Essential Captain America, Vol. 2 [Englisch] [Taschenbuch]

I don't think more than a few stories in this 500+ page volume have been reprinted anywhere before; not in the Marvel Masterworks format and not in the 70's era MARVEL DOUBLE FEATURE reprint comic I read sometimes as a kid. So this is 99% new material for the majority of us (unless you actually have some of the original comics).

A common complaint with the Marvel Essentials books has to do with the black-and-white format. While most of the artwork here looks pretty good in black and white (particularly the fluid, eyeball-soothing Gene Colan work that dominates the second half of the book), I've noticed that over the last year or so Marvel has changed the paper they use on this series from a bright white color to a dull white or light gray. Black-and-white reprinting of color comics is usually acceptable to me, but black-and-light-gray reprinting really begins to push the envelope. Since the Essentials volumes are still the best value (per pound) in comicbook reprints, I suppose I shouldn't critique this one point too much. But I recommend using a strong light.

The three main storylines of note in this collection are the Lee-Kirby epic where Cap and Shield take on the Red Skull and his Nazi minions, the Steranko issues where Rick Jones becomes a temporary sidekick and Cap regains his secret identity, and the Lee-Colan storyline where the Red Skull swaps places with Cap courtesy of the Cosmic Cube and the strip introduces the Falcoln in an effort to make the comic more relevant. There is also a complete issues devoted by Lee & Kirby to the origin of Captain America and one in which Cap is captured while in Vietnam. Of course, in the years ahead the Falcoln would become Captain America's partner and his name would become part of the title for the comic book.

I prefer these issues of "Captain America" much more than the "Tales of Suspense" days when the stories were ten page installments that cut off the story just as it was getting interesting (i.e., "to be continued"). It is not surprising that the art work is more impressive than the stories, because Kirby was arguably at his peak at this point: most of his issues start with splash pages of Cap bigger than life and in action. Steranko experiments with the comic book form, having pages with over a dozen panels, panels with multiple images of the same characters, and page without panels that are clearly influenced by the art of Salvadore Dali. Why more would you want for 12 cents? No wonder the issue of "Captain America" #111 was appropriated for the cover of this trade paperback. Colan might only finishing the show position in this collection, but he brings the same sort of fluidity to his artwork that he did with "Daredevil" and "Tomb of Dracula." Three different styles each working to tell the story of Captain America, "Living Legend of World War II."