Longbox Junk - Marvel Team-Up #128

Welcome to Longbox Junk! It's the place to find all the comic reviews you never wanted!

It's still July, and it's still HOT!

Here in Utah (on the 26th of July), the fireworks are finally winding down, and that means that my yearly Longbox Junk spotlight on Captain America is ALSO winding down. . .but I'm not done just yet!

Let's crank up the Longbox Junk time machine for a short hop back to 1983.  There we will find Captain America teaming up with Spider-Man to tackle not only a verminous villain, but also to weather the stormy seas of LOVE!

Ready? Let's do it!

MARVEL TEAM-UP #128

Marvel (1983)

COVER: Eliot R. Brown

SWEET TEMPTATION

SCRIPT: J.M. DeMatteis

PENCILS: Kerry Gammill

INKS: Mike Esposito

THE COVER:

Marvel put out a few of these composite photo covers (DC did a few as well).  They ARE unusual and interesting for what they are, but truthfully I've never really liked them.  The use of live models for this one just makes it even worse than the others.  

It's cool that they tried something different and I realize that there's actually a collecting niche for these covers, and that there are people who really dig them, but I think that they were reaching beyond the grasp of available technology, and it didn't come out great. . .in MY humble opinion.

 Let's get inside!

THE STORY:

We begin our tale with a trip to the fair, following Peter Parker and Steve Rogers as they try to enjoy a bit of time off from being superheroes.  Unfortunately Peter isn't having much fun.  He's a bit torn about falling in love with a criminal (Black Cat) and what that means for him as a hero. His friends Mia and Roger try, but they don't have much luck cheering Peter up.

Steve Rogers ALSO isn't having as much fun as he should be.  His girlfriend Bernie is excited to be spending time with Steve away from him being Captain America, but Steve is reluctant to completely commit.  His last relationship (with Sharon Carter, agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.) ended in death and disaster.  He doesn't want a repeat of the same happening to him again.

Pete and Steve run into each other as they wander through the fair, they know each other from work at the Daily Bugle (where Steve had worked doing some illustrations in the recent past), but not as Spider-Man and Captain America.  Pete, Steve, and company decide to join up and enjoy the fair together.

BUT. . .

Their fun is soon interrupted by a swarm of rats sweeping through the fair! Pete's Spidey-Sense alerts him to danger!

The rats are quickly joined by a feral pack of dogs, led by a twisted creature. . .half man and half rat!

Steve recognizes the man-rat as Vermin.  An unfortunate victim of Baron Zemo's experiments in a Mexican castle.  A normal man whose brutal and evil nature was brought to the fore by mad science!

Vermin and his minions begin to wreak havoc through the fair.

Both knowing this is a job for a super hero, Pete and Steve tell their loved ones to leave, and then rush to find a place to change into their "business clothes".  Both of them find a nearby men's room, quickly change, and then run into each other as they head into battle! They immediately decide to team up to take down Vermin and his minions.

And the battle is joined! It's not an easy fight, but eventually Cap and Spidey gain the upper hand.  Vermin and his minions retreat and vanish before the heroes can give chase. 

 In the aftermath of the fight, an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. shows up on the scene. . .Gail Runciter.  She and Captain America had been at odds over her actions during Cap's assault on Zemo's Mexican castle recently.  Cap's reaction to her interference had been overly-strong.  They agree to talk it out.

At Gail's nearby apartment, she and Cap have a heart to heart talk.  They come to terms over their conflict, but then Cap is surprised when Gail reveals that she has feelings for Cap. . .strong feelings that have nothing to do with their work together.

Cap is surprised to realize that he also has feelings toward Gail.  Feelings that definitely conflict with his growing relationship with Bernie.  The two of them have a moment, but Cap resists the temptation  and leaves to sort things out in his head.

MEANWHILE. . .

Peter arrives back at his apartment to find Mia waiting alone for him.  Her boyfriend Roger has left and she stayed to make sure Peter was okay after the commotion at the fair.  As Mia tends to Peter's wounds, he begins to wonder what it would be like to be with her. . .a normal woman. . .no super-hero/villain drama.  

