Jack Kirby leaves Captain America with a retelling of his origin story–and it’s great. It’s expanded, we get a lot more details, and it’s like Jack Kirby’s farewell loveletter to a character he created without Stan Lee. Cap is one of the few major character in Marvel’s staple that predated Stan Lee. (Others include Namor and Human Torch–robot version.)
One thing, though: “Deadly experiment?” If they haven’t done it yet, how do they know it’s deadly? And of course he didn’t die. Stan overdoes the ham hype, but that’s part of his charm.
And on the letters page, Don McGregor, future Marvel editor and author.
In less than 10 years, he will provide some of the most interesting Black Panther stories of all time.
This excellent issue’s assertion that the Super-Soldier Serum is a “deadly experiment holds water due to a ‘Cap’ storyline published some time ago, which revealed that Steve Rogers was, indeed, not the first recipient of the serum- he was, instead, the beneficiary of several human guinea pigs who preceeded him, most of whom were black, ( and thus, considered expendable by the Government ) and all of whom failed to survive the administration of the serum- except one. I wish I could remember when and where this was published, but, alas, I have lost that information to the Mists of Time. ( as well as a failing memory ) Steve Rogers received the perfected result, which makes tremendous sense, when you think about it. So, the statement “deadly experiment” does make sense, in the context of this highly-excellent issue. My personal rating for this one-issue story would be a solid ‘B’, held back from an ‘A’, simply because I am not an overly-enthusiastic Kirby-fan.