Captain America Epic Collection, Vol. 1: Captain America Lives Again

Captain America Epic Collection

by Stan Lee, Roy Thomas (Writer)

Transformed by the Super Soldier Serum from a 97-pound weakling into Captain America, Steve Rogers led the charge to liberate the world from the Axis powers. But before World War II's end an accident left him frozen in suspended animati on and his sidekick Bucky dead. The world turned on for decades. When the Avengers finally resuscitated him, Steve Rogers was greeted by a world vastly changed. He was a man out of time tormented by the death of his partner, but no less committed to the cause of fighting evil in all its forms.

COLLECTING: TALES OF SUSPENSE (1959) 58-96, AVENGERS (1963) 4, STRANGE TALES (1951) 114 (CAPTAIN AMERICA EPIC COLLECTION VOL. 1)

Genres: Comics, Marvel, Graphic Novels, Collections, Science Fiction

488 pages, Paperback

First published December 9, 2014

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

[Sean Gibson · Rating 4 out of 5]

The WWII-era Bucky stories and the Red Skull stuff is worth the price of admission. But it's really perplexing how Cap can fall in love with a SHIELD agent, meet her multiple times, GO ON A DATE WITH HER, and...NEVER ASK HER NAME.

[Hillary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Red Skull is really bad at staying dead, and Cap feels the need to make punny insults at every villain he comes across, but despite the ridiculousness, this is great. The reasons for Bucky being Cap's sidekick are... pathetically weak at best, however. More realistic scenario:
Bucky: *looking especially twelve* "I just walked in on you changing into your Cap costume! I know your secret! The ONLY OPTION is for me to be your sidekick!!!"
Cap: "...You're like fifteen at best, and literally the camp mascot. How about I buy you ice cream every day for the rest of forever, and you won't tell anyone, huh?"
Bucky: "... seems reasonable. Will you teach me gymnastics anyway?"
Cap: "As long as you swear not to go after bad guys, sure."
Bucky: "UGH, FINE."

[Christopher · Rating 5 out of 5]

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Captain America Epic Collection Vol. 1: Captain America Lives Again is a great introduction to the the character of Captain America! Cap had at this point already been featured in comics in Timely Comics from March 1941 and Marvel having absorbed Timely were looking for away to bring the character back in! Collected in Captain America Epic Collection Vol. 1: Captain America Lives Again is the stories where we see Marvel not only going about this but we also see how they were getting a feel for the audience and the characters involved in the story from Bucky, Agent 13, Cap etc! Captain America Epic Collection Vol. 1: Captain America Lives Again at the same time as well introduces us to the idea that Captain America had been kept on ice as well which is a theme that becomes part of his new and permanent origin story! This is something that we see laid down in this collection and at the same time expanded upon right from the beginning as we see the storylines deals with Cap as he feel he is out of time. Though of course at this point it is 15 years on from his previous adventures so many of his former associates are still around but in different positions than he last saw them making for character dynamics that are hard to guess at. This puts Cap into a position where Cap has to find his station again in the hierarchy of the new world and what his role is going to be in S.H.I.E.L.D. His influence on Nick Fury in this one is certainly strong, as Fury has known of his adventures, but at the same time is very apparent that Cap will decide whether to back S.H.I.E.L.D. and/or the Avengers but this makes for great character development of Fury, Agent 13, Cap etc.
Captain America Epic Collection Vol. 1: Captain America Lives Again throughout introduces us to many of the core concepts that we see in later appearances by the Cap! This really shows us that the character himself was already developed. At the same time though this is a younger cap who is still settling into his skin! Captain America Epic Collection Vol. 1: Captain America Lives Again shows how he is adjusting to being Steve Rogers and Captain America being one and the same! The book at the same time goes back via flashback to retell the previous tales of cap which gives a great collection on old and new stories that really build up the characters like Cap, Agent 13, Fury, Bucky etc! We also get to see the origins and genesis of characters like the Red Skull, M.O.R.D.O.K., A.I.M. who are clearly up to their necks in trying to get around S.H.I.E.L.D. and Fury! The characters though right from the start are all three-dimensional and well developed showing that Marvel had already realised that this is an important part of storytelling and it really shows through in the interlinked storylines that crossover with other characters as well! At the same time these stories and the time they were first published really, November 1963, shows attitudes of the time though Marvel like all Science Fiction and Fantasy being published were enlightened and really shows as we see Captain America's stunned expression when Agent 13 makes it clear she is not giving up her job, so he does. This of course provides a nest of stories but at the same time we get to see old and new plots going off in completely different and unpredictable ways that will keeps you on your toes guessing at to what is going to happen! You really are kept on your toes as the breadth of the stories is limitless really shows that they can go anywhere. The action in Captain America Epic Collection Vol. 1: Captain America Lives Again never lets up from the beginning creating a pace that is relentless but at the same time we get character development in epic levels that marries up to the humour and team dynamics with all of the daring do, right and wrong and action that is taking place everywhere! This makes Captain America Epic Collection Vol. 1: Captain America Lives Again a tale that keeps the characters and the reader on their toes but at the same time tackles issues of the time that are still relevant and gives a refreshing take on how enlightened the characters really are. The deliberate contrasting of societies attitude and that of Cap, Fury, Agent 13 etc is brilliantly done and really shows the craziness of some of some of what society lets by. This creates plots that are fun filled but still really illustrate what the characters are made of and how they go about tackling what missions that they are sent out on.

The art is vivid and brilliantly pops off every page from the start. The art uses that bright palette that would have come out brilliant on the spotty printers and even without having to use that is vivid and brilliant! The book page quality is sharp and clear throughout from the start with every page clearly having been taken from masters that were available and the colouring comes across brilliantly. The is vivid nature to all the events and the art and the script marry up perfectly really conveying the events in a dramatic fashion that keep you on the edge of your seat to see what happens! The use of differing pains as well really give the boo an epic cinematic quality and conveys all adventure etc that is going on and happening from the outset. The framing of the panels works perfectly really giving everything a cinematic feel and combined with the script builds the suspense perfectly! Thomas never hesitates to put his characters through the wringer and then back around again making for an epic pace that never lets up from the beginning. The are elements flying around all over the place that give the events a frenetic feel in the book. The sense of humour that we see throughout Captain America Epic Collection Vol. 1: Captain America Lives Again also comes across brilliantly with us really getting a sense that these are people trying to their best as least on the Fury's Agent 13, Cap's side and combine with the art and the scripts make for a dramatic presentation that could act as a pre-made storyboard for TV/Film! You can imagine the pages being used as a storyboard as the detail is excellent. The art is top notch but really shows and reflects the character and world they are making for a book with a really epic cinematic feel to it! It also helps to convey all the humour and adventure of the story with a real feel good attitude to it!

Captain America Epic Collection Vol. 1: Captain America Lives Again works brilliantly from the start really (re)introducing us the character of cap and at the same time introducing a host of characters and really setting up a lot of the ground work that serves as the base for the exploits that Marvel shows us! Captain America Epic Collection Vol. 1: Captain America Lives Again has a feel to it that is epic and even with these stories coming out from Nov 1963 still comes across as fresh, modern and brilliantly developed! The character development is all there on every page from the outset. Brace yourself you will be up late with this one! Well worth every penny! You will need storage space or digital edition as this is edition really packs it in making it great value for money as well to boot. Captain America Epic Collection Vol. 1: Captain America Lives Again is brilliant, excellent, full of great art, cunning, frenetic pace from the start, old and new plots, world building, daring do, three-dimensional characters and settings, heroics, edge of the seat, full of adventure and action! Get it when you can! Make sure that you have the next one! :D

[Devero · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rileggere le prime storie di Cap della Marvel fa uno strano effetto.
Certo Kirby è sempre all'altezza e anche più, chinato dai vari Ayers, Heck, Stone, Sinnott.
Le storie di Stan Lee partono dal contemporaneo, e fa un poco strano leggere oggi della seconda guerra mondiale terminata da vent'anni, ma era la seconda metà dei '60.
Interessante la scelta, per molte delle storie di questo albo, dell'ambientazione bellica dell'ultimo conflitto. In questo modo Stan Lee recupera Bucky, Zemo, il Teschio Rosso e non entra in un potenziale conflitto con Cap che milita nei Vendicatori.
Nelle ultime storie del volume si torna al presente contro il Teschio Rosso, risvegliato dall'AIM e possessore del cubo cosmico. Un classico, certamente, ma non è invecchiato bene per tutte le storie.
Alcune sono ancora buone, anzi, ottime, altre tendono a annoiare un poco.
Ma va bene così.
3 stelle e mezza.

[Edward Davies · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this reprint of the Captain America stories from Tales of Suspense issues 59 to 96, we start off with some tales of Cap in the sixties then quickly go back to his World War II days. These tales take a lot from the early Cap stories from the 40s (some are direct re-tellings), but manage to improve upon them, even in their limited space, plus there are some great confrontations with the Red Skull. A must have for fans of Captain America.

[Terry Collins · Rating 5 out of 5]

For most people my age and older (I'm 50), there are THE quintessential Captain America tales ... I was first exposed to them via reprints in the early 1970s Marvel Double Feature title (which collected the best of these stories from the 1960s Tales of Suspense), and the story beats that thrilled me as a kid are still there as Cap single-handedly takes on A.I.M., Hydra, the Super-Adaptoid, M.O.D.O.K., the Red Skull ... you know, the concepts that Marvel continues to plumb in the monthly comics and films today.

Are all the stories classics? Well, no ... reading several at a time, there is a repetition that quickly sets in (partially due to the 11 page story length, which threw out the space used for subplots to cram in even more action), and you notice that Cap has an annoying habit of basically jumping into situations completely blind and without a plan - relying on his own skills and bravery to get him through skirmishes. Luckily, I've been dipping into the collection periodically over the last four months or so. Reading the stories as written (monthly adventure tales), reveals a burst of creative energy from the creators that rivals what they were giving us in The Fantastic Four.

The stories by Lee and Kirby are simply stellar comic books. Short bursts of frantic energy, fistfights, explosions, purple dialogue, futuristic hardware and super-science ... amazing height of their powers work. You realize just how good Jack and Stan were together on Captain America when you look at other sections with the great Gil Kane (which includes a goofy sequence involving giant magic bubbles that can apparently encase and lift entire cities ... something so nutty that Stan leaves a note saying "the Skull's technology is classified" instead of an explanation) that fall short, or a one-off with Roy Thomas and Jack Sparling that is easily the worst story in the entire book (and also one that was apparently so bad, it was never reprinted since it was new to me).

Highly recommended, but again, read a few, put it aside for a week or a month, then read some more stories. The tales deserve to be read as published for the full pulse-pounding Marvel magic to properly wash over you.

[Rick Ray · Rating 2 out of 5]

Stan Lee and Jack Kirby revive the classic Timely Comics version of Captain America for the at then time modern Marvel Comics. Testing the waters with a return of Cap in Strange Tales #114, the character makes his iconic return in Avengers #4 and becomes a staple member of the iconic superhero team. While Captain America was some much needed infusion of energy for the team, his own solo series was not all that inspired. At the time, Marvel was limited to only a handful of monthly titles by their distributor, so many characters were relegated to anthology titles. The Silver Age revival of Captain America was one such character, appearing mostly in Tales of Suspense alongside fellow Avenger, Iron Man. The initial stories weren't the best, but it picks up a bit as Lee & Kirby delve into the history of Captain America. Classic villains like Baron Zemo, Adaptoid, MODOK and Batroc the Leaper make their debuts here, but it's the Red Skull stories that mostly stand out. Tales of Suspense #66 - "The Fantastic Origin of the Red Skull" - is the best of these issues, serving as a fun origin story for a villain. Otherwise, there isn't much meat to these stories since Lee & Kirby were limited to 8-10 pages with each issue. The compressed storytelling does make for some nice pacing, but it also minimizes the depth of the stories told here. While Kirby handles most of the art duties, some issues were pencilled by Romita and Kane who do an admirable job filling in. While this wasn't the best work for Kirby, Romita or Kane, they do a stellar job bringing the Sentinel of Liberty to life again.

[Andres Castro · Rating 4 out of 5]

Es una gran experiencia leer a Stan lee y Jack kirby con el regreso del Capitán América este tomo de Epic Collection agrega historias muy interesantes como el encuentro del capitán con los vengadores, sus aventuras con los comandos aulladores y con su compañero bucky y sus encuentros con Red Skull; llama la atención en este tomo la aparición del cubo cósmico y como solo el Capitán América lucha por evitar que red skull logre controlarlo y dominar el mundo, si bien estamos viendo el dibujo de la época de los 60, para los que hemos tenido la oportunidad de ver y leer los comics modernos y de años anteriores, podemos apreciar aun mas los inicios, Jack Kirby tiene algo en sus trazos que encanta, los rasgos faciales, las expresiones, los musculos, la expresión de movimientos de los personajes se disfrutan, siempre me pregunte porque la gente ama los comics mas viejos en ves de los nuevos y al leer las primeras historias y apreciar el estilo kirby se vuelve una buena experiencia. recomiendo leer este tomo cuando ya tengas experiencia en varios comics para que logres apreciar mucho mas este tomo y lo disfrutes como un niño. YO ME IMAGINO A UN NIÑO DE LOS 60 LEYENDO ESTAS HISTORIAS Y DISFRUTANDOLO COMO SI NOSOTROS ESTUVIÉRAMOS VIENDO UNA SERIE EPICA DE TV.

[Tim Deforest · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reprints covering the first three years of Captain America's solo career after being reintroduced to the Marvel Universe in 1964. Most of them were illustrated by Jack Kirby, whose artistic power and imagination was at its apex.

Cap's first few adventures were short tales built around perfectly choreographed fight scenes, with the Avenger fighting thugs, assassins, rioting prisoners, and other nefarious gangs. Cap is always outnumbered, but Kirby's art always makes Cap's victories completely believable.

Eventually, the stories evolved into multi-media epics, beginning with an extended flashback to World War 2 and the reintroduction of the Red Skull into modern continuity.

Other classic stories follow. Cap begins regularly teaming up with Nick Fury and SHIELD. He encounters the Red Skull while the villain is wielding the Cosmic Cube. He battles MODOK for the first time. These fast-paced, action-packed stories are still a joy to read.

[Fraser Sherman · Rating 4 out of 5]

A tricky one to review. We have Jack Kirby's dynamic action artwork (most of the book is Kirby) and stories pumped up with the melodrama Lee/Kirby could deliver — every adventure is a crisis so bad, we teeter on the edge of total annihilation! And we have Sharon Carter, one of the few Marvel women of the Silver Age who was more than just a girlfriend (trained SHIELD agent in this case).
But all that said, the stories are a mixed bag. The first half-dozen (after a couple of stories bringing Cap into the present) are just "Captain America beats up a bunch of goons," then we do some WW II stories, then finally Lee and Kirby settle into the present. That's when things really get good, but Lee consistently writes Cap as if he were a WW II vet in his late thirties when he's just a kid of maybe 24, tops.
Still the good outweighs the bad.

[Joey Amorim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Silver Age superhero comics can oftentimes be the reading equivalent of eating your vegetables for me, but I always enjoy being pleasantly surprised by how much substance a lot of these stories have. The WWII flashback stories particularly surprised me with how consistently entertaining they were. I can’t really say I love Stan Lee’s characterization for Captain America and the pacing is obviously gonna be hit or miss depending on what Stan decided what he wanted his word count to be that day, but the duo of Stan “The Man” and Jack “The King” Kirby still deliver more often than not in what I think is their next best run after Fantastic Four. The only really big blemish in this collection is how Agent 13 is handled, as her presence adds nothing to the series besides reducing Steve to a pathetic lovesick crybaby.

[Jimbo · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am a huge fan of Captain America and this collection of his return (in his own book, not the Avengers) doesn't disappoint.

Note: Stan Lee wasn't big on consistency, nor making real sense. Half the time he just came up with something lame to make the story work. I noticed this since reading the first volumes of FF, Avengers, Daredevil, and now Captain America.

The Red Skull dominates this collection, along with A.I.M (and a group that A.I.M. worked for(?) THEM. I tried searching for THEM on line, but came up with very little. Their outfits were basically A.I.M beehive suits, so I guess they were the precursor to them (but I am not sure).

This is definitely worth reading for all comic book fans out there.

[Robbie He · Rating 4 out of 5]

I gave this book 4 stars out of 5 because I am a huge fan of Marvel movies and this book doesn't disappoint. This book includes many more stories about Captain America and is connected to the movies. The book provided lots of information about how Captain America was created and the crimes that he fight. I really liked how the art was drawn in this book, it helps the readers understand the story more. The only reason I didn't give this book a 5 out of 5 is that I found reading the order of dialogue in a comic book more difficult than from a novel. I would recommend this book to anyone readers that are looking for something new, and they don't have to be a fan of Marvel of graphic novels.

[Ricardo Noronha · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well, this certainly took a while.

