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Captain America (1968) #372-378
Captain America: Streets of Poison
A savage drug ring has New York caught in its iron grasp. Captain America, the Sentinel Liberty, must face the greatest villains he has ever known to stop the violence. Or will Cap's exposure to the deadly drug, ice, claim him as a victim of the Streets of Poison?
128 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 1994
69 people want to read
About the author
Mark Gruenwald
919 books44 followersGruenwald got his start in comics fandom, publishing his own fanzine, Omniverse, which explored the concept of continuity. Before being hired by Marvel, he wrote text articles for DC Comics official fanzine, The Amazing World of DC Comics. Articles by Gruenwald include "The Martian Chronicles" (a history of the Martian Manhunter) in issue #13 and several articles on the history of the Justice League in issue #14.
In 1978 he was hired by Marvel Comics, where he remained for the rest of his career. Hired initially as an assistant editor in January 1978, Gruenwald was promoted to full editorship by Marvel editor-in-chief Jim Shooter in 1982, putting Gruenwald in charge of The Avengers, Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, Spider Woman, and What If. During this period, he shared an office with writer/editor Denny O'Neil, whom Gruenwald considered a mentor.
In 1982, Gruenwald, Steven Grant, and Bill Mantlo co-wrote Marvel Super Hero Contest of Champions, the first limited seriespublished by Marvel Comics. As a writer, Gruenwald is best known for creating the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe and his ten-year stint as the writer of Captain America during which he contributed several notable characters such as Crossbones, Diamondback and U.S. Agent. He made a deliberate effort to create villains who would be specific to Captain America, as opposed to generic foes who could as easily have been introduced in another comic.
His 60-issue run on Quasar realized Gruenwald's ambition to write his own kind of superhero. However, he considered his magnum opus to be the mid-1980s 12-issue miniseries Squadron Supreme, which told the story of an alternate universe where a group of well-intended superheroes decide that they would be best suited to run the planet
In 1978 he was hired by Marvel Comics, where he remained for the rest of his career. Hired initially as an assistant editor in January 1978, Gruenwald was promoted to full editorship by Marvel editor-in-chief Jim Shooter in 1982, putting Gruenwald in charge of The Avengers, Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, Spider Woman, and What If. During this period, he shared an office with writer/editor Denny O'Neil, whom Gruenwald considered a mentor.
In 1982, Gruenwald, Steven Grant, and Bill Mantlo co-wrote Marvel Super Hero Contest of Champions, the first limited seriespublished by Marvel Comics. As a writer, Gruenwald is best known for creating the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe and his ten-year stint as the writer of Captain America during which he contributed several notable characters such as Crossbones, Diamondback and U.S. Agent. He made a deliberate effort to create villains who would be specific to Captain America, as opposed to generic foes who could as easily have been introduced in another comic.
His 60-issue run on Quasar realized Gruenwald's ambition to write his own kind of superhero. However, he considered his magnum opus to be the mid-1980s 12-issue miniseries Squadron Supreme, which told the story of an alternate universe where a group of well-intended superheroes decide that they would be best suited to run the planet
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
July 14, 2022
"What's wrong with you, man?! Captain America don't act like this!" -- Jerry 'Jerkweed' Weiderman, thug being precariously dangled high above the Big Apple skyline
"Don't you dare tell me how act, scumbag!" -- Captain America, acting just a bit out of sorts
Ah, the drug scene and the graphic novel world of the early 90's. Streets of Poison is a tight multi-issue story arc from approximately 30 years ago from the Captain America title during writer Mark Gruenwald's ten-year tenure. The plot concerns a new narcotic called 'Ice' hitting the streets of NYC and Cap's attempts to curtail said activity. Of course, nothing is that easy for him and things soon go awry once our Star-Spangled Avenger accidentally gets a big snootful of the drug during a laboratory explosion. Cap then goes a little off the rails - see the above quote, or an equally indelible moment where he dementedly imitates a chicken (sound effects and all) when surrounded in a dance club - which leads to solid supporting appearances by a very concerned Black Widow and the vigilante Daredevil. Then the whole thing concludes with a mano a mano combat scene featuring rival crime bosses Kingpin and Red Skull . . . attired only in their underwear. Yes, you read that part correctly.
"Don't you dare tell me how act, scumbag!" -- Captain America, acting just a bit out of sorts
Ah, the drug scene and the graphic novel world of the early 90's. Streets of Poison is a tight multi-issue story arc from approximately 30 years ago from the Captain America title during writer Mark Gruenwald's ten-year tenure. The plot concerns a new narcotic called 'Ice' hitting the streets of NYC and Cap's attempts to curtail said activity. Of course, nothing is that easy for him and things soon go awry once our Star-Spangled Avenger accidentally gets a big snootful of the drug during a laboratory explosion. Cap then goes a little off the rails - see the above quote, or an equally indelible moment where he dementedly imitates a chicken (sound effects and all) when surrounded in a dance club - which leads to solid supporting appearances by a very concerned Black Widow and the vigilante Daredevil. Then the whole thing concludes with a mano a mano combat scene featuring rival crime bosses Kingpin and Red Skull . . . attired only in their underwear. Yes, you read that part correctly.
July 21, 2010
This is one of those stories I read in floppy comics when I was a kid. On a whim decided to get it from ebay and try it out again. Its a fun story about Marvel's biggest boy scout on drugs. The most awesome thing about this book is the cool fights: you get Cap Vs Bullseye, Black Widow Vs Diamondback, Daredevil Vs Crossbones, Bullseye Vs Crossbones, even The Red Skull Vs The Kingpin. The art by Ron Lim is amazing, he does Cap's action packed fight scenes like no one else could. Is this a great and important story for Cap? Not really, but it sure is a fun one and it was an attempt to bring him down to a more street level, which I will always get behind. This is the Captain America of my youth and what I will always think of when I think of Captain America.
January 30, 2015
I love these comic books! A very good storyline! This was the first set of comics I ever collected, and they are just as relevant, action packed and exciting today as they ever were!
May 6, 2024
I admit that nostalgia probably plays a part in my rating for this one, but it's pretty good on its own.
The real strength of the storyline is the cool fights we get to see. We get a good Bullseye/Cap battle, as well as a good Cap/Daredevil fight. Come to think of it, this thing is loaded with cool fights. Red Skull/Kingpin, Crossbones/Bullseye, Cap/Crossbones, even Diamondback/Black Widow.
The late, great Mark Gruenwald did a good job here of throwing in plenty of action but still maintaining a good plot. This was published in 1990, and only a few years later, the cool plots were harder to find and the mindless battles were endless (and at times boring.)
Cap gets drugged and is acting like a lunatic through some of this one, and Gruenwald did a good job of putting characters like the Red Skull and Bullseye into a street level crime type story. (If only The Punisher had shown up, this would have really been perfect.)
The Ron Lim artwork isn't quite as good as he became just a few years later, but it was still exceptional.
Overall I think is is somewhat of a hidden gem, and I highly recommend it.
The real strength of the storyline is the cool fights we get to see. We get a good Bullseye/Cap battle, as well as a good Cap/Daredevil fight. Come to think of it, this thing is loaded with cool fights. Red Skull/Kingpin, Crossbones/Bullseye, Cap/Crossbones, even Diamondback/Black Widow.
The late, great Mark Gruenwald did a good job here of throwing in plenty of action but still maintaining a good plot. This was published in 1990, and only a few years later, the cool plots were harder to find and the mindless battles were endless (and at times boring.)
Cap gets drugged and is acting like a lunatic through some of this one, and Gruenwald did a good job of putting characters like the Red Skull and Bullseye into a street level crime type story. (If only The Punisher had shown up, this would have really been perfect.)
The Ron Lim artwork isn't quite as good as he became just a few years later, but it was still exceptional.
Overall I think is is somewhat of a hidden gem, and I highly recommend it.
October 31, 2013
This is a story of Captain America trying to discuss some actual serious real-world problems. Specifically, drugs and street crime. Granted, the first 50 or so issues of Green Arrow which would have come out just a few years earlier covered these topics, frankly, in a more compelling and realistic way. This has sort of an over-the-top feel to it. That said, I still had a good time reading this and the story and art are consistent with the rest of the Gruenwald era.
November 18, 2025
A surprisingly adroit examination of the drug paranoia of the late 80s, perhaps influenced a bit much by propaganda of inner city malaise in that time. Somehow Kingpin and Crossbones get involved, but the showdown with the Red Skull was the highlight. I miss how these tales had close and tight interplay with other titles like Daredevil at the same time. There was no complexity or confusion back then. Cap seemed off character in this run so it didn't quite capture my imagination.
July 19, 2023
Action-packed, street-level fun. Well-written and beautifully drawn. An amazing book!
It’s one of my dad’s favorite comics and he hunted it down carefully for me and gave it to me for Christmas. I read it the same day and loved it.
It’s one of my dad’s favorite comics and he hunted it down carefully for me and gave it to me for Christmas. I read it the same day and loved it.
April 10, 2014
Durante la sua gestione della testata di Cap, il buon Mark si è divertito anche a far scontrare Cap con Devil, la Vedova Nera con Diamante, Cap con Kingpin e Bullseye, Devil con Teschio Rosso e Crossbones, e anche Kingpin contro Teschio Rosso. Divertenti episodi, ben disegnati da Ron Lim, ma nulla di veramente memorabile.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews