Captain America: Bicentennial Battles

(Marvel, 2005)
™ and © 2005 Marvel Characters, Inc.

1976 was the year of the United States’s 20oth anniversary and so it seemed entirely appropriate to publish a Treasury-sized, (10.25” x 13.25”) special featuring Captain America. Jack Kirby, co-creator, (with Joe Simon), of the patriotically-themed hero wrote and drew this story that takes Cap on a strange journey through time to find the heart of America, prompted the mystical machinations of a medium named Mr. Buda. It’s all a bit overwrought and melodramatic, intended to illustrate the indomitable spirit of the American experience, but it was apropos of the national mood.

That story with its original (but re-colored) cover is reprinted in this graphic novel along with issues #201-205, (from 1976 as well), of Captain America and The Falcon. This story arc also features travels though dimensions and otherworldly monsters. Kirby became the writer as well as the artist on his titles upon his return to Marvel after his stint at DC in the early 1970s where he created his “Fourth World” universe. This collection is one of several that highlight Kirby’s abundant output.

— George Haberberger

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