What do you think?
Rate this book
Marvel Masterworks: Golden Age Captain America #3
Marvel Masterworks: Golden Age Captain America, Vol. 3
Mighty Marvel is bringing you another quartet of 64-page, action-adventure greats featuring the one and only Captain America! From the personal files of Captain America comes comic-book adventure as only found in the bombastic Golden Age!
Cap and Bucky battle the Black Talon, race through a spy ambush, sort out a mountain man feud, shrink down to fight pygmies, and venture to the wind-swept moors on the trail of the Hound of Cardiff Manor in the stories that put Captain America in the minds and into the back pockets of millions of Americans.
Supported by the war-time tales of foreign correspondent "Headline" Hunter, the heroic Hurricane and Father Time, and Stan Lee's cartoon serial, the Imp, these stories are pure Golden Age excitement from cover to cover!
Collecting CAPTAIN AMERICA COMICS #9-12
Cap and Bucky battle the Black Talon, race through a spy ambush, sort out a mountain man feud, shrink down to fight pygmies, and venture to the wind-swept moors on the trail of the Hound of Cardiff Manor in the stories that put Captain America in the minds and into the back pockets of millions of Americans.
Supported by the war-time tales of foreign correspondent "Headline" Hunter, the heroic Hurricane and Father Time, and Stan Lee's cartoon serial, the Imp, these stories are pure Golden Age excitement from cover to cover!
Collecting CAPTAIN AMERICA COMICS #9-12
280 pages, Hardcover
Published January 28, 2009
6 people are currently reading
66 people want to read
About the author
Joe Simon
359 books25 followersJoseph Henry "Joe" Simon (born Hymie Simon) was an American comic book writer, artist, editor, and publisher. Simon created or co-created many important characters in the 1930s-1940s Golden Age of Comic Books and served as the first editor of Timely Comics, the company that would evolve into Marvel Comics.
With his partner, artist Jack Kirby, he co-created Captain America, one of comics' most enduring superheroes, and the team worked extensively on such features at DC Comics as the 1940s Sandman and Sandy the Golden Boy, and co-created the Newsboy Legion, the Boy Commandos, and Manhunter. Simon & Kirby creations for other comics publishers include Boys' Ranch, Fighting American and the Fly. In the late 1940s, the duo created the field of romance comics, and were among the earliest pioneers of horror comics. Simon, who went on to work in advertising and commercial art, also founded the satirical magazine Sick in 1960, remaining with it for a decade. He briefly returned to DC Comics in the 1970s.
Simon was inducted into the Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame in 1999.
With his partner, artist Jack Kirby, he co-created Captain America, one of comics' most enduring superheroes, and the team worked extensively on such features at DC Comics as the 1940s Sandman and Sandy the Golden Boy, and co-created the Newsboy Legion, the Boy Commandos, and Manhunter. Simon & Kirby creations for other comics publishers include Boys' Ranch, Fighting American and the Fly. In the late 1940s, the duo created the field of romance comics, and were among the earliest pioneers of horror comics. Simon, who went on to work in advertising and commercial art, also founded the satirical magazine Sick in 1960, remaining with it for a decade. He briefly returned to DC Comics in the 1970s.
Simon was inducted into the Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame in 1999.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
February 25, 2023
Twelve issues in, and it's already getting a bit repetitive, and not as well drawn with. Cap and Bucky in drag again (although this time Sgt. Duffy made them). We have a Phantom of the Opera knockoff and a Hound of the Baskervilles knockoff, and another one of those stories where someone starts killing people over a will. We also get Hurricane's last outing (although see Makkari at chronologyproject.com) and a new character called the Imp who looks like something out of a Fleischer brothers cartoon and possibly a member of the Green Lantern Corps. Stan Lee writes this tale entirely in rhymed couplets, one of which reminds me a lot of the X-Men pilot theme song (
Magneto's hordes are on their way to pillage, burn and plunder/But there's one team that will not yield, the team that strikes like thunder!). Apart from Speedy Scriggles, a grown man sidekick like Doiby Dickles for Green Lantern Alan Scott, no one seems to wear socks with their business suits. Speedy's striped socks seem to be a joke.
Black Talon, whose second appearance I already reviewed, is a racist character. He is a white artist with the hand of a black murderer. Michael Uslan's joke about Dr. Crime in the introduction is outright strange. He says that the villain wears a sweatshirt that says "Dr. Crime" on it. He wears a yellow hooded cloak with a gruesome face mask. The transition from Simon & Kirby to Al Avison, Syd Shores, and Al Gabriele doesn't look that smooth, but they had good mentoring and are able to carry some of dynamism as an influence al least.
It's weird how Hurricane, Father Time, and murder victim name Richard Thomas wear so little clothing--Father Time and Hurricane as very revealing superhero costumes. Thomas, an opera singer, is shirtless with a cape as well, even though he appears two panels later in renaissance garb. Faust was one of the first operas I saw in full staging, but I don't remember him ever appearing shirtless. It's almost enough to make you believe [auhor:Grant Morrison]'s fictious preface about gay-themed comics during the '40s in in Flex Mentallo . And the clincher, President Alvaro puts his hands on Steve Rogers's shoulders and says "I want to be gay." It's probably too '90s for people to make jokes about this in YouTube videos, though.
Using Faust shows us a different Marvel "Mephisto" though.
Magneto's hordes are on their way to pillage, burn and plunder/But there's one team that will not yield, the team that strikes like thunder!). Apart from Speedy Scriggles, a grown man sidekick like Doiby Dickles for Green Lantern Alan Scott, no one seems to wear socks with their business suits. Speedy's striped socks seem to be a joke.
Black Talon, whose second appearance I already reviewed, is a racist character. He is a white artist with the hand of a black murderer. Michael Uslan's joke about Dr. Crime in the introduction is outright strange. He says that the villain wears a sweatshirt that says "Dr. Crime" on it. He wears a yellow hooded cloak with a gruesome face mask. The transition from Simon & Kirby to Al Avison, Syd Shores, and Al Gabriele doesn't look that smooth, but they had good mentoring and are able to carry some of dynamism as an influence al least.
It's weird how Hurricane, Father Time, and murder victim name Richard Thomas wear so little clothing--Father Time and Hurricane as very revealing superhero costumes. Thomas, an opera singer, is shirtless with a cape as well, even though he appears two panels later in renaissance garb. Faust was one of the first operas I saw in full staging, but I don't remember him ever appearing shirtless. It's almost enough to make you believe [auhor:Grant Morrison]'s fictious preface about gay-themed comics during the '40s in in Flex Mentallo . And the clincher, President Alvaro puts his hands on Steve Rogers's shoulders and says "I want to be gay." It's probably too '90s for people to make jokes about this in YouTube videos, though.
Using Faust shows us a different Marvel "Mephisto" though.
March 22, 2013
This book collects Issues 9-12 of the Golden Age Captain America. It also includes a contrast of styles. Issues 9 and 10 were the last for creators Jack Kirby and Joe Simon and Issues 11 and 12 were the first two under the hand of Young Stan Lee as at least editor and perhaps writer.
The Simon-Kirby books were marked by a series of short tales that were a mix between horror and espionage. Under Stan Lee,the stories became more like the superhero stories that were being put out by DC and its predecessor companies, and also a bit longer. One of my highlights is Captain America #12 which rather than featuring three small stories, they featured two full length adventures covering a total of 40 pages. Keeping in mind this was a monthly magazine, that wasn't bad for a dime. All the Captain America stories are typically great.
The Marvel Masterworks collects reprints the whole book with its back up features which doesn't add anything other than for diehard completists. They're pretty tame. We're given four stories featuring newsman Headline Hunter, and two superheroes named Father Time and the Hurricane who believe that being a good superhero means ripping your shirt off for no reason. The Hurricane was another attempt to answer DC's Flash. The reason for Father Time remains foggy. The big weakness of these stories have been the limited space. They only had 5-7 pages to tell them and even the heroes had to rush. In Captain American #11, a woman is shocked that her cousin tried to kill her. The Hurricane (moving fast as always) interrupts with, "Let's forget it about Florence, what are you doing tonight?") There were certainly artists and writers that could make these short stories work. They just weren't working for Marvel predecessor Timely.
The one exception and one really delightful extra appears in Captain America #12 in the Stan Lee story with The Imp, a very cute kids superhero story told in Dr. Suessesque style rhyme.
Overall, the book's upside includes works by true comic greats Jack Kirby and Joe Simon at their prime and some fun stuff by young Stan Lee. The weak extra between detract a little, but not enough to make this book anything other than a Must-read for Captain American and comic fans.
The Simon-Kirby books were marked by a series of short tales that were a mix between horror and espionage. Under Stan Lee,the stories became more like the superhero stories that were being put out by DC and its predecessor companies, and also a bit longer. One of my highlights is Captain America #12 which rather than featuring three small stories, they featured two full length adventures covering a total of 40 pages. Keeping in mind this was a monthly magazine, that wasn't bad for a dime. All the Captain America stories are typically great.
The Marvel Masterworks collects reprints the whole book with its back up features which doesn't add anything other than for diehard completists. They're pretty tame. We're given four stories featuring newsman Headline Hunter, and two superheroes named Father Time and the Hurricane who believe that being a good superhero means ripping your shirt off for no reason. The Hurricane was another attempt to answer DC's Flash. The reason for Father Time remains foggy. The big weakness of these stories have been the limited space. They only had 5-7 pages to tell them and even the heroes had to rush. In Captain American #11, a woman is shocked that her cousin tried to kill her. The Hurricane (moving fast as always) interrupts with, "Let's forget it about Florence, what are you doing tonight?") There were certainly artists and writers that could make these short stories work. They just weren't working for Marvel predecessor Timely.
The one exception and one really delightful extra appears in Captain America #12 in the Stan Lee story with The Imp, a very cute kids superhero story told in Dr. Suessesque style rhyme.
Overall, the book's upside includes works by true comic greats Jack Kirby and Joe Simon at their prime and some fun stuff by young Stan Lee. The weak extra between detract a little, but not enough to make this book anything other than a Must-read for Captain American and comic fans.
April 13, 2019
The issues in this collection were from 1942. America is now officially in the war, yet here Captain America is battling fewer Nazis. Cap is more cop as he solves murders rather than espionage. Even his pagefillers (Hurricane, Father Time) are dealing with home-grown killers. At least Headline Hunter is still fighting fascism.
April 20, 2025
Old time adventure
Somewhat dated, but still fun adventure stories. These stories fill in the gaps of Captain America and Marvel’s early years.
Somewhat dated, but still fun adventure stories. These stories fill in the gaps of Captain America and Marvel’s early years.
July 20, 2024
This book is a heaping helping of Golden Age fun! Joe Simon & Jack Kirby's Captain America frickin' rocks. I can't get enough of these dated/slightly corny/possibly offensive snapshots of this bygone era. Like all Golden Age comic books, there are back-up features. Headline Hunter sucks! He is a news reporter who somehow always gets involved in some adventure while chasing down a story. Hurricane, Master of Speed is always fun. His alter ego is named Harry Kane. Grooooooooaaaaaannn. It was 1941. He mysteriously gets a fat, oddly dressed sidekick named Speedy Scriggles in Issue 10, with no explanation given. Father Time is always hilarious, as his costume consists of a scythe/sickle, a cape with a hood, a pair of shorts, gloves, boots, and some underwear, and a clock on his chest. Not on a shirt, but ON HIS ACTUAL CHEST! None of his adventures or powers have anything to do with his name, and the fact that he uses his sickle as a pole vault is hilarious. Cartoon characters were all of the rage during this time, in animated shorts at the movie theatre and in comic books. Never one to turn down a buck, Stan Lee created the Imp, an odd character who didn't last very long. All in all, a lot of fun, and a total bargain considering what you would pay even for beat up copies of the originals...if you could even find them!
February 5, 2016
Great collection of the Golden age Captain America stories. Very recommended to comic enthusiasts.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews