This is another very simple, done-in-one home run by the creative team of DeMatteis and Zeck. It encapsules so much of what it meant to be Captain America during the Reagan Years. He rides a motorcycle to go speak at a high school, where he’s met with kids who idolize him and more cynical ones who rail about the betrayal of the American dream. Some do more than just “rail” at him–they toss stuff at him.
So he jumps up to the roof and gives them a lecture, winning their hearts and minds.
He even lectures when he talks to himself!
Then, for the main story, he takes on a subversive cult of Anti-Americans led by a guy who calls himself Everyman.
His followers attack Cap at a lecture, and then he goes on TV.
An on-camera challenge and brief Tigra cameo. Iron Man briefly appears as well, when Cap brings some underprivileged kids in to see Avengers Mansion.
He dresses flamboyantly and uses a souped-up sword that shoots energy blasts, and yet he claims to represent the common person and is against the trappings of capitalism.
Oh, and he uses words like “philistines” and “fatuous.” Because everyone knows commies are intellectuals.
I do love this issue, and choose to believe that the villain is complex, and with complexity comes the potential for inherent contradictions, rather than an oversimplified stereotype. Because, yes, I really enjoyed this issue.
Oh, and two cameos:
First, DC editor Karen Berger.
Second, Mike Zeck gives a shout-out to Robert Crumb’s Zap Comix…
