Steve Rogers: Captain America Appreciation 2019

[capandkirby]

What s best and most unique comics about Steven I should read?

My go-to when people ask for recommendations on getting familiarized with Steve is Mark Waid's Man Out of Time. It's a five issue mini that covers Steve being found on the ice by the Avengers and his initial impressions/introduction to the future. And frankly Mark Waid has one of the best, if not THE best, Steve Rogers voices in the industry.

When you're done with that, and before we delve into the full-length Cap runs, Ed Brubaker's Steve Rogers Super Soldier is also a great mini that delves into Steve's past and how it shaped his future.

Now, the runs:

My personal favorite is again, Mark Waid's Captain America volume 3. As I said prior, Waid's Cap is top-notch.
Roger Stern has my second favorite Steve Rogers voice. His run was really short and went from Captain America #247-255 but there were some amazing issues contained within that short span of time.
Next, Mark Gruenwald. Now Gruenwald was one of those who was super good when he was on a roll, but also had some arcs that were kinda ridiculous. He wrote Cap for ten years, so needless to say he had his ups and downs. I mean he wrote one of the best Cap stories of all-time, re: Captain America No More (Captain America #332 to #350) but he also wrote a story once where Steve got accidentally high off of super soldier strength drugs and clucked like a chicken (it was the 90's, during the DARE movement) so just be prepared for that. Overall though, Gruenwald was amazing.
Everyone loves Ed Brubaker's run. And for good reason. He was an amazing writer. He wrote the infamous Winter Soldier arc. He's not my personal favorite (that would be Waid) but yes, his runs, Captain America vol. 5 and vol. 6 were iconic.

...when you're done with that let me know and I will expand further. We haven't even touched Englehart or Coates or any of the Avengers stuff or any of Steve's cameos in other books yet.

[capandkirby]

Steve in the preview for Outlawed by Eve Ewing...



Love it! Eve Ewing writes a great Steve!

This is giving me so many Civil War vibes.

[justanotherclassic]

I'm not... in love with the idea of de-aging and powering up Sharon. Coates addressed this issue on his Instagram early on...

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I agree with him and whoever advised him. There is a precedence in our society to consider any woman past her twenties as being past their prime, which is utter and complete bs (hell, I have more fun at 40 than I did at 20). I like that Sharon is older but can still hold her own. I like that Sharon's age is not important to Steve, who is now young again, but whom chose to stay with her and work on their relationship post Secret Empire because he loves her, and that fact is the only fact that matters to him. There are a lot of positive messages to be gained from Sharon staying exactly as is.

That's totally a fair reading, and I respect him for doing that. He's honestly written her aging quite well. She has some issues with it, which make sense, but it's tied more to her trauma and Steve's second chance. I enjoy how it's not a problem for other characters. Misty Knight has been a very supportive friend, and like you said, it doesn't phase Steve at all. (And, God, I hope we never have to deal with a lesser writing doing an "ew, she's old now why do you want to be with her" thing.) I think part of me is bugged by it because the aging thing was done, in part, so an older Steve wouldn't be hooking up with a thirty-something, but also because the age-up issue was another bit of trauma Sharon had to suffer on top of a long list of nonsense she has suffered. But, you're right, ultimately she's still kicking ass and taking names, which is important.

[Frontier]

I mean, if we're going to have an old lady kicking butt, wouldn't it make more sense to be Peggy ?

[Chris0013]

I'm not... in love with the idea of de-aging and powering up Sharon. Coates addressed this issue on his Instagram early on...

Attachment 90185

I agree with him and whoever advised him. There is a precedence in our society to consider any woman past her twenties as being past their prime, which is utter and complete bs (hell, I have more fun at 40 than I did at 20). I like that Sharon is older but can still hold her own. I like that Sharon's age is not important to Steve, who is now young again, but whom chose to stay with her and work on their relationship post Secret Empire because he loves her, and that fact is the only fact that matters to him. There are a lot of positive messages to be gained from Sharon staying exactly as is. That said, when Steve turned himself in at the beginning of the run, and gave the shield to Sharon, I was expecting her to act as Captain America in his steed while Bernie fought for his freedom and was surprised that didn't happen. I'm not prepared for another legacy character taking the mantle so soon after getting Steve back, he hasn't even gotten a full run yet (Waid's six issue mini doesn't count and neither does anything by Spencer, because that wasn't Steve-Steve), but I would have liked something like that, in that vein. Aka Steve still being alive and fighting to restore his good name while Sharon carried the shield for a bit. That would have been cool. Especially if Sharon did it as she is now.

point of order...she was not artificially aged...she was in an alternate universe where time ran quicker....so she naturally aged and came back to her original dimension older.

[Hypestyle]

I'm not against showing old ladies can still kick butt with the rest of them, but it just feels weird to me that Sharon acts and sounds like her younger self despite the older body, so it just feels superflous and random to me.

so how "old" is she supposed to be now?

[Digifiend]

50s or 60s I'd imagine.

Steve in the preview for Outlawed by Eve Ewing...



Love it! Eve Ewing writes a great Steve!

This is giving me so many Civil War vibes.

That something people forget... Cap was himself a teenage superhero, he was 18 when he started out. He can relate to what the Champions are going through because of both his superhero and military experience.

[capandkirby]

That's totally a fair reading, and I respect him for doing that. He's honestly written her aging quite well. She has some issues with it, which make sense, but it's tied more to her trauma and Steve's second chance. I enjoy how it's not a problem for other characters. Misty Knight has been a very supportive friend, and like you said, it doesn't phase Steve at all. (And, God, I hope we never have to deal with a lesser writing doing an "ew, she's old now why do you want to be with her" thing.) I think part of me is bugged by it because the aging thing was done, in part, so an older Steve wouldn't be hooking up with a thirty-something, but also because the age-up issue was another bit of trauma Sharon had to suffer on top of a long list of nonsense she has suffered. But, you're right, ultimately she's still kicking ass and taking names, which is important.

Amen to that. I would write an angry letter.

You're right that Sharon has suffered A LOT. Some of it really, super unnecessarily. I like to think that Marvel writers are getting better about this (as discussed Coates is one of the good ones) but I agree it's been an issue *sigh*. Rachel really suffered a lot, too, now that I think of it (aka that time Crossbones abducted her, held her hostage, starved her and did other untoward things to her in Gruenwald's run all to get to Steve, and, of course, Spencer's recent... presentation). This precedence is not a good look, Marvel.

I mean, if we're going to have an old lady kicking butt, wouldn't it make more sense to be Peggy ?

Ugh. God I resent Peggy's presence in this otherwise stellar run. And yes, I realize that my resentment is irrational but just let me have this.

...if Dryad had to be a protective woman from Steve's past, Jackie Falsworth was right there!

[capandkirby]

50s or 60s I'd imagine.

That something people forget... Cap was himself a teenage superhero, he was 18 when he started out. He can relate to what the Champions are going through because of both his superhero and military experience.

Very, very true. Steve was no more than a kid himself when he started out. One of the scenes from the Generations issue that stood out for me was Steve throwing up the first time he saw combat in the war.

[justanotherclassic]

Ugh. God I resent Peggy's presence in this otherwise stellar run. And yes, I realize that my resentment is irrational but just let me have this.

Eh, I'm right along with you on resenting her presence. I really dislike Synergy, and what they did with her in Steve's MCU ending didn't set well with me at all, and she's unfortunately tied up with that. Her inclusion in this arc (at this point) feels more editorially mandated than actual organic storytelling, which chafes me.

[capandkirby]

Avengers #28 preview page...



Link

[tliscord]

Amen to that. I would write an angry letter.

You're right that Sharon has suffered A LOT. Some of it really, super unnecessarily. I like to think that Marvel writers are getting better about this (as discussed Coates is one of the good ones) but I agree it's been an issue *sigh*. Rachel really suffered a lot, too, now that I think of it (aka that time Crossbones abducted her, held her hostage, starved her and did other untoward things to her in Gruenwald's run all to get to Steve, and, of course, Spencer's recent... presentation). This precedence is not a good look, Marvel.



Ugh. God I resent Peggy's presence in this otherwise stellar run. And yes, I realize that my resentment is irrational but just let me have this.

...if Dryad had to be a protective woman from Steve's past, Jackie Falsworth was right there!

I think you nailed it and I’m surprised Coates didn’t think of it. Especially since he acknowledges Brubaker’s run as so influential. I liked Peggy’s funeral and it’s finality for Sharon in particular. Additionally, how fun would it be to have Lady Jacqueline steering the Daughters! I love the idea. Any opportunity to weave the Invaders into the narrative is not to be missed.

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I still love it when Natasha slings the shield over her shoulder

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[tliscord]

Who doesn’t like Sharon Carter kicking ass

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Or intimidating as hell.

[Frontier]

Who doesn’t like Sharon Carter kicking ass

3EA3ED77-E5C1-44CB-9D72-80C19ABC331D.jpg E3EA1091-1D08-4277-B3D7-77F9207D19F5.jpg

Or intimidating as hell.

Not me .

I hope we finally get that in the Disney+ series.

[justanotherclassic]

Not me .

I hope we finally get that in the Disney+ series.

I want three things out of FatWS:

1. Sharon Carter to kick ass and get the recognition she deserves
2. Bucky to have a personality outside of “sad white boy”
3. Alpine the Cat

I get those, I am happy.

Also, I just remember that Bucky is ALSO in on the Peggy-twist in the comics. So Steve will probably have some words with him too.