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Marvel Masterworks #231
Marvel Masterworks: Captain America, Vol. 8
CAP AND FALCON SEEK TO EXPOSE THE SECRET EMPIRE!!!
Steve Englehart and Sal Buscema take Captain America and the Falcon on a journey through the madness and machinations of Doctor Faustus. The mind-bending Doctor has captured Agent-13, but little does Cap know, Faustus also has Peggy Carter, Cap’s long-lost love from World War II! Then, Nick Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D. arrive on the scene to conscript Cap in the fight against the Yellow Claw. But the real menace to mankind is subtly concealed. A Secret Empire moves behind the face of American power. Their goal is to frame and discredit Captain America, replacing them with their own “patriotic” icon. Only the combined efforts of Cap, the Falcon, S.H.I.E.L.D. and the X-Men can hope to topple them. It’s a shocking saga that defined Captain America for the ’70s!
Collecting CAPTAIN AMERICA (1968) 160-175
Steve Englehart and Sal Buscema take Captain America and the Falcon on a journey through the madness and machinations of Doctor Faustus. The mind-bending Doctor has captured Agent-13, but little does Cap know, Faustus also has Peggy Carter, Cap’s long-lost love from World War II! Then, Nick Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D. arrive on the scene to conscript Cap in the fight against the Yellow Claw. But the real menace to mankind is subtly concealed. A Secret Empire moves behind the face of American power. Their goal is to frame and discredit Captain America, replacing them with their own “patriotic” icon. Only the combined efforts of Cap, the Falcon, S.H.I.E.L.D. and the X-Men can hope to topple them. It’s a shocking saga that defined Captain America for the ’70s!
Collecting CAPTAIN AMERICA (1968) 160-175
336 pages, Hardcover
First published April 26, 2016
10 people are currently reading
51 people want to read
About the author
Steve Englehart
1,396 books97 followersSee also John Harkness.
Steve Englehart went to Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut. After a stint in the Army, he moved to New York and began to write for Marvel Comics. That led to long runs on Captain America, The Hulk, The Avengers, Dr. Strange, and a dozen other titles. Midway through that period he moved to California (where he remains), and met and married his wife Terry.
He was finally hired away from Marvel by DC Comics, to be their lead writer and revamp their core characters (Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, and Green Lantern). He did, but he also wrote a solo Batman series (immediately dubbed the "definitive" version) that later became Warner Brothers' first Batman film (the good one).
After that he left comics for a time, traveled in Europe for a year, wrote a novel (The Point Man™), and came back to design video games for Atari (E.T., Garfield). But he still liked comics, so he created Coyote™, which within its first year was rated one of America's ten best series. Other projects he owned (Scorpio Rose™, The Djinn™) were mixed with company series (Green Lantern [with Joe Staton], Silver Surfer, Fantastic Four). Meanwhile, he continued his game design for Activision, Electronic Arts, Sega, and Brøderbund.
And once he and Terry had their two sons, Alex and Eric, he naturally told them stories. Rustle's Christmas Adventure was first devised for them. He went on to add a run of mid-grade books to his bibliography, including the DNAgers™ adventure series, and Countdown to Flight, a biography of the Wright brothers selected by NASA as the basis for their school curriculum on the invention of the airplane.
In 1992 Steve was asked to co-create a comics pantheon called the Ultraverse. One of his contributions, The Night Man, became not only a successful comics series, but also a television show. That led to more Hollywood work, including animated series such as Street Fighter, GI Joe, and Team Atlantis for Disney.
Steve Englehart went to Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut. After a stint in the Army, he moved to New York and began to write for Marvel Comics. That led to long runs on Captain America, The Hulk, The Avengers, Dr. Strange, and a dozen other titles. Midway through that period he moved to California (where he remains), and met and married his wife Terry.
He was finally hired away from Marvel by DC Comics, to be their lead writer and revamp their core characters (Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, and Green Lantern). He did, but he also wrote a solo Batman series (immediately dubbed the "definitive" version) that later became Warner Brothers' first Batman film (the good one).
After that he left comics for a time, traveled in Europe for a year, wrote a novel (The Point Man™), and came back to design video games for Atari (E.T., Garfield). But he still liked comics, so he created Coyote™, which within its first year was rated one of America's ten best series. Other projects he owned (Scorpio Rose™, The Djinn™) were mixed with company series (Green Lantern [with Joe Staton], Silver Surfer, Fantastic Four). Meanwhile, he continued his game design for Activision, Electronic Arts, Sega, and Brøderbund.
And once he and Terry had their two sons, Alex and Eric, he naturally told them stories. Rustle's Christmas Adventure was first devised for them. He went on to add a run of mid-grade books to his bibliography, including the DNAgers™ adventure series, and Countdown to Flight, a biography of the Wright brothers selected by NASA as the basis for their school curriculum on the invention of the airplane.
