Captain America Epic Collection, Vol. 10: Monsters and Men

Captain America Epic Collection

by J.M. DeMatteis

The son of Zemo! Baron Helmut Zemo has taken up his father's villainous mantle - and targeted Captain America in a complex plan of revenge! As Cap battles the existential threat of Everyman, Steve Rogers' childhood friend Arnie Roth resurfaces...but he's in deadly danger! Vermin strikes and Zemo's trap is sprung, but can Cap save Arnie from Zemo's clutches - or will tragedy strike? Meanwhile, when Hydra crashes a reunion of the Howling Commandos, the aging heroes go to war once again! Cap's girlfriend Bernie Rosenthal makes a startling realization! The Falcon struggles to reconcile his past and future! And the 1950s Bucky must rescue a brainwashed Cap from Viper's fangs! Plus, four Captain Americas are united across time - but can even their combined power keep death at bay? COLLECTING: VOL. 10: CAPTAIN AMERICA (1968) 267-285, CAPTAIN AMERICA ANNUAL (1971) 6, DEFENDERS (1972) 106

Genres: Comics, Marvel, Superheroes, Comic Book, Adventure, Science Fiction, Collections

504 pages, Paperback

First published October 14, 2020

About the author

Also Credited As:
DeMatteis, John Marc
Ellis, Michael
Lombego, Wally

Bio:
J.M. DeMatteis was a professional musician/singer and rock music journalist before entering comics in the late 70's.

Credits include Spider-Man, Moonshadow, Brooklyn Dreams, Justice League, Abadazad, Hero Squared, the Life and Times of Savior 28.

Created I, Vampire , Creature Commandos, Moonshadow, Hero Squared (co-creator), Abadazad, Stardust Kid, Savior 28 and more.

Reviews

[Chad · Rating 3 out of 5]

DeMatteis has Cap deal with lots of social issues of the early 80's (These comics came out in 1982-83). It's amazing how much of this comic is still relevant now. Cap states "It took time for me to become aware of the huge gap between the American Dream and the American reality." That may be even more relevant today. In this run Cap deals with fascism, anti-Semitism, poverty, the wealth gap, and racial biases. DeMatteis even manages to slip in a gay relationship between Cap's childhood friend Artnie and his "roommate" of 10 years Michael. Although he isn't allowed to refer to it as such, it's clear by how Arnie acts they are in a same-sex relationship. Arnie refers to Michael as "My Michael" and "He was all I had--all I wanted. He was... everything to me". Even though it had to be veiled at the time, kudos to DeMatteis for representing all of America in his Cap run.

Marvel stalwart Mike Zeck pencils most of the artwork within. He draws a fantastic and classic Captain America.

[clumsyplankton · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good collection

[Zack! Empire · Rating 3 out of 5]

An ok collection of stories, but there is really nothing that stands out. It was cool to see the All American Motorcycle team.

[Marcelo Soares · Rating 4 out of 5]

Capitão Oitentão pelo J. M. DeMatteis e Mike Zeck.
Primeiro ponto, a arte é impressionante, o Mike Zeck tem um leveza e um ritmo que compensa qualquer densidade no texto do DeMatteis, achei sensacional. Talvez não seja um desenho tão detalhado, mas é de um dinamismo sensacional.
Segundo ponto, acontece um monte de coisa, temos o Capitão enfrentando um Zé Mané - Everyman -, temos os Defensores e o Demolidor num plano de controle mental contra uma galera vestida de legionários romanos, temos o Time América - um bando de motoqueiros que viram um motoqueiro super poderoso.
Vou fazer uma pequena pausa, sempre achei que o nome de personagem mais ridículo de todos os tempos fosse o J Jonah Jameson Júnior, mas um dos Time América se chama "R. U. Reedy".
Sério, acho que não tem como ficar mais ridículo que isso.
Continuando; temos o novo Barão Zemo provando que nazistas não morrem vão para a América Latina, a história se passa num castelo alemão construído no México - hein? -; temos o Capitão América enfrentando o Sr X num ringue de luta livre; um capitão impostor quase papando a Bernie; um novo velho Nômade; o Comando Selvagem tocando o terror na Hidra do Barão Von Strucker; temos também o Espantalho e o Porco Espinho.
Terceiro ponto, em todas as histórias o DeMatties faz o Capitão enfrentar as diferenças entre o sonho americano e a realidade da resseção americana do início dos anos 80; abuso doméstico, preconceitos raciais, anti-semitismo, desigualdade econômica e por aí vai. Inclusive, vale ressaltar que o DeMatties esconde um relacionamento homossexual num quadrinhos de 82/83, está tudo ali, só não há uma explicitação maior porque a Marvel não deixava.
Quarto ponto, algo que eu acho que faz falta hoje em dia, o Capitão América tem uma identidade secreta, Steve Rogers, o namorado idiotão da Bernie. Lembra um pouco um tal de Peter Parker, Steve é um artista freelance correndo atrás do prejuízo e toda vez que ele vai dar uns pegas mais fortes na namorada algum vilão idiota resolve dominar o mundo. Não está sendo fácil.
Quinto ponto, isso eu não gostei, tem uma bobagem sobre o Sam Wilson - Falcão - e o Snap Wilson - a personalidade cafetão do Sam - que eu não entendi nada, nem vi a menor necessidade disso.
No geral, bem divertido, bem escrito, bem desenhado, tem alguns vícios da época, mas nada que comprometa.

[Ryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This volume was almost completely stories by DeMatteis who I mostly know as a spiderman writer but it was fun to see their take on Cap.

This volume had a ton of weird villains like Scarecrow,Everyman, & porcupine. There still was still Zemo and viper here to offset the weird choices but the whole volume to me was enjoyable but felt like going through the motions for cap. I was glad by the end to see Nomads introduction because I had been confused on how he entered the story.

While not as exciting as some of the Gruenwald run that comes after this I think other than the stern stories I’ve read before it this is still more interesting than silver age Cap and worth the read.

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mostly DeMatteis with some fill-in issues here and there. By the end of this trade, DeMatteis has some pretty good momentum and feels like he is building toward good things. The beginning was rougher, but especially the fill-ins. (There is one that involves Cap reforming professional wrestling...) Zemo Jr has returned in his more iconic garb, Zola sorta makes a reappearance..., and maybe most important the new Nomad has arrived. His final 15 issues or so will be important, but he has a shot at best Cap comics up to this point though that is a low bar.

[Marc Steiner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice early 80s Cap

This collection contains some great art by Mike Zeck and Sal Buscema. The writing was at fiesta little heavy handed and improved towards the end. SeAttle's Cap is more prone to emotional outbursts as shown here. One can also see Zeck's artistic growth in this collection, too. The characters and themes here will be back in spades for the next collection published in a few months!

[Robert Noll · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars - the Star Spangled Super Hero in his early 1980's glory. Twenty five issues (including an Annual and an issue of Defenders) of Captain America fighting various baddies. Along the way he finally falls in love with Bernadette Rosenthal. He also reconnects with old friends and says goodbye to the Patriot for the last time.

The storytelling is better than average, and there is a fun element of nostalgia about four-color comics.

[mel · Rating 3 out of 5]

read issues #272, #275 - #278, and #281 - #284. loved the falcon miniseries at the end of issues #275 - #278. knocked off one star due to the mention of that coloniser fake state/country.