If I had to pick a favourite type of stories, origin stories would be on my top 3 list. So, no need to explain why I wanted to read this one. As I was expecting, the origin story arc is fairly entertaining to read but there's not much to this book besides that: all the rest is some random story of Cap and Bucky trying to save the day (or just Cap alone), without adding much to the character's progress itself. Only the Red Skull arcs are worth reading because they provide some continuity to the storyline and introduce new characters as well.

Can't say I'm not a bit disappointed with this.

[Albert Ballard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Memories

These were much simpler, but the stories remind me of my youth. It is interesting to see how many story lines and characters were first introduced and then portrayed in the MCU. It is clear that the movies respect the original characters as they tied all of the movies together.

[Doug Duncan · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is some good stuff in here, but largely I think some of the earlier stuff specifically struggled with how short the individual issues were. I liked a lot of the villains in this one, red skull and modok being some of my favorites, and I think the modern day stories improved quite a bit as they went on.

[Barry Bridges · Rating 3 out of 5]

1960's style storytelling, lots of wham, bam and very little intrigue until later in the run!

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cap has never been a favorite, but Jack Kirby draws no action sequences like a Captain America action sequence.

[Mary Shyne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kirby really is as masterful as everyone says he is.

[Dean · Rating 2 out of 5]

Appreciate the history, weak silver age writing.

[Kyli · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Zack! Empire · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's hard to know where to begin with this book. First I think I want to mention the structure of the book. The beginning of it is kind of all over the place, as Captain America was appearing in a different title each month. It's not like the Fantastic Four or Spider-Man, who basically appeared in their own book and no where else. Instead we start with an issue of Strangle Tales, where Human Torch fights Captain America, but it turns out to be one of Torch's old villains in disguise. It really is a "try out" issue to see how fans would react to bringing back Cap. (it even mentions that exact thing in the story itself) It was cool that they included this story, since I wouldn't have read it otherwise, but I think it would have been better if they would have just started with Avengers issue four.
Which is the next story in the collection. I'm really glad that they put this story in , since this is Cap's introduction to the "Marvel Age" of comics. You might think that there was no way they wouldn't include it, but Marvels' first Wolverine epic does not include his appearance in Uncanny X-Men, Hulk, or even his first two mini-series, so it's not super crazy to think they might leave it out.
After that it's another "Try out" issue, with Cap fighting Iron Man, to test the waters on putting him Tales of Suspense. He gets his own feature after that, but its only 8 to 10 page stories. These stories are fun, but it's mostly all just action, with a minimal amount of plot.
We get a few of those before the format changes again. The stories are still in Tales of Suspense, but now it is stories of Cap And Bucky during WWII. If I had to guess, this was because Kirby liked drawing war stories. After a few of those stories it goes back to being in the present. The stories are still action packed, but there is some more depth to them. There are attempts to give Cap some supporting characters, but they seem to come and go since it's people like Nick Fury and other Avengers members.
The structure of the book isn't really a problem for me, but it was a bit weird that they moved around so much. I think they were just trying to see what worked and what didn't. This book also seems to span the longest of any book collected, five whole years, so I would imagine a good amount of changes happen at Marvel on that time.
The interesting part for me while reading this what how involved it is with the other parts of the growing Marvel Universe. Cap is a member of the Avengers, so they make several appearances', along with there mansion and tech. Also present in Nick Fury and SHIELD, as Cap seems to do side missions for them. It was pretty cool to read that. Plus, we get to see the beginnings of AIM, an organization that continues in Marvel to this day.
Much of the artwork is by Kirby, and it is just awesome. Loads of Kirby tech and tons of Kirby action. While I really think Jack's best stuff for Marvel was his Fantastic Four stuff, I can really see why people love his Captain America. It was also cool to see Cap drawn with a clear fighting style. He really is the best hand to hand fighter in Marvel, and he has been that way from the beginning.
If you're a fan of Marvels silver age like I am, you will love this book!

[Michael Rhode · Rating 4 out of 5]

Childhood favorites revisted.

[Kylie Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I appreciated that, despite the utter lack of scientific possibility behind so many of the weapons, there is definitely a realness to the psychology in these stories. Steve Rogers is a man out of time, trying to fit in to this new world where he doesn't know anybody and all he has is his job. That's a tough gig, but he's figuring it out.