The two of them begin to have a little moment of their own. . .a moment that is interrupted by a news bulletin about Vermin taking over a nearby grocery store!  Peter leaves his feeling behind for the moment and quickly rushes a confused Mia out of his apartment.  It's back to work as Spider-Man!

As Spidey swings into action and arrives at the grocery store, Captain America also arrives on the scene, having also heard the bulletin.  The two of them agree to team up again and finish what was started earlier at the fair.  

The two of them head in, even though it's an obvious trap.  Spidey's Spider-Sense kicks in and warns of Vermin's ambush, and then it's ON!

As Cap and Spidey battle vermin, they both find themselves distracted and making little mistakes that they shouldn't.  They both realize that their moments of temptation are weighing on them more than they thought and affecting them in ways they don't like.

But despite the distractions, both Spidey and Cap shake it off and manage to finally win the day!

The heroes leave Vermin to the authorities and head out together to discuss what happened. . .

As the two heroes relax on a nearby rooftop, they talk about how maybe they were off their game a little bit because they saw something of themselves in Vermin. . .something neither of them liked very much.

Cap and Spidey say their farewells and head back to those who love them, both heroes putting their moments of temptation behind them as lessons learned.  All's well that ends well.

The End. 

THE REVIEW:

THIS is the kind of comic book that brings me right back to my Bronze Age childhood.  It's full of action, has a splash of drama, and is generally somewhat silly and forgettable.  But over all of that, it's FUN.  It's Captain America and Spider-Man teaming up to beat down a villain.  The outcome is never in doubt.  You KNOW the heroes are going to save the day.  It's just good old Bronze Age fun!

That said, J.M. DeMatteis DOES add a little depth to the story by focusing not only on Cap and Spidey, but ALSO Pete and Steve as they resist temptation and ponder what it means to be in love as a superhero.  

DeMatteis was the writer on the mainline Captain America title at the time, and from the few issues I have of this period in Cap's history, it seems he was wanting to more fully explore Captain America's "secret" identity of Steve Rogers than other writers before.  I like that he carried that through to this seemingly inconsequential team-up issue and made it more than a punch-fest.

On the art side, Kerry Gammill provides some solid work that even has a few pretty great moments. . .my favorite is the page I scanned above where Cap and Spidey are both using the same men's room stalls to change in without realizing it.  A great, funny moment!  His scenes of Spidey swinging through the city are also very nicely done.

CONCLUSION

Like I said in my review of Captain America and Hawkeye, not every comic has to be a masterpiece.  Sometimes you just want to have some forgettable fun with some colorful superheroes.  That describes THIS comic perfectly.  

It's not the greatest comic story ever written. . .but it doesn't have to be.  It's not the greatest art I've ever seen. . .but it doesn't have to be.  It's not the most memorable comic in my collection. . .but it doesn't have to be.  It's just a quick, fun read, full of Bronze Age memories for those who happened to be there at the time.

I can certainly recommend this issue to any fan of Spider-Man or Captain America (or Bronze Age superhero comics in general) as a fun little team-up comic with just a splash of "secret identity" drama.  

As far as I can tell, it's never been collected, so you'll have to read it online or find the actual issue in a back issue bin (like I did. . .for TWO lousy dollars).  But if you're looking for some good old Bronze Age superhero fun, go ahead and grab this one if you spot it.  It's a nice little nugget of Longbox Junk.

Up Next. . .

A few weeks ago I picked up a half-dozen of Marvel's Indiana Jones comics at a yard sale.

How about we take a look inside one and see what's going on? 

Be there or be square!

Longbox Junk - Captain America and Hawkeye

Welcome to Longbox Junk, where I write comic reviews that nobody asked me to!

It's July!  It's friggin' HOT!

 And if you live in Utah like I do, the fireworks go ALL month long!

Yeah, we're a little silly about our fireworks here in Utah.  Try explaining to a cranky hotel guest from Kansas why there are fireworks waking him up on the 16th of July.  Super fun, I tell ya.

BUT I DIGRESS!

Here at Longbox Junk, we celebrate Fireworks Month. . .er. . .July. . .by shining the spotlight on the star-spangled super-soldier.  The shield-slingin' Avenger.  The man who loves nothing more than punchin' some Ratzis.  

I'm talking about CAPTAIN AMERICA!

What we have here is a four issue series from a sort of odd time in Captain America continuity.  You see, everyone thought Cap had been assassinated at the end of Civil War, so the newly-resurrected Bucky Barnes (AKA The Winter Soldier) took it upon himself to become Captain America to redeem his past crimes and honor his mentor. It was a GREAT story!

But then Captain America came back. . .because Marvel didn't have the guts to follow through with the dramatic storytelling opportunities presented by Captain America actually being killed.  

Turns out he wasn't dead, but trapped in time and fighting his way back to the present day.  Which meant that after jumping through some hilarious and convoluted hoops to bring back Steve Rogers, there were now TWO Captain Americas and Marvel couldn't quite decide what to do. 

So they started running self-contained mini-series (like the one at hand) that were part of the (then) current volume numbering, but were also categorized as their own separate series. . .a bit confusing for online collection tracker sites.  To make it a bit worse, Marvel ALSO decided to shift from volume 5 numbering to volume 1 "legacy" numbering right in the middle of it all.  Yay.  

Things just sort of drifted with Captain America for almost 2 years (22 issues) with out of continuity teamup stories like this one, one shots, and flashback tales before Marvel finally got around to trying to fix their mess. . .by shuffling Cap through SIX new volumes.  And here we are today. 

ANYWAY. . .

Enough about Marvel mistreating one of my favorite superheroes.

Let's get into this series. . .which promises some dinosaur punching, if the covers are to be believed.

CAPTAIN AMERICA AND HAWKEYE

Marvel (2012)

Captain America (Vol. 5/1) #629-632

SCRIPTS: Cullen Bunn

PENCILS: Alessandro Vitti (with Matteo Buffagni issue 631)

INKS:  Alessandro Vitti (with Matteo Buffagni issue 631)

ISSUE ONE

(#629)

COVER: Gabriele Dell’otto

THE STORY:

Captain America and Hawkeye travel to New Mexico to investigate the disappearance of a large environmentalist group.  They are attacked by the security forces of the top secret Damocles Research Facility.  We are introduced to Kashmir Vennema, the Director of Operations.  They were also looking for the missing group when they encountered the Avengers during their mission.

At the research facility, Cap and Hawkeye learn that there are a number of classified U.S. Military research projects being carried out.  But their attention is directed to a lab where a Doctor Henry Reese is examining a strange, mutated creature.  The Avengers are shocked to learn that it was once a human.  One of Damocles' security contractors that had gone missing not long before.

Learning that the facility had been attacked several times by the twisted creatures, Cap and Hawkeye immediately order the Director to show them to the source of the attacks, a storage room that has a gaping hole leading down into the earth.

As they explore the dark tunnels beneath the research facility, it isn't long before Cap and Hawkeye are attacked by a strange dinosaur-like creature.  As they fight for their lives in the cramped tunnels, they see that they are battling against some kind of symbiote that has animated a dinosaur skeleton!

They win the battle, but the fight makes too much noise, and before long, our heroes find themselves surrounded by a large group of the mysterious symbiote/ dinosaur creatures. . .

To be continued.

THE REVIEW:

Yep. . .the covers to this series promised dinosaur punchin' and we have quickly commenced to punchin' dinosaurs in the very first issue.  Sure, there were a few pages of setup, but yeah. . .mostly dinosaur punchin'.  I have the feeling that this might have been the easiest money Cullen Bunn ever made.

I do like the gritty art style Allesandro Vitti brings to this series. Cap and Hawkeye look like a couple of rough and tumble guys you do NOT want to mess with, and I like the look.  The art is a little dodgy during talking head scenes, but Vitti definitely scores points when it comes to action.

NEXT!

ISSUE TWO

(#630)

COVER: Patrick Zircher

THE STORY:

We start right where we left off, and get TEN uninterrupted pages of sweet dinosaur punchin'!

Captain America and Hawkeye hold their own against a horde of weird dino-creatures until Cap is finally overwhelmed and dragged down a tunnel before Hawkeye can give chase!

Shifting scenes back to the Damocles Research Facility, we find Director Vennema and Dr. Reese arguing about the possibility of Captain America and Hawkeye interfering with their project for their "real" employers. . .obviously something stinks about the whole thing. 

A distracted Dr. Reese is taken over by the symbiote hibernating in the seemingly dead body of their former security head.  The creature pursues Director Vennema through the lab, but she finally manages to kill it.  She doesn't care so much about losing Dr. Reese as she's pleased to have been able to test the "Hybrid" in an actual combat situation.

IN THE MEANTIME. . .

We switch back to the tunnels below and follow Cap as he discovers that the well-known supervillain Stegron is behind some (but not all) of the strange goings-on beneath Damocles.  

Stegron explains that he's been trying to use his science/magic to resurrect an ancient lost race of dinosaur-like beings called Saurons who lived in a long-lost city that existed there long before mankind walked the earth.  Unfortunately, his efforts have been somehow warped and only partly successful.

Cap tells Stegron he doesn't care WHAT'S going on.  He's there to end it and it's time for some more star-spangled dinosaur punchin'!  We don't see the fight, but what we DO see is Hawkeye searching for Captain America and finding a twisted creature carrying Cap's shield. . .OH NO!

To be continued.

THE REVIEW:

Roughly half of this issue is dinosaur punchin'.  Don't get me wrong. . .it's some mighty FINE looking dinosaur punchin' thanks to the fantastic action artwork of Allesandro Vitti.  But Cullen Bunn DOES add a little bit more to the narrative by throwing in Stegron and showing that the Damocles facility isn't as innocent as they first seemed.

I actually like the back and forth banter between Cap and Hawkeye.  The Grizzled Veteran vs. The Young Buck is definitely a well-worn narrative path, but it's pretty enjoyable reading the push and tug between Cap wanting to use careful tactics and Hawkeye just wanting to jump in.  All in all, a pretty fun issue.

NEXT!

ISSUE THREE

(#631)

COVER: Patrick Zircher

THE STORY:

First there was CapWolf. . .Now meet DINOCAP!

A battle between Hawkeye and a dino-symbiote-possessed Captain America ensues.  As they fight, Hawkeye discovers that Cap is only partly taken over and uses a sonic arrow to help Cap throw off the creature.  The gambit works and the pair of heroes begin dino-punchin' their way through resurrected Saurons toward Stegron's laboratory. 

When the Avengers confront Stegron, he insists that he's not their enemy, and that he wants to help them.  Cap and Hawkeye reluctantly hear him out.  It seems that the symbiote-like creatures twisting the once-peaceful Saurons into deadly killers are actually beings from another world. . .Dire Wraiths!  Worse, there is a Dire Wraith Queen that had been in long hibernation and has finally risen to lead the Wraiths. 

Stegron wants to cleanse the infected Saurons as badly as the Avengers do.  As the three of them are attacked by Dire Wraith infected children of the missing environmentalist group, Stegron insists that Cap and Hawkeye make a run for the surface while he holds the attackers off for them. 

Unless they can make it on time, the Dire Wraiths may find a way to spread to the surface world again!

When the Avengers make it topside, they catch Director Vennma in the act of trying to escape with the Dire Wraith-infected corpse of Doctor Reese.  A confrontation with her Damocles security forces is interrupted by the appearance of a massive Dire Wraith infected dino-snake creature breaking through the landing pad to the surface! 

IT'S THE DIRE WRAITH QUEEN!!

OH MY!!!

To be concluded.

THE REVIEW:

Dire Wraiths? 

An unexpected callout to one of my favorite Bronze Age Marvel comics. . .ROM!  And here I was thinking the symbiotes were just going to be your typical Venom/Carnage-style Marvel Brand Symbiotes™.  

Nicely done, Cullen Bunn.  Very nicely done!

Besides the Dire Wraiths showing up out of nowhere like a long-lost memory from the Bronze Age of comics, I also liked DinoCap.  Too bad we didn't get much of him.  Too bad anybody who hasn't read this mini-series (or this review) will even know DinoCap existed.  I salute you, DinoCap!  You were gone too soon. . .

LET'S FINISH THIS THING!

ISSUE FOUR

(#632)

COVER: Patrick Zircher

THE STORY:

IT ALL ENDS HERE! 

As the gigantic Wraith Queen bursts through to the surface, Cap and Hawkeye immediately try to keep the Damocles security forces back, even though they were just getting ready to attack the heroes last issue.  Stegron joins the battle as the mutated Dire Wraith-possessed environmentalists swarm the security forces.

Captain America comes up with a desperate plan to ram the Avengers Quinjet into the Wraith Queen, but she destroys the jet before he can, leading to Plan B. . .DINOSAUR PUNCHIN'!

While Cap punches dinosaurs and gets the security forces to safety, Hawkeye uses sonic arrows to drive the symbiotes off of the possessed environmentalists and save Stegron, who he orders to help Captain America with his science/magic.  Stegron protests that there's nothing he can do against the wraiths.  

Hawkeye remembers that Stegron can bring dinosaurs to life from the smallest bone sample.  He comes up with a crazy plan. . .so crazy that it might just work!

Captain America engages the Dire Wraith Queen, but his shield and best Sunday Dino-Punch aren't doing much good.  Stegron joins the battle, and doesn't really do much good. . .just like he said.  Even so, he and Captain America fight together while Hawkeye rushes back into the laboratory to quickly fashion some arrowheads from samples of dinosaur bones he had seen during their earlier tour. . .

Hawkeye shoots the enraged Dire Wraith Queen with three dinosaur bone arrows and tells Stegron to use his powers!  But Stegron loses his scepter as the Wraith Queen tries to crush him with her tentacles. 

 Captain America grabs the scepter and uses it!  Three fully-grown dinosaurs form inside of the Wraith Queen, tearing her apart as the giant creatures burst through her body!  THE HEROES WIN! YAY!!

After cleaning up the remaining wraith-possessed Saurons and Environmentalists, Cap and Hawkeye take a breather.  Hawkeye is happy with how things turned out, but Cap is bothered by Vennema and Stegron being missing loose ends. Speaking of which. . .

DEEP IN THE TUNNELS BENEATH THE RUINED DAMOCLES FACILITY.

We get a one page epilogue.  Stegron has retreated back underground to the ancient Sauron city to stew in his failure and regret.  Vennema appears out of nowhere, offering Stegron a vial of some unknown substance. . .promising him that what is in there will make his dreams come true. 

DUN-DUN-DUNNNNNNN!

The End.

THE REVIEW:

It's an all-out action-packed dino-punchin' finale! The good guys win the day and everything is wrapped up in a nice, neat ending that doesn't even come close to affecting continuity in any way. . .except for that cliffhanger ending.  An ending that, as far as I can tell, was never followed up on.  

As a matter of fact, when I tried looking up what happened next, I discovered that only ONE source on Stegron even MENTIONS this story, let alone what happened afterwards.  From what I can see, he just went back to being a Spider-Man villain after his short heroic turn here, and the mysterious vial stayed right here in that single panel I scanned above.

Oh well.  I guess it was still some silly, fun, dinosaur punchin'.  Let's just leave it at that.

CONCLUSION

They say not to judge a book by its cover.  And that saying is particularly true with comic books, which often have covers that don't have ANYTHING to do with the story inside. . .especially in this modern age of multiple variant covers for almost every issue out.

BUT. . .

When it comes to THIS little forgotten miniseries, what you see on the cover is exactly what you get.  Captain America and Hawkeye fighting dinosaurs. . .and a lot of it.  This whole story is little more than a framework for page after page of Cap and Hawkeye punching, shooting, and shield-slinging their way through mutated dinosaur creatures.

Is that a bad thing?  Not really. Not EVERY comic has to be an introspective and wordy masterpiece. . .an eloquent reflection of the writer's feelings about the world around him.  Sometimes you just want to see superheroes punch dinosaurs!  Why not?

What story there IS does a fine job of setting up the next round of dino-punching.  I liked the back and forth banter between veteran soldier Captain America and brash up-and-comer Hawkeye.  It's a well-worn path, but it's well-worn in the first place because it works. 

 I was also pleasantly surprised to see the Dire Wraiths rear their ugly alien heads in this series.  ROM was one of my favorite comics when I was a kid (And yeah. . .I had an actual ROM action figure. It sort of sucked. The comics were better.) but the Dire Wraiths were something I had all but forgotten about.  Honestly, the Dire Wraiths coming back from Bronze Age limbo for a few issues was the part I liked best about the story.

But truthfully, Cullen Bunn didn't have much to do here.  He just built the framework and artist Alessandro Vitti did the heavy work of making this extremely simple story a feast for the eyes!

Page after page of dark, brutal, and somewhat exaggerated art fills the four issues of this series and  drives it forward.  Simply put, each page is a visual treat!  Vitti's dark and twisted art is really what makes this series worth a read at all.

Vitti's style is a little dodgy when it comes to characters standing around and talking, but when it comes to action, he brings it, and brings it hard!  

Overall, I can recommend this series as a fun little dinosaur-punchin' Captain America team-up adventure.  If you're looking for a deep story or commentary on society, this ain't it.  It's dinosaur punchin'.  

There's some fun banter, a surprising villain, and some tasty artwork, but beyond that, it's little more than a quick, fun read that you'll probably forget not long after you're done.  And you know what? Sometimes that's just fine.

Up Next. . .

Maybe I can get another Captain America entry done before July ends.

Let's find out!

Be there or be square.

Longbox Junk - Captain America Annual #5

Welcome to Longbox Junk! It's the place to find comic book reviews you never even knew you wanted.

It's July! That most patriotic month of the year. . .if you happen to live in the United States, that is.  If you don't it's just hot.  That's it. Hot.  Well, it's hot here in the states too, but July is ALSO the month to celebrate all things red, white and blue!

I like to consider myself a proud American. A real life nephew of my Uncle Sam. A lover of baseball, hot dogs and apple pie. Yeah, yeah. . .I drive a KIA.  BUT I BOUGHT IT IN AMERICA, SO THERE!

ANYWAY. . . 

If you don't mind indulging me in a little bit of flag waving here at Longbox Junk, I have a tradition where I spend the month of July looking at some comics featuring that star-spangled Super Soldier, the one and only (okay, there's actually 5 or 6 of them) CAPTAIN AMERICA!

So stand up, true believers! Put your hand on your heart and say it with me. . .

AMERICA, HELL YEAH!!

Or don't.

Captain America. Let's do it!

CAPTAIN AMERICA

ANNUAL #5

Marvel (1981)

COVER: Frank Miller / Joe Rubenstein (inks)

DEATHWATCHER!

SCRIPT: David Michelinie

PENCILS: Gene Colan

INKS: Dave Simons

THE COVER:

Now THAT'S a cover that catches the eye! A great example of prime Frank Miller before he went insane with his scratchy crap art he puts out today.  It's a beauty. Just a wonderful portrait of the star-spangled shield slinger. . .perfectly framed by the bright yellow star contrasting with the stark black (which makes finding this issue in decent condition a bit difficult) background.  I LOVE this cover.

If you're a fan of Captain America, how can you NOT love this cover? Let's get inside!

THE STORY:

We begin our tale at night in New York bay, with Captain America silently swimming toward a Coast Guard cutter that has been hijacked by the villainous Constrictor and his henchmen.  They have demanded a ransom of ten million dollars or they will turn the cutter's guns onto the World Trade Center.  

Captain America isn't there to pay a ransom.

Stealthily boarding the ship, Cap easily deals with Constrictor's henchmen on deck and goes hunting for their leader.  It isn't long before he finds Constrictor in the wheelhouse, and Captain America leaps into battle!

Constrictor isn't much of a match for Cap.  As the battle turns against him, Constrictor shouts for his remaining men to fire the cannon!  But before they are able to do so, the ship rocks with an explosion.  

Both Cap and Constrictor are confused by the explosion.  It wasn't part of either of their plans.  But Cap figures he can sort it out later and finishes beating Constrictor down and then turning him in to the police.

As Cap leaves the scene, little does he know that the entire incident was being filmed by a mysterious crew of men.  It seems that there was a third, unknown, player on the board that night. . .

Later, we follow the mysterious red van that the unknown film crew was in earlier that night.  It drives to a secluded mansion.  We are introduced to its driver, one Kenneth Hanson. . .ex-soldier, ex-mercenary, ex-many-things, but currently the right hand man of a reclusive multi-millionaire.

We follow Hanson as he makes his way through the dank, dusty, and unkept corridors of the mansion.  He enters the only clean room in the mansion. . .filled with high-tech computer equipment and video screens.  We are then introduced to the master of the mansion (and of Hanson), one Samson Scythe.

As Hanson feeds Scythe intravenously, they discuss another "project" scheduled for the following day.

THE NEXT DAY. . .

We begin by following Steve Rogers in an amusing little side story where he fails a job interview because he declines the. . .er. . .amorous advances of a female executive who just can't resist.

And then we shift scenes uptown to the Hearth Club, a swanky restaurant where prominent New York crime boss Carlo Ferrini is celebrating his birthday along with his most trusted Lieutenants.  The party comes to an abrupt and "shocking" end when Ferrini is electrocuted while cutting into a turkey!

As chaos ensues and Ferrini's men quickly blame rival crime boss Sean Gamble of the dirty deed, we see that the whole incident is being filmed by hidden cameras and greatly enjoyed by the mysterious Mr. Scythe at his mansion.

Shifting scenes again, we find ourselves at Manhattan's Eleventh Police Precinct, where Captain America has answered a call to meet Lt. Powell. . .a detective Cap works with on occasion. 

 In Powell's office, Cap is introduced to Sean Gamble and filled in on the details of the Ferrini assassination earlier that day. Powell, Gamble, and Cap all agree that even if Gamble wasn't behind the hit, there will probably be retaliation.  

Cap offers Gamble a deal, his personal protection in exchange for Gamble allowing himself to be bait to draw out the killer.  Gamble agrees.

We follow Captain America over the next three days as he stealthily follows Gamble during his routine throughout the city.  There's no sign of the killer and Cap is about ready to give up, thinking that maybe they're on the wrong track.

BUT THEN. . .

Cap finally senses a trap as Gamble steps into an elevator! Rushing into action, Cap narrowly saves the crime boss from falling into an elevator shaft with deadly spikes at the bottom.  Cap almost falls victim to the trap himself as we see Mr. Scythe watching from hidden cameras with great interest.

In the aftermath, Captain America and Lt. Powell discuss their next move. Cap is now convinced that there's something more going on than a simple gang war situation, and he's going to find out what!

At the same time, we see that Mr. Scythe has now become interested in Captain America and is now plotting against the superhero that ruined his "entertainment". . .

THE NEXT DAY. . .

While on a date in Central Park with his neighbor, Steve Rogers overhears a report on the radio about a nearby bank robbery in progress.  He makes an excuse to ditch his date and Captain America quickly makes it to the scene of the crime!

Cap makes easy work of the robbers, but one of them gets away. . .one that we learn is none other than Mr. Scythe's right hand man, Hanson.  Hanson leads Cap on a merry chase through the streets that ends up with Cap following him into the back of a parked semi-truck.

Unfortunately for Cap, it's a trap!  As he is overpowered by a gang of waiting men, Mr. Scythe himself makes an appearance.  The wheelchair-bound millionaire asks Captain America to stop interfering in his affairs.  After all, the only ones he kills are criminals.

Cap, of course, laughs in Scythe's face.  Scythe ignores the mockery and we get a flashback origin story of the reclusive killer. . .born rich and a world traveler at a young age, he soon tired of just about everything.  He joined the military and gained a lust for death during Vietnam.

But after the war, he found himself once again bored by literally everything. . .

He became a recluse, even being so bored by food that he was fed intravenously.  Nothing interested him at all. . .until he met Hanson.  Hanson began filming murders he committed, which are now the only things that make Scythe feel anything as he watches them from his mansion.  

