George Perez doing Captain America???
Nope.
Just the cover. The insides are not as good. It’s almost like Marvel wants this book to fail.
But you can’t stop Cap!
As a character, Captain America is really lost. Roger McKenzie gave him a secret identity–artist Steve Rogers–but beyond that, they really didn’t know what to do with him. In this arc, a villain steals the master matrix that SHIELD uses to make LMDs, and tries to put his soul inside an LMD so he can live forever. Or something like that.
But instead the villain–a dying old man–gets turned into a twisted freak. It’s not particularly imaginative or interesting.
Although we do know he’s strong as an ox and twice as ugly.
On the quieter side:
Then we get our first glimpses into Steve’s private life.
For the first time we meet Josh Cooper, a black man who is his neighbor. Not only do the two of them look kind of like gay lovers (not that there’s anything wrong with that), but as a reader you’re left wondering, “What the Hell? Your best pal was Falcon and now you replace him with another fit black guy??? Where the Hell is Falcon?”
And, Cap exercises….
Art by Rich Buckler (243), Don Perlin (244)
The above scene illustrates ( npi-see what I did with that-?? ) everything that was wrong about trying to saddle Captain America with a civilian career ( and a prospective spouse in the person of Bernie Rosenthal ). Captain America is NOT a civilian. Captain America is DEFINITELY not a commercial artist, or a comic-book illustrator. Captain America is America’s Number One Superhero, Captain America! Captain America CANNOT serve his country in the role he was created for, if he is perenially trying to meet art deadlines. Almost a full decade earlier, Cap tried to juggle his responsibilities as Captain America by being a beat-cop. ( ‘Captain America & the Falcon’#’s 139-159 ) A beat-cop works twelve-hour shifts, six days a week. I just don’t see how that works with being a full-time, on-call superhero, much less an Avenger, and eventually, neither did Cap, and he gave it up, just as he eventually gave up the art-career nonsense, as well. A nine-to-five of ANY sort is going to eventually, sooner or later, interfere with Roger’s responsibilities as Captain America, and that comes first, as Cap had to ultimately explain ( over the phone ) to his police sergeant when he resigned from the NYPD ( over the phone ) in issue #159. Being Captain America is NOT a bad gig. You get to live all-expenses paid on Tony Stark’s dime in his fine, palatial Park Avenue Mansion with an English butler to cater to your every whim, the full respect-and command-of the Earth’s Mightiest Heroes- a $1,000 per week stipend, ( that’s $52,000 annually OVER and ABOVE 100% complete medical, dental, and full retirement ) and more gorgeous superbabes floating around the mansion in their lingerie this side of Charlie X’s place! So-WHY- would Captain America- or ANY man-NEED more than all THAT-??? Beats me. I forgot who succeeded Mackenzie on this series when McKenzie moved on, but I am sure glad as Hell that A) He DID move on, and, B) The “Private Life of Steve Rogers Initiative” was totally shitcanned. Over the decades, many critics of Captain America have maintained over the Internet as well as many other forums that, due to his ineffectiveness at establishing a civilian career beyond being Captain America that “Captain America is a loser.” Well, this is ONLY true when Cap tries-and invariably FAILS- at diluting his mission as Captain America with unnecessary, time-draining/time-wasting civilian careers. I am GLAD he finally figured it out himself, as well. So there!! P.S. If that magazine editor above thinks STEVE’S work stinks- has he ever interviewed Frank Robbins-????