expatNERD

Tag: Roy Thomas

  • Captain America Omnibus Vol. 3

    This week’s recommendation is Captain America Omnibus Vol. 3, the big one when Steve Englehart jumped on and redefined Captain America to basically the iteration we have now. He contributed quite a few ‘forwards’ that were first printed in the Marvel Masterworks edition. But to sum it up, the sales for Cap’s mag were low at the time and Steve was tasked by Roy Thomas to bring them up. If he didn’t, then he was fired.

    So what did he do?

    For starters, the stories in the Omnibus run between the years 1972 – 1975. Americans were very much against the Vietnam war and since Captain America symbolized America, Cap was at odds with Marvel’s readership. Then Watergate happened, which was a time of Richard Nixon who was a very aggressive President and challenged US systems of government.

    Sound familiar?

    The result was that Englehart owned the situation and decided to bring Cap directly in conflict with the government. Cap does a whole lot of soul searching, continually analyzes his relationship with both Falcon and Sharon Carter, and basically tries to figure out who he is and what place he has in the world. Which was also what the readers were doing at the time.

    The result is an incredible run that is not only thought provoking but also very relevant for today. On one hand, it’s refreshing to see the creatives grappling with something that feels very familiar, while on the other it’s very frustrating because you wonder just how far we have come since then.

    And of course what really makes this Omnibus pop is we get Sal Buscema’s art almost the entire time. He had such a good handle on Cap and this whole Omnibus just rocks. Sal could really ratch up the action but also create those quiet moments as well as portray the inner turmoil that Cap experienced throughout. The art alone is definitely worth the price of admission. As a tribute to Sal Buscema, I created the above image that is directly taken from Captain America #156 right in the art-style of expatNERD.

    Tschüss,

    Franka

  • Avengers Assemble!

    I’m going to continue my last post and instead of recommending something new, I will recommend something old. First a warning. I am a sucker for the old Marvel. I don’t know why, perhaps it’s the illusion of those stories being created during a simpler time. Yes, sometimes a stereotype will hit you in the face, including a whole lot of German ones. But there is something comforting about seeing those earlier versions of characters interacting with each other and it just makes me smile.

    I cracked open the Avengers Omnibus Volume 4 and was treated to a lovely, albeit quite short, Neal Adams contribution. It was the Kree/Skrull War storyline brought about Roy Thomas and it pretty much ran from Avengers #93-97, with Adams doing issues #93-96. If you read the forward to the above Omnibus, Thomas admits that they were starting to run behind, and he decided to give #97 to the amazing John Buscema, much to the annoyance of Neal who had either produced thumbnails or even some finished pages. So that was that for Neal and he stopped. Which is aber schade because there must be a universe out there where Adams stuck around for at least twenty pages. You can find these issues reprinted and after doing a quick search online, the originals in a pretty good grade will not break the bank either. And it’s worth it because these books are beautiful.

    But I think my favorite part of this volume is the development of the Wanda and Vision relationship. It was quite well done with all the conflicts and drama that you can imagine. So my Thursday sketch above references that.

    bis bald,

    -franka