U.S.Agent: The Good Fight

U.S. Agent (1993) #1-4

by Mark Gruenwald, Jim Novak, Jerry Ordway

Collects Captain America (1968) #333, U.S.Agent (1993) #1-4, U.S.Agent (2001) #1-3, And Material From Avengers West Coast #100 And Captain America (1968) #358-362 And #380-382.

An all-American hero with an attitude! First he was the heroic Super-Patriot, and then he was Steve Rogers' replacement as Captain America — but John Walker's true destiny lay in the red, white and black garb of the U.S.Agent, and these are some of his edgiest adventures! First, see how Walker comes to wield Cap's shield! Then, U.S.Agent hunts the murderous Scourge of the Underworld and seeks answers about mixed-up memories that throw his past into doubt! When U.S.Agent is handpicked by the Commission to take charge of the country's superhuman incarceration, it's his chance to finally get out of Captain America's shadow — unless a deadly conspiracy, a woman from his past and his own bullheadedness mess it all up!

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels

246 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 16, 2020

About the author

Gruenwald 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

Reviews

[A.J. · Rating 3 out of 5]

A compliation of some of USAgent’s best solo material over the years, including both of his minis before Priest got ahold of the character.

All are fine enough, but I would just recommend reading that aforementioned Christopher Priest run instead if you want a good USAgent story.

These are sadly just a bunch of overly long average ones, while Priest’s run is a brisk 5 issues that have some solid political bite and character moments. None of these are egregiously bad, but none of them are all that great either.

Collected in this trade are the following issues with individual reviews as well:

Captain America #333 by Mark Gruenwald, Tom Morgan, Dave Hunt, and Ken Feduniewicz ☆ ☆ ☆ 1/2

“The Night of the Scourge” backups in Captain America #358-362 by Mark Gruenwald, Mark Bright, Don Hudson, Bob Sharen, and Jack Morelli ☆ ☆ 1/2

“Thanks for the Memories” backups in Captain America #380-382 by Mark Gruenwald, Mark Bagley, Dan Panosian, Clem Robbins, and Nel Yomtov ☆ ☆ 1/2

U.S.Agent #1-4 (1993) by Mark Gruenwald, M.C. Wyman, Keith Williams, and Bob Sharen ☆ ☆ ☆ 1/2

“Boys Will Be Boys” story from Avengers West Coast #100 by Jim Novak, Tom Tenney, Avon, Ariane, and John Costanza ☆ ☆ 1/2

U.S.Agent #1-3 (2001) by Jerry Ordway, Karl Kesel, and VLM ☆ ☆ ☆ 1/2

[clumsyplankton · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was okay not amazing but also not terrible.

[Eskana · Rating 2 out of 5]

N.B. This is not "U.S. Agent #1-4," as the description reads, but rather a collection of various stories starting U.S. Agent (John Walker) to give you an idea of his history and character.

I got interested in John Walker, the second Captain America, from what I'd heard about the "Falcon and the Winter Soldier" show. I wanted to see who John Walker was in the comics, and if he came off as sympathetically. These stories are a mix of old, silver-age stories and a few newer (maybe early 2000s?) stories.

I'd have to say, these stories at least lean hard into the brash, hoo-rah side of U.S. Agent. John Walker comes across as a tough guy who wants to do right and wants to do so serving his country and making his parents proud, but isn't against crossing the line to do so when he feels the need. So, he's like a Captain America with less self-control. In this story, we learn that John (and others) got enhanced abilities from someone named the Power Broker. Walker and his buddies became superheroes, with Walker being known as the Super Patriot. Just as he was getting started, he was asked to become the new Captain America when Steve Rogers was "asked" to step down. Walker seems to do just fine doing that, but his old buddies are less than pleased with being brushed aside, and they reveal his identity. As a result, Walker's family is killed, and then Walker hunts down his former pals to "teach them a lesson" and ends up killing them. So, he's not exactly Steve Rogers after all. So, he steps down, is sort of brainwashed, and becomes "Jack Daniels" (lol) and U.S. Agent.

The rest of the stories are various solo adventures of Walker's, often as part of the West Coast Avengers (a team he doesn't seem to particularly like.) None of these stories are that great, but I guess it's a place to start with Walker. Based on just this book, he doesn't seem like anything special, but you can feel the writers trying to figure out what to do with him, and they keep missing. I'm sure there are better stories out there, but this is just the groundwork.


This collection includes:
- Captain America #333
- “The Night of the Scourge” backups in Captain America #358-362
- “Thanks for the Memories” backups in Captain America #380-382
- U.S.Agent #1-4 (1993)
- “Boys Will Be Boys” story from Avengers West Coast #100
- U.S.Agent #1-3 (2001)

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 Stars
Somewhat dated, but a decent read. Gives some insight to a character that I was not overly familiar with. The Agents convoluted background shows that Marvel had a hard time figuring out what to do with Captain America’s replacement after Cap returned. I do feel like key parts of the history were left out of this book in favor of a later complete storyline.
The art was pretty good back then.

[Jared Goodrich]

Typical 90s comic

It was good for a story about a Vigilante who was once captain America. But it's a typical 90s fashion haha.