In 1992 Steve was asked to co-create a comics pantheon called the Ultraverse. One of his contributions, The Night Man, became not only a successful comics series, but also a television show. That led to more Hollywood work, including animated series such as Street Fighter, GI Joe, and Team Atlantis for Disney.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
November 24, 2020
A stone cold classic from Steve Englehart and Sal Buscema. In this volume, not only does the Falcon finally get his wings (I mean, who invents a character called the Falcon that can’t fly? What? What’s that about Batman? Oh, right...) but we also get possibly the biggest shock of Captain America’s career when the identity of the Secret Empire’s Number One is revealed to be ! OK, so he wasn’t actually named and we didn’t see his face, but it was pretty obvious that’s who it was meant to be and writer Steve Englehart has confirmed it since. It’s one of those comicbook moments that I wish I’d been around for when it was first published.
Huh... given Marvel’s ‘sliding timescale’ I wonder who Number One was ‘now’? Marvel Time is confusing.
It’s not included in this volume, as it ends on the big reveal, but this shock would cause Steve to give up being Captain America as he lost all faith in what he was supposed to stand for. Quite a big deal and, I admit, watching him walk away from Sam with his head bowed, every bit of his body language screaming of his crushed soul, I had a tear in my eye... and I’m not even American! Nice job, Mr. Buscema; that’s one of the reasons you’re one of my favourite ‘classic’ comicbook artists.
A real contender for ‘if you’re only going to read one Cap book’. All the stars.
(And stripes.)
Huh... given Marvel’s ‘sliding timescale’ I wonder who Number One was ‘now’? Marvel Time is confusing.
It’s not included in this volume, as it ends on the big reveal, but this shock would cause Steve to give up being Captain America as he lost all faith in what he was supposed to stand for. Quite a big deal and, I admit, watching him walk away from Sam with his head bowed, every bit of his body language screaming of his crushed soul, I had a tear in my eye... and I’m not even American! Nice job, Mr. Buscema; that’s one of the reasons you’re one of my favourite ‘classic’ comicbook artists.
A real contender for ‘if you’re only going to read one Cap book’. All the stars.
(And stripes.)
April 4, 2019
I loved the way Marvel seemed to really find themselves in the 1970s. All the great heroes that Stan Lee, Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko created in the mid 1960s found there stride in the 70s. Cap was a special case because he predated all those heroes by decades. Only Stan the Man and the Marvel Bullpen could have revived this hero into an icon for the times. Nice art and reads. Recommended
May 21, 2017
The original SECRET EMPIRE story! Definately worth a read. I've read it before and it's pretty good. Maybe doesn't have the impact today as it had when it originally ran during Watergate and Nixon.
This book kind of freaked me out in that Sharon reveals she's kept a secret from Cap. It's pretty nasty. Sharon honestly comes off worse than the chapter's villain. Steve doesn't quite get it. He's such an idiot. LOL. Read it and you'll see what I'm talking about. It's so fricking creepy. Sharon is a creep and Steve is just as bad. They are horrible people! Oh, love! And terrible 70's Gothic plotting!
This book kind of freaked me out in that Sharon reveals she's kept a secret from Cap. It's pretty nasty. Sharon honestly comes off worse than the chapter's villain. Steve doesn't quite get it. He's such an idiot. LOL. Read it and you'll see what I'm talking about. It's so fricking creepy. Sharon is a creep and Steve is just as bad. They are horrible people! Oh, love! And terrible 70's Gothic plotting!
February 14, 2021
The reemergence of Peggy Carter was about the last thing I needed, but nevertheless, she's back. Also, I feel like we've rang the bell of Cap's disillusionment a few too many times at this point. Though in fairness, Watergate (much like the political landscape of the 2016-2021) does suck.
I did enjoy the inclusion of the X-Men and always appreciate the ways in which Steve Englehart keeps the lights on during these dark days of the team.
We interviewed Steve Englehart for the All the Books Show. Find it here: https://soundcloud.com/allthebooks/in...
I did enjoy the inclusion of the X-Men and always appreciate the ways in which Steve Englehart keeps the lights on during these dark days of the team.
We interviewed Steve Englehart for the All the Books Show. Find it here: https://soundcloud.com/allthebooks/in...
October 5, 2017
As good as I remember
Couldn't beat the kindle price for a group of CA comics that made Cap my favorite Marvel hero. If you want to know why Cap became and still is my hero, it starts right here. GREAT STUFF, MAYNARD.
Couldn't beat the kindle price for a group of CA comics that made Cap my favorite Marvel hero. If you want to know why Cap became and still is my hero, it starts right here. GREAT STUFF, MAYNARD.
April 24, 2018
Finally got to read the entire “Secret Empire” arc at one go. Which is weird as the first comic I bought was CA&F 175, all those years ago.
January 12, 2020
Oh, look at all the casual sexism and racism.....
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews