Marvel Platinum: The Definitive Captain America

Avengers (1963) #4

by Stan Lee

During the dark days of the early 1940s, a covert military experiment transformed frail Steve Rogers into America's first Super-Soldier - Captain America. Throughout World War II, Cap fought against the threat of the Axis powers. In the closing months of the conflict, a freak stroke of fate threw Captain America into a state of suspended animation. Decades later, the Sentinel of Liverty was revived to find himself a man out of time in a world he never imagined - a world in dire need of Captain America.

Captain America Comics #1, Avengers volume 1, #4, Tales of Suspense #80-81, Captain America volume 1, #143, 253-255, Marvel Fanfare volume 1, #18, Captain America volume 5, #25 and Captain America volume 1, #601

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics

172 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2011

About the author

Stan Lee (born Stanley Martin Lieber) was an American writer, editor, creator of comic book superheroes, and the former president and chairman of Marvel Comics.

With several artist co-creators, most notably Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko, he co-created Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, Thor as a superhero, the X-Men, Iron Man, the Hulk, Daredevil, the Silver Surfer, Dr. Strange, Ant-Man and the Wasp, Scarlet Witch, The Inhumans, and many other characters, introducing complex, naturalistic characters and a thoroughly shared universe into superhero comic books. He subsequently led the expansion of Marvel Comics from a small division of a publishing house to a large multimedia corporation.

Reviews

[Chris Aylott · Rating 3 out of 5]

A well-chosen collection of classic Captain America stories, from his first appearance to the modern day. Don't expect literature here -- even the great Jack Kirby's art was pretty crude and blocky in his early days, and the dialogue is a flurry of exclamations.

But Cap's character is remarkably consistent, all the way up to his modern cinematic incarnation. Like Superman, he wears his heart on his sleeve and gives you reasons to believe in truth, justice and the ideal of the American way. Steve Rogers embodies the power of doing the right thing, no matter what would-be ruler or authority stands in the way.

[Steve Clark · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an interesting insight into the history of this character. There's a full run-down in the back of his adventures, but the comics evolve in style and content.

[Matthew Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Childhood

[Murray · Rating 4 out of 5]

A solid look at Cap, from the very first issue to a 2009 entry.

The writing is broadly excellent, although expectedly dated in places (an issue from 1971 is particularly amusing in its use of era-appropriate slang). Captain America can be overbearingly patriotic at times, but it's a trait which is thankfully kept to a minimum here.

The issues picked have huge gaps between them, but were very intelligently chosen. I found lots of links between them, large and small, which made it a rewarding read from start to finish.

The final couple of issues lose some of their impact by virtue of being part of much bigger Marvel Universe events. If you're not overly familiar with these events, you will be missing out on bits and pieces of a narrative that's not so much a 'thread' as several balls of wool thrown into a blender. I'm not at all a fan of these convoluted meta-events, but if you enjoy them then you'll get more out of it than I did.

Overall, I'm a big fan of these Platinum collections, as they give an excellent, holistic look at a character over a broad period. This affirmed my enjoyment of the Captain America character, and I'll definitely seek out more to fill in the gaps!

[Druss · Rating 4 out of 5]

A real mix of old and new. I prefer the new stories. Will be reading more.