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Captain America Omnibus
Captain America Omnibus, Vol. 3
The early '70s were interesting times for America - and adventurous ones for Captain America! Featuring more than 40 issues of Cap action, this oversized omnibus collects writer Steve Englehart and artist Sal Buscema's iconic run on the Star-Spangled Avenger! Cap battles enemies - and allies - including Doctor Faustus, S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Captain America and Bucky of the 1950s. And that's just the beginning! The Falcon co-stars throughout, and only the combined efforts of Cap, the Falcon, S.H.I.E.L.D. and the X-Men can hope to topple the Secret Empire! Prepare to relive a shocking saga that defined Captain America for a generation. But what happens when Cap quits - and becomes the Nomad?! Each issue has been beautifully restored, including the original letters pages! Collecting CAPTAIN AMERICA (1968) #149-192. Rated T
960 pages, Hardcover
Published January 1, 2021
3 people are currently reading
36 people want to read
About the author
Steve Englehart
1,395 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 - 4 of 4 reviews
January 16, 2025
Some good ole 1970s Cap. Most of this was just ok with a couple of bright spots. There were however, some cool story ideas that just weren’t handled that well. Like Falcon feeling like he wasn’t cutting it and was under Cap’s shadow after Captain America became even stronger than he was. Again, cool idea that ended up feeling a bit cringy at times with the dates writing. Or the folks from Harlem looking at Sam Wilson as an “Uncle Tom” because he was running around with Steve all the time. But again, this interesting story beat also came across corny at times. The best part was when this group popped up publicly trying to tarnish Cap’s name and then framing him for a murder sending my him on the run trying to find out who this group was and clear his name. I thought Falcon getting his suit from what Wakanda was something they made up for the MCU movies and shows but it was cool to find out Wakanda/Black Panther really did give him his wings. Falcon was just running around with Redwing until he got his wings from over there. Pretty dope. The cross over with the X-Men was a nice touch also. Cap loses his faith in America and quits being Cap and later becomes the Nomad. During this time, others try to take up the mantle of Captain America but fail miserably. Sal Buscema did most of the art in here which was great to look at. About the last 10 issues or so we get different artist that I wasn’t really feeling as much and some different writers also towards the end. Stories got a little loose at this point and started getting real random.
January 7, 2026
It's my first book in 2026 and I'm back on my Marvel track with this big heavy omnibus. My impression of Steve Englehart has been fluctuating but I think this is one of his better runs. It starts with a bang and you can instantly feel how his four-part debut story (issues 153-156) changed the game (and obviously the sales) of the series that was facing an impending cancellation. Of course his long run has its ups and downs but "The Secret Empire" is understandably thought to be its crown jewel. As for the art I generally liked it. Both Sal Buscema and Frank Robbins. I even liked the inking of Vince Colletta here and I had a hard time believing that he was the same guy who massacred Jack Kirby's art in Thor's "Tales of Asgard". Sadly, the quality of writing kept nosediving after Englehart's departure and I would say that issue #187 has really hit a rock bottom. I'd give this collection a rating of 7/10 because it was an interesting run in an interesting time. And sometimes time keeps interestingly repetitive.
February 9, 2025
I waited for these issues that were not Cap's most talked about or read. It was a time when America was losing faith in our government, and Captain America seemed like an outdated ideal. These issues reflected the concerns of Americans. There were good stories, not so good ones, but these tried desperately to keep the ideals of freedom and justice. I had loved those stories of Cap's struggle with his views and loved the Nomad as his way of trying to do the right thing and not being accepted as easily as his former identity of CA.
The idea of the last few issues bothers me on many levels, but the Red Skull always proves to be evil incarnate, but somehow was unfair what happens to the Falcon . . . Almost racist in a way. Most of the criminals, in many of these issues, are black men, with the exception of the major named villains. Those stories didn't always put into perspective the real-world issues that faced men of color back then, even though I do think the ideas of these writers and artist's hearts were in the right place.
Still, CA never waves in his color-blindness in justice and fights for the freedoms he truly believes in.
The idea of the last few issues bothers me on many levels, but the Red Skull always proves to be evil incarnate, but somehow was unfair what happens to the Falcon . . . Almost racist in a way. Most of the criminals, in many of these issues, are black men, with the exception of the major named villains. Those stories didn't always put into perspective the real-world issues that faced men of color back then, even though I do think the ideas of these writers and artist's hearts were in the right place.
Still, CA never waves in his color-blindness in justice and fights for the freedoms he truly believes in.
September 21, 2025
4.5/5
Aside from giving Cap a new purpose outside of war (which was much less popular after WW2 ended), Steve Englehart's time with Cap not only saved the book but also redefined the character in a way that continues to inform him to this day.
The most famous component of Englehart's three-act run, the original "Secret Empire", is a timeless classic & definitive Cap story that's a must-read for any fan of the character.
Aside from giving Cap a new purpose outside of war (which was much less popular after WW2 ended), Steve Englehart's time with Cap not only saved the book but also redefined the character in a way that continues to inform him to this day.
The most famous component of Englehart's three-act run, the original "Secret Empire", is a timeless classic & definitive Cap story that's a must-read for any fan of the character.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews