5
The Captain likes this
Post by tarkintino on Nov 20, 2018 3:53:04 GMT -5
Undoubtedly one of the best Cap covers in the character's long history.
"Lest We Forget"
Writer: Stan Lee
Art: Jack Kirby (pencils) and George Tuska (inks)
Cover Date: April 1969
Note:
This issue exists only because of Jim Steranko missing the deadline to submit the pages for Captain America #113. Because of that and Marvel needing to put something out that month, Stan Lee contacted Jack Kirby to produce an album issue that filled the space between #111 and #113. To that end, a framing sequence was crafted that showed Tony Stark reminiscing about Captain America after hearing about his demise at the hands of Hydra at the end of the previous issue.
This book is really a marvel (yes, pun intended), as the story goes that Stan contacted Jack on Friday afternoon and asked for the pages to be done and delivered to Marvel by Monday. There's nothing of a plot to speak of, as Jack is just retelling Captain America's history up through the end of Jack's run on the book (he doesn't put in anything that happened in #110 or #111), which makes sense, as Stark would not have any details of what had been happening with Steve, Rick, and their fight against Hydra.
I won't grade this, because under the circumstances, it would be unfair to any of the creators involved due to the time constraints on them.
Writer: Stan Lee
Art: Jack Kirby (pencils) and George Tuska (inks)
Cover Date: April 1969
Note:
This issue exists only because of Jim Steranko missing the deadline to submit the pages for Captain America #113. Because of that and Marvel needing to put something out that month, Stan Lee contacted Jack Kirby to produce an album issue that filled the space between #111 and #113. To that end, a framing sequence was crafted that showed Tony Stark reminiscing about Captain America after hearing about his demise at the hands of Hydra at the end of the previous issue.
This book is really a marvel (yes, pun intended), as the story goes that Stan contacted Jack on Friday afternoon and asked for the pages to be done and delivered to Marvel by Monday. There's nothing of a plot to speak of, as Jack is just retelling Captain America's history up through the end of Jack's run on the book (he doesn't put in anything that happened in #110 or #111), which makes sense, as Stark would not have any details of what had been happening with Steve, Rick, and their fight against Hydra.
I won't grade this, because under the circumstances, it would be unfair to any of the creators involved due to the time constraints on them.
I feel one can make an objective assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of the story created by people who--by that time--were not unfamiliar with the long-lived "art" of fill-in comic stories. To that end, one could argue that it could not have been too difficult to whip up a "reaction" story from the POV of others who--thanks to Marvel's attention to continuity and character development--would be able to reminisce about a relatively new friend who happens to be a legend, hence the tone of this story. Just that fragment of a plot was enough to create an easy bridge between Steranko appearances, while serving as a swan song (of sorts) to the Kirby era and influence on the character, who as we all know, would continue moving toward a darker, arguably more adult presentation in the coming Colan and Romita eras to follow.
Grade: B.