I write comic book reviews that NOBODY has ever asked for!
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Welcome to Longbox Junk! It's the place to find comic book reviews you never even knew you wanted.
Welcome back to Longbox Junk, where the opinions are free and if you don't like 'em you get a full refund!
July isn't quite over yet, so there's still time for a little more flag wavin' Captain America Longbox Junk. If you don't like a bit of "AMERICA $%&# YEAH!" in your comics for whatever reason, I can dig it. Just be sure to come back next month for whatever I pull out next. Fair?
The comic at hand is one of a series of seven Captain America one shots that came out through 2008 - 2010 under the collective banner of "Captain America - Theater of War". They tell single issue tales that cover a variety of time periods, styles and stories. . .everything from straight up WWII action to Captain America as the embodiment of the American Spirit. Most of them are good. A few are great. A couple are awful. This is one of the good ones.
It's Captain America vs. Ratzi flying saucers! Let's do it!
Welcome back to Longbox Junk, the place to find comic book reviews you never asked for!
So it's still July, and I'm still wavin' the flag a bit because I'm a guy who likes to wave the flag a bit in July. Don't read too much into it. It just means I'm looking at some Captain America comics this month. If you don't like a little "AMERICA, #$%&, YEAH!" in your comics. . .fair enough. Come back next month and I'll be on some other random tangent.
This time out, I'm taking a look at a strange little relic from the edge of the Bronze Age. A 1985 Captain America story from the Marvel Anthology series, Marvel Fanfare.
Marvel Fanfare is sort of an interesting series. It was intended to appeal directly to comic collectors by being sold in the direct market only and featuring non-code-approved stand-alone stories by a wide range of comic talent. It was printed on glossy paper usually reserved for comic covers of the time, without ads, and cost more than twice the price of the average comic in 1982 ($1.50 compared to .60).
I've pulled a handful of these comics from the bargain bins over the years, and I'm always impressed by the quality of both the physical presentation of the comic and what's inside. But in an ironic twist, a comic series designed specifically to appeal to collectors is basically 60 issues of Longbox Junk, as far as collector "value" goes.
The stories from Marvel Fanfare have been reprinted in various collections, and there is a collected trade of the first seven issues as well. But THIS story seems never to have been reprinted anywhere else for some reason. A bit strange, considering this is the only Captain America story illustrated by Frank Miller.
BUT ENOUGH ABOUT THAT. . .
It's Captain America vs. Homegrown Terrorism tucked away in a random issue of a somewhat interesting experiment in targeting comics directly at collectors. Let's do it!
Comic Book Realm. . .I love ya. But your word filter is a pain in my rear sometimes, especially in a review of a WWII comic with lots of N-azis in it. Oh well. . .guess I'll have to go back through and change them all to Ratzis (with credit to my grandpa - RIP- because that's what he always called them).
Welcome back to Longbox Junk, where the comics are cheap and the opinions are free!
I'm continuing my flag-wavin' month of July theme with another Captain America one shot. We started off with a mild bit of social justice (and there's nothin' wrong with a little of that), but this time out we get Cap in his full on wartime Ratzi-Punchin' mode.
Captain America was MADE to punch Ratzis and in this one, punch Ratzis he does. So fair warning: If you don't like Ratzi Punchin' stories, you might want to skip this one. . .but if you do, then travel back to the days of WWII with me for a look at Captain America's first field combat test.
Does everything go as planned? What do YOU think?
Let's do it!
Welcome back to Longbox Junk, where comics are worth more than money. That's my way of saying that if someone broke into my house to steal my comic collection, they'd find it more trouble on their back hauling them out than what the job would be worth . . .BUT I DIGRESS!
I've said it before, and I'll say it again. . .I'm a sort of patriotic guy. I come from a long line of military men, and as a proud veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps myself, I tend to be a bit of a flag waver and I ain't ashamed to admit it. And with times the way they are, maybe we need to wave the flag just a little.
Wait! Wait. . .don't go! I'm not gonna get political. I'm just introducing the Longbox Junk "theme" for July! It's Captain America, okay? I'm going to be looking at some Captain America comics through this month.
BUT. . .
It IS Captain America, so if you aren't the kind to tolerate a little "AMERICA, %$#& YEAH!" in your funny books, then maybe you might want to skip the next few posts. But come back in August!
Okay, everyone in that's staying in?
Let's start this off by stepping outside of the usual Longbox Junk bargain bin finds with a little something brand new and on the shelves right now.
DC gets a bit of flak for squeezing every possible drop out of their seminal "Watchmen" series by constantly trying to add to something that doesn't really need anything added to it. But never let it be said that Marvel isn't just as guilty of the exact same thing with their own critically acclaimed series, "Marvels".
What we have here is the first of a new series of one shots trying to capitalize on what little magic is left in Kurt Busiek and Alex Ross' masterwork of seeing superheroes through the eyes of the common man.
The series is called "Marvels Snapshots", and the first one out of the gate features Captain America (and The Falcon) in a continuation of Jack Kirby's 1970's "Madbomb" storyline. . .the first issue of which (Captain America #193 from 1976) got a a fine Longbox Junk Retro Review HERE .
SO. . .
We've got a one shot walking the tightrope of adding to a fan favorite series that doesn't really need anything added to it AND trying to continue a classic Bronze Age story from one of the giants of the comic world. It's got some work cut out for it. Let's take a look!
Welcome to another "Retro Review" edition of Longbox Junk!
Once again, I step outside of my usual bargain bin finds to take a closer look at a comic from my collection that might be considered more "valuable" than most of what I own and give the internet a classic comic review that NOBODY ever asked me for.
This time out, I think I've really outdone myself on the "Review that nobody ever asked me for" front, in that I believe that this will be the only review of this comic that has EVER been done. . .and I'll take a safe bet that there probably won't be another one.
- read moreI originally thought that Theater of War was a mini-series until I took a closer look at them and realized that they are actually a collection of one-shots under a single title, with the only things tying them together being Captain America and a similar cover frame. They cover a variety of times and concepts. . .everything from straight up WWII action to Captain America as the embodiement of the American Spirit. Let's get into it!
CAPTAIN AMERICA: THEATER OF WAR
-I'm not entirely sure of how these are supposed to be ordered, but snce they are pretty much unrelated with no overarcing story, I'm just going in alphabetical order. . .
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