Thunderbolts #32

Kurt Busiek // Mark Bagley
November 1999
***

An aristo-fascist conspiracy airs the ol’ gladiator trope. Like so much of this mag, both in writing & art, it’s well-crafted convention—but compare this melée of zaps & thunks to Kirby’s original (a killer roller-derby)! Thru it all, I’m still not a Bagley fan: his style is pretty, but he never surprises me.

last issue: Thunderbolts #31
next issue: Thunderbolts #33

also indexed for Nov. ’99
Avengers #22
Avengers Forever #11 of 12

Thunderbolts #31

Kurt Busiek // Mark Bagley
October 1999
***

Encyclopedic Busiek goes all-out on the Roy Thomas Approach, tying a quasi-fascist conspiracy from Kirby’s ’70s Cap to Englehart’s Secret Empire. Like Bag’s art, the tale’s fun but generic, lacking the political conviction of those earlier writers; these are simply heavies trying to conquer America.

last issue: Thunderbolts #30
next issue: Thunderbolts #32

also indexed for Oct. ’99
Avengers #21
Avengers Forever #10 of #12 

Captain America & the Falcon #197

Jack Kirby
May 1976
***
Artwise, Kirby’s return to Cap is cool. But storywise, he digs up the most preposterous tropes of the super-spy subgenre, incl. a secret HQ populated by thousands of conspirators. Cap doesn’t find the “madbomb” maguffin nor does he snare his shadowy foe, but he does help the US army seize the base.
[last issue: Captain America & the Falcon #196]
[next issue: Captain America & the Falcon #198]

Captain America & the Falcon #195

Jack Kirby
March 1976
***
Kirby’s first Cap arc is one of his standard 1970s anti-fascist “It Can Happen Here” plots. From a bunker out west, latter-day aristos plan to enslave the populace w/ thought slogans, demagoguery, & lobotomies! It may lack subtlety, its plotting may be formulaic, but wow what art!
[last issue: Captain America & the Falcon #194]
[next issue: Captain America & the Falcon #196]