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Captain America Omnibus
Captain America Omnibus, Vol. 2
While the world believes that Steve Rogers is dead, Captain America lives on! In this Omnibus collection of Marvel classics by Stan Lee, Gene Colan and John Romita Sr., Cap embarks upon some of his all-time greatest adventures! A body-swapping encounter with the Red Skull and his Cosmic Cube leads to the first appearance of the Falcon; M.O.D.O.K. returns with a vengeance - and a secret weapon; Cap sets out on a road trip to explore his and his country's soul; Bucky Barnes returns; Nick Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D. enlist Cap in their battle against Hydra; Spider-Man and the Hulk face off against the star-spangled Avenger; and so much more! Every amazing story, every classic cover, every letters page is painstakingly restored and presented in this must-have oversized extravaganza! COLLECTING: CAPTAIN AMERICA (1968) 114-148
807 pages, Hardcover
First published April 1, 1972
4 people are currently reading
74 people want to read
About the author
Stan Lee
7,563 books2,343 followersStan 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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
May 29, 2016
Unfortunately, about the first half of this volume features a Cap who is no longer with the Avengers (I can't remember why, it isn't explained) and who is on the outs with Sharon. This leaves a constantly moping and lonely Cap which really doesn't make for fun reading. He still fights bad guys but the constant "woe is me" wears thin very quickly. The good thing is, during this time you get to see the origin of the Falcon and how the two of them became friends. Colan's art is just fine and interestingly, his first couple of issues featured pages of only three panels, resulting in art that is very large, popping off the page. The low panel count per page made the story telling a little difficult and he eventually increases to an average of six.
Once Cap and Falcon work together for awhile, formally cementing their partnership, there's a multipart story highlighting the plight of black people during the time period. It does a fairly decent job of showing their justified anger and both sides of the argument on how they should fight for their equality. It's around this point where John Romita takes over, who I am a huge fan of. Cap and Sharon deal with their issues and we are finally back to the Captain America that I like reading.
The remainder of this volume is much more enjoyable, featuring a long story team-up with SHIELD against Hydra. This is more of the classic Marvel stories that really helped cement Marvel's leadership in the industry. It's not quite up to modern storytelling but it is a step up from the somewhat simplistic plots of Stan's original work. One strange dichotomy is how the story helps bring forth women's fight for equality to the point of having a special all female squad within SHIELD, fully capable of handling themselves and the mission. Yet at the same time, the story still seems to berate and put them down as if they aren't good enough. It's like a visual representation of the men in society understanding their need for equality but at the same time can't shake off the old prejudices. Very weird. This last epic story was drawn primarily by Sal Buscema, who's work I think is fine but it has never quite been my cup of tea.
Once Cap and Falcon work together for awhile, formally cementing their partnership, there's a multipart story highlighting the plight of black people during the time period. It does a fairly decent job of showing their justified anger and both sides of the argument on how they should fight for their equality. It's around this point where John Romita takes over, who I am a huge fan of. Cap and Sharon deal with their issues and we are finally back to the Captain America that I like reading.
The remainder of this volume is much more enjoyable, featuring a long story team-up with SHIELD against Hydra. This is more of the classic Marvel stories that really helped cement Marvel's leadership in the industry. It's not quite up to modern storytelling but it is a step up from the somewhat simplistic plots of Stan's original work. One strange dichotomy is how the story helps bring forth women's fight for equality to the point of having a special all female squad within SHIELD, fully capable of handling themselves and the mission. Yet at the same time, the story still seems to berate and put them down as if they aren't good enough. It's like a visual representation of the men in society understanding their need for equality but at the same time can't shake off the old prejudices. Very weird. This last epic story was drawn primarily by Sal Buscema, who's work I think is fine but it has never quite been my cup of tea.
January 28, 2022
It's a funny coincidence that so much of my reading lately has been cloistered in topics related to the tumultuous late 1960s and early 1970s. I'm just finishing up a book about Charlie Manson and my first completed book for 2022 was a solid popular history of the 1968 presidential election. And even though it is pulpy comics featuring a square-jawed hero draped in the American flag, this volume of the CAPTAIN AMERICA series fits right into that reading list, collecting the monthlies that span the same years. Stan Lee made a name for himself rooting his characters in the "world outside your window" and he was more than happy to do that here. For example, Steve Rogers ponders his role as an establishment figure in a moment being defined by the counterculture; visits Vietnam, even if the book is careful about sidestepping the controversial aspects of the war; struggles with his "second wave" feminist girlfriend Sharon Carter wanting a career as a field agent for SHIELD; and, maybe most famously, meets his partner Sam Wilson (AKA Falcon), a Harlem social worker who struggles with Cap's obtuseness on race on the one hand and his people accusing him of being an Uncle Tom on the other. That partnership really redefines the comic, which is re-christened CAPTAIN AMERICA AND FALCON, and spends the most time on race relations, clearly drawing on the rise of the Black Power movement and the widespread racial uprisings all throughout American cities across the country.
This run of the book has progressive intentions but because of the creators’ backgrounds Black perspectives tend to be very cartoonish (to say nothing of their dialogue!) and the book’s perspective slips into a kind of “both sides” centrism that ends up selling that perspective short. One cringe story is when a hooded figure goads militant Black activists into a blood-thirsty riot, only to reveal it was white supremacist Red Skull under the hood. It was meant to exonerate the rioters, but ended up painting them as gullible dupes blinded by irrational hate. This series in particular is quite the time capsule for American history. I'm at the cusp of the Watergate years, which culminates in a storyline where Nixon kills himself rather than surrender and leads to a disenchanted Rogers giving up the shield! Will report back on that one down the line.
This run of the book has progressive intentions but because of the creators’ backgrounds Black perspectives tend to be very cartoonish (to say nothing of their dialogue!) and the book’s perspective slips into a kind of “both sides” centrism that ends up selling that perspective short. One cringe story is when a hooded figure goads militant Black activists into a blood-thirsty riot, only to reveal it was white supremacist Red Skull under the hood. It was meant to exonerate the rioters, but ended up painting them as gullible dupes blinded by irrational hate. This series in particular is quite the time capsule for American history. I'm at the cusp of the Watergate years, which culminates in a storyline where Nixon kills himself rather than surrender and leads to a disenchanted Rogers giving up the shield! Will report back on that one down the line.
September 7, 2025
3.5/5
Cap's mythos builds as Sam Wilson joins the cast. The biggest impediment to this era of Cap is, unfortunately, Stan Lee. Lee's sexism and centrist politics really take the air out of some of these stories, especially considering this is the same guy who wrote Cap's "there's nothing sacred about the status quo" speech.
Cap's mythos builds as Sam Wilson joins the cast. The biggest impediment to this era of Cap is, unfortunately, Stan Lee. Lee's sexism and centrist politics really take the air out of some of these stories, especially considering this is the same guy who wrote Cap's "there's nothing sacred about the status quo" speech.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews