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Essential Captain America
Essential Captain America, Vol. 5
Captain America and the Falcon, two unlikely partners, united in battle against threats domestic, extraterrestrial, and extradimensional; evil psychiatrists, druids, and scientists; monsters, super-villains, and armies; and all the while balancing their love lives with Sharon Carter and Leila Davis! Featuring the threats of the Druid, the Alchemoid, Deadly Nightshade and her robot assassin, Stilt-Man, Dr. Faustus, the Secret Empire, the Night-People, and Agron! Plus, the first appearance of Karla Sofen, the future Moonstone and Ms. Marvel! And the mysterious Mister Buda leads Cap on a tour of the world's wars! Collecting CAPTAIN AMERICA (1968) #187-205, CAPTAIN AMERICA ANNUAL #3 and MARVEL TREASURY SPECIAL: CAPTAIN AMERICA'S BICENTENNIAL BATTLES.
480 pages, Paperback
First published January 10, 1977
About the author
Jack Kirby
2,829 books485 followersJack Kirby (born Jacob Kurtzberg) was one of the most influential, recognizable, and prolific artists in American comic books, and the co-creator of such enduring characters and popular culture icons as the Fantastic Four, the X-Men, the Hulk, Captain America, and hundreds of others stretching back to the earliest days of the medium. He was also a comic book writer and editor. His most common nickname is "The King."
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
August 15, 2026
So this volume in particular helps to illustrate the difference between doing individual comics and doing a run on a particular title. As the book opens, Frank Robbins is doing fine on the artwork. His style can be a little awkward and goofy, but it has character, and he can draw some truly marvelous fight scenes. And Deadly Nightshade has to be one of the most scantily-clad villains of all time. Definitely not for the timid cosplayer …
We first have John Warner on the writing. I'm not familiar with his work, but he does a decent job. For two issues. Then he's replaced by Tony Isabella–a personal favorite, and very underrated–for two issues, co-writing with Robbins. Then there's a single issue with Isabella credited for plotting, and Bill Mantlo for writing. Then Marv Wolfman steps in as writer for a single issue. He was also the series’ editor, having started two issues prior to the one he wrote. All of this seems like a title floundering for direction. The individual comics are decent enough, but there's no overall flow. Everyone's just marking time, waiting for a new creative team that will stick with the book long enough to give it some direction.
And that's the point where Jack Kirby returned to Marvel, taking over as writer/artist on Captain America, among other duties. His first issue hits like an explosion, and the book is on a completely different level from that point on. The imagination and energy almost literally crackle off the page. In addition to a good, long chunk of his 70's Captain America run, we also get the third CA Annual and the complete Captain America's Bicentennial Battles, released in Marvel's tabloid-sized Treasury format.
The difference between the first fifth or so of the book and the rest is just incredible. It's like night and day. As I said, there's nothing obviously wrong with the work Robbins and the rest were doing. Kirby was simply in a class by himself.
I'm particularly fascinated by the Bicentennial Battles story. Sure, it's basically just an excuse to send Cap into various points of the USA's history. I'm pretty sure the scrappy newsboy he meets in Depression-era New York was intended as a Kirby self-insertion. The line, “When I get to be a big-shot artist, I'm gonna plaster Lefty's ugly mug all over the comic pages!” seems telling. I would argue that Bicentennial Battles is an early attempt at what eventually became the graphic novel. It's a long-form story intended to be published as a single volume. It's not the first such, true. But it is a very early example of the form.
Not everyone appreciates 70's--and 80's–Kirby. Jack's writing could seem unpolished, especially compared to the best of his more collaborative work in the 60's. But there's an undeniable energy and imagination at work, and I think it more than makes up for any rough edges. Sometimes, the source of some ideas is obvious. “Oh, right. Pyramid power was a 70's thing.“ “I see someone's seen Rollerball.” But Jack always put his own spin on everything.
This is one of those books that truly lives up to the Essential designation. As tempting as it may seem to skip the beginning of the book and jump straight to the Kirby material, please don't. Everyone who originally worked on these comics put their heart and soul into it, and their efforts are just as worthy of attention. Besides, if you want that explosion when Jack's run kicks off, you need to light the fuse …
We first have John Warner on the writing. I'm not familiar with his work, but he does a decent job. For two issues. Then he's replaced by Tony Isabella–a personal favorite, and very underrated–for two issues, co-writing with Robbins. Then there's a single issue with Isabella credited for plotting, and Bill Mantlo for writing. Then Marv Wolfman steps in as writer for a single issue. He was also the series’ editor, having started two issues prior to the one he wrote. All of this seems like a title floundering for direction. The individual comics are decent enough, but there's no overall flow. Everyone's just marking time, waiting for a new creative team that will stick with the book long enough to give it some direction.
And that's the point where Jack Kirby returned to Marvel, taking over as writer/artist on Captain America, among other duties. His first issue hits like an explosion, and the book is on a completely different level from that point on. The imagination and energy almost literally crackle off the page. In addition to a good, long chunk of his 70's Captain America run, we also get the third CA Annual and the complete Captain America's Bicentennial Battles, released in Marvel's tabloid-sized Treasury format.
The difference between the first fifth or so of the book and the rest is just incredible. It's like night and day. As I said, there's nothing obviously wrong with the work Robbins and the rest were doing. Kirby was simply in a class by himself.
I'm particularly fascinated by the Bicentennial Battles story. Sure, it's basically just an excuse to send Cap into various points of the USA's history. I'm pretty sure the scrappy newsboy he meets in Depression-era New York was intended as a Kirby self-insertion. The line, “When I get to be a big-shot artist, I'm gonna plaster Lefty's ugly mug all over the comic pages!” seems telling. I would argue that Bicentennial Battles is an early attempt at what eventually became the graphic novel. It's a long-form story intended to be published as a single volume. It's not the first such, true. But it is a very early example of the form.
Not everyone appreciates 70's--and 80's–Kirby. Jack's writing could seem unpolished, especially compared to the best of his more collaborative work in the 60's. But there's an undeniable energy and imagination at work, and I think it more than makes up for any rough edges. Sometimes, the source of some ideas is obvious. “Oh, right. Pyramid power was a 70's thing.“ “I see someone's seen Rollerball.” But Jack always put his own spin on everything.
This is one of those books that truly lives up to the Essential designation. As tempting as it may seem to skip the beginning of the book and jump straight to the Kirby material, please don't. Everyone who originally worked on these comics put their heart and soul into it, and their efforts are just as worthy of attention. Besides, if you want that explosion when Jack's run kicks off, you need to light the fuse …
January 14, 2018
These are mostly Jack Kirby's issues, and unsurprisingly, they are....different. I appreciate Kirby's endless imagination and his art has an undeniable energy, but he has never been my cup of tea. These issues are almost surreal and they seem to take place in their own universe, divorced from not only the rest of the Marvel Universe, but previous issues in the Cap title as well.
December 15, 2019
That 1976 Jack Kirby run though. Dang.
April 11, 2021
This is a period that n the title that completely turns me off. Between the artwork of Robbins and Kirby, I definitely lost some interest. Here’s hoping the next volume is better.
July 19, 2024
A combination of half thought-through potboilers and bombast with a few glimmers of okay stories. Tiresome stuff.
September 11, 2014
This is pretty disappointing and a bit all over the place, especially disappointing given that we're getting into the mid/late 70s now, this is when comic books are supposed to be ironing out their old fashioned storytelling problems.
It seems like they don't know how to use the Falcon as a supporting character. Falcon's dialogue is a bit goofy, as he constantly complains about how white people are taking him down, while Captain America mostly just goes along with Falcon's rambling, not really agreeing or complaining about it.
And the Falcon is the subject of most of the stories, which on the one hand usually makes him a victim that Captain America has to bail out of some kind of harm, and also prevents Captain America the attention to develop as a character or deal with Cap's own personal life.
This divided billing basically ends up creating anguish for two characters, but the divided focus prevents the character from feeling attached to either.
The stories by the likes of John Warner, Bill Mantlo, and Marv Wolfman aren't that great, with forgettable villains and easy plot resolutions/mediocre action, but at least they maintain a solid action line, connect from issue to issue, maintain suspense.
When Jack Kirby, co-creator of Captain America way back when, inexplicably comes back to write/draw Cap's issues, the outcome is more ambiguous. On the one hand, Kirby has a strong sense of applied humor, writing good dialogue and stuff, the stories kind of blend together. Captain America and the Falcon jump into battle with a baddy, they punch each other a lot, and slightly different outcomes carry the victory. It's like an old war comic, or a retread of Fantastic Four from the 60s (obviously also co-created by Kirby).
Also, while having cliff hanger endings and prolonged fighting can be exciting to a reader, stretching out stories to 5 issues or more is a little frustrating if little changes per issue and emotional attachment is minimal.
I'm sort of being mean to an ok collection, but I expected more. Especially because Essential Captain America 4 and to a lesser extent earlier volumes were much better.
2/5
It seems like they don't know how to use the Falcon as a supporting character. Falcon's dialogue is a bit goofy, as he constantly complains about how white people are taking him down, while Captain America mostly just goes along with Falcon's rambling, not really agreeing or complaining about it.
And the Falcon is the subject of most of the stories, which on the one hand usually makes him a victim that Captain America has to bail out of some kind of harm, and also prevents Captain America the attention to develop as a character or deal with Cap's own personal life.
This divided billing basically ends up creating anguish for two characters, but the divided focus prevents the character from feeling attached to either.
The stories by the likes of John Warner, Bill Mantlo, and Marv Wolfman aren't that great, with forgettable villains and easy plot resolutions/mediocre action, but at least they maintain a solid action line, connect from issue to issue, maintain suspense.
When Jack Kirby, co-creator of Captain America way back when, inexplicably comes back to write/draw Cap's issues, the outcome is more ambiguous. On the one hand, Kirby has a strong sense of applied humor, writing good dialogue and stuff, the stories kind of blend together. Captain America and the Falcon jump into battle with a baddy, they punch each other a lot, and slightly different outcomes carry the victory. It's like an old war comic, or a retread of Fantastic Four from the 60s (obviously also co-created by Kirby).
Also, while having cliff hanger endings and prolonged fighting can be exciting to a reader, stretching out stories to 5 issues or more is a little frustrating if little changes per issue and emotional attachment is minimal.
I'm sort of being mean to an ok collection, but I expected more. Especially because Essential Captain America 4 and to a lesser extent earlier volumes were much better.
2/5
June 28, 2014
Re-reading this again in one volume. It makes more sense. I even get to appreciate Frank Robbins artwork after being suckered earlier with Gil Kane's lovely covers. Contains Capt America's Bicentennial Battles Treasury, so it was worth the price to get hold of this volume. The cracks are starting to show in The King's work and times were a-changing, but even Kirby at half speed is still way above the usual stuff.
May 28, 2018
Pure nostalgia
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews