As soon as Steranko arrived and took comic books to the next level, he left.
John Romita steps in for one issue. Big John is great, but what Steranko was doing was revolutionary. It’s amazing to think that JR could be seen as a come-down from what preceded him. He’s legendary, and deservedly so.
That’s just how good comics were in the ’60s.
Steve Rogers is “dead” and now Cap thinks he can be whoever he wants.
He resents being overshadowed by … Captain America?
This seems extremely out of character–he’s a patriotic hero who is all about duty and country. He’s really not an egomaniac–seems like putting country before self is more like him.
But the Marvel formula is to be tortured by your own amazing abilities.
It’s a very short-lived plotline, at any rate. While he’s out there, walking in the rain, thinking and sulking, we get a very brief glimpse of his Avengers teammates watching him.
They give him his space.
For the action part of this book, Cap and Rick Jones Bucky save Sharon from AIM. He has to go to SHIELD’s hidden base to get the info about the job.
I love that sequence. It’s so much like that old spy show Get Smart.
But…Doesn’t anyone wonder why a man is sitting in a barber chair with his head covered by a cowl?
Anyway, this is a 25 page comic. With all the character work, Cap and Rick take down the AIM robot army pretty quick.
He can’t stand that her job as a SHIELD agent puts her in danger, so he demands that she quit. She says no, and he walks away–seemingly breaking off the relationship.
At the very end of this issue is a cliffhanger…