Scythe is in control of a huge network of operatives and spies that find criminal victims for his viewing pleasure as they are killed.  Hanson tries to convince Captain America that they aren't that much different in wanting to rid New York of crime.  Captain America disagrees.

Prepared for Cap's reaction, Scythe tells him that he now wants to watch the death of a superhero, and that Captain America will come to his mansion to die, or Scythe will put into action a plan to kill police officers. . .the deaths of which will all be on Captain America's conscience.

Unable to prevent Scythe and Hanson from escaping, Cap decides to take the madman up on his offer and end his killing once and for all.  And so we find ourselves following Captain America later that night as he stealthily infiltrates the mansion grounds, only to be greeted by a gloating Scythe via hidden video screen.

Having lost the element of surprise, Cap finds himself fighting a pack of robotic dogs and handily defeating them before making his way into the mansion itself, where Scythe continually taunts the hero as he braves the madman's traps. . .

First, a room that fills with gold dust. . .

And then, a deadly sonic assault. . .

Before finally discovering Scythe's control room and bursting in to confront the madman and his assistant, Hanson!

As Cap rushes in to battle, Hanson fires a flamethrower at the attacking hero despite Cap shouting that he's an idiot that will set the whole place ablaze.  And yeah. . .Hanson sets the whole place ablaze.

As the mansion begins burning around them, Scythe falls out of his wheelchair and desperately crawls across the floor to a fire extinguisher. . .but as he does so, he catches sight of one of his video screens.  On it is himself, on fire.  Scythe is so entranced by watching himself die that it's too late for Cap to do anything for him.  

Cap grabs Hanson and rushes from the burning mansion, saving the henchman's life as the mansion collapses behind them.  Outside, Cap fills Lt. Powell in on what's happened as firemen try to douse the flaming mansion.

Powell is relieved that Cap has rid New York of a serial killer, but there's still a gang war to consider.  Cap agrees, but tells Powell it can wait until tomorrow.  He's had enough for one night.

The End. 

THE REVIEW:

Alrighty then, there it is.  A nice little one-off Captain America story.  Let's break it on down!

So what we basically have here is a pretty good Batman story.

Seriously.  If you replace Captain America with Batman and Lt. Powell with Jim Gordon, nothing changes in this story.  It's a Batman story.  Now, I didn't say it was a BAD story, it's just a little odd to see a Captain America story follow this kind of storyline that would normally be seen in something like Detective Comics.

I don't have too many Captain America comics from the early 80's, so I can't say for sure if Marvel was trying to go a more grounded and street crime oriented direction in general with Cap at the time, but I just find it interesting to see a Batman story in my Captain America comic.  

But like I said, it's not a BAD story at all.  It's not the best Batman. . .er. . .Captain America story I've ever read, but it's well-written and pretty engaging.  There's nothing huge going on here, basically Captain America following clues to a hidden killer and taking him down. 

It's a decent read, maybe a little darker than one would expect from a Captain America story, but not dark enough to call it grim. . .except maybe the part about Scythe watching himself burn to death. THAT'S pretty dark.

On the art side of things, it's hard to go wrong with prolific Bronze Age legend Gene Colan on the job.  This isn't really his BEST work (That would probably be on Tomb of Dracula), but I've never seen anything I didn't like from Colan and this is no exception.  His gritty pencils are perfect for a grounded and dark story like this one.

CONCLUSION

Overall, I liked this quite a bit.  It's an unusual Captain America story in that it's dark and grounded in the criminal element of New York and human madness with only a passing glance at supervillains (a few panels of Constrictor in the prologue) and the fantastic (a couple of panels of robot dogs later on). Not what I would usually expect in a (late) Bronze Age Captain America comic.

If you're looking for a good single-issue Captain America story, then here you go.  It's not anything world-changing, but it's a solid story with good art and a very nice cover.  It's just a nice little piece of Longbox Junk.  If you're a Captain America fan, grab it if you spot it (I bought it for the cover alone, why not?)  It shouldn't set you back much.  From what I can see, it looks like this one is pretty much ignored by specu-collectors.

Up Next. . .

I got this one out in pretty good time!  

It's still July, so why not more Captain America?

Be there or be square!