Vintage Review: Captain America 287

To be completely honest, I am not a big Captain America fan. In fact I have barely even read more than a few complete arcs of Cap in his solo titles. That is why I get a kick out of my random long box diving sessions. It could be a stand alone issue or it could be mid-arc. Hell with the size of my collection there is a good chance that I could find a total dud that makes the reading process slow and painful. This time however, I had a good feeling. The month and year was Nov 1983, my exact birth month and year. Good start. The cover screams ACTION! No words necessary, just explosions, lasers and fisticuffs. And lastly this particular yarn was spun by J.M. DeMatteis, a personal favorite of mine. Let's see how I fared...

Right off the bat I found the 1st page intro to be a little odd. The title of the comic book is Captain America, so what was the very 1st thing I was informed of when i turned the cover over?

I know I lauded Marvel's recaps in an earlier blog entry(see: What Would Marvel Do?) but telling me that this month's issue of Captain America is featuring Captain America is a little overkill!

Now for what I thought of the actual story...
The cover promised action and the interior delivered. The issue starts off with Cap and a cohort(who has just been shot) embroiled in a deadly battle with Deathlok along with some Brand Corporation thugs. Oh, by the way Cap'ns ally is Luther Manning, the clone of the man that Deathlok was before he was turned into the half cyborg killing machine he is today. Yes you read that right! Deathlok has be deprogrammed by The Brand Corporation into a killing machine, so a clone of his human self was made and Cap has been charged with helping Luther Manning 2.0 to restore Deathlok's humanity. During this excursion A LOT of people die and A LOT of things blow up!

Meanwhile on Long Island...
Steve Rogers is late for a dinner date to meet his girlfriend, Nancy Rosenthal's parents! Seriously, this was an actual page from the book.

And in Manhattan...
Nomad makes a 2 page appearance to heroically lay his life on the line and...break up a mugging? Yup, He distracted the fiends by throwing his chest plates at them and proceeds to kick them both in the face, all to save a lady's purse. Did I mention she was pretty?

And back to our heroes...
The issue wraps up as our adventurers move forward and are mysteriously zapped into Deahtlok's time and space by a long haired, bearded man in a loin cloth named Godwulf or Jesus, I couldn't really tell the difference.

Can Rogers help save Deathlok and restore his humanity? Why does Deathlok keep calling him "Mister Flag"? Will Steve Rogers ever meet Nancy Rosenthal's family for dinner? If Nomad is such a "SUPER" hero, why the hell is he chasing down muggers in an alley? and finally, how do I get my hands on the "Return of the Jedi Death Star Battle" Atari 2600 game they advertise for on the back of the comic?

I don't have any of those answers, but I did enjoy this issue with no background what so ever on the story and now feel compelled to dig deeper to find out what became of our Star Spangled Avenger and his Cyborg sidekick! I recommend you do the same.