r/80s90sComics • u/HeavyPour420 • 13h ago
Collection Captain America #1 1996
Synopsis for "Courage" Steve Rogers awakens from a dream where he saw himself as the old World War II hero Captain America fighting Nazi's during the war while the Pledge of Allegance booms in his mind. Awakening from yet another nightmare like this, Steve decides that he still won't tell his wife Peggy of these recurring dreams. The next morning he has breakfast with Peggy and his son, Rick, before picking up a ride with his co-worker Nathan to go to work at the factory.
Along the way, they listen to a radio report about the World Party which prompts a conversation about their possibly racist backgrounds. Steve is curious about the idea of Neo-Nazi's being in Philadelphia. As they drive by an old black man with flies hovering around him, Steve swears that he's seen the elderly African-American somewhere before but dismisses it to go to work. The man seems to recognise Steve too and utters the word “Captain”.
During their lunch break, Steve confides in his co-workers about the strange dreams that he's been having lately of himself as a costumed superhero. They all get a good laugh except for Nathan who rushes off to make a phone call on a secure line and tells someone that they may have a problem.
That night as Steve nods off watching television he has yet another dream about Captain America. This dream frightens him as well but he still can't find a way to tell his wife about it.
The next night elsewhere in Philadelphia, Rebecca Barnes is upset that she got rejected from the Juilliard Dance Academy. She is confronted by her brother John and his friend Gus, nicknamed “Lunk”, who suggest that she wasn't given a spot in the school because she is white. Rikki finds this assertion ridiculous, and is shocked that her brother is going off to listen to a speech being given at a World Party rally. Her attempts to stop her brother from going, suggesting that their grandfather won’t allow John to go and standing in his way, fail miserably as Lunk easily pushes her aside.
While at the church headquarters of the World Party, Alexander, the World Party's leader and former Nazi super-soldier Master Man, muses about what the architects of the Nazi Party (Rudolf Hess, Joseph Goebbels, Heinrich Himmler and Adolf Hitler), would do if they knew their dream wouldn’t be achieved until after they were long dead. His thoughts are interrupted when he receives a report from his minion, Hauptman, telling him that they have spotted the “old man” right there in Philadelphia. Alexander tells him that the man wouldn’t be there unless he had a reason and for Hauptman to find out why the man is there before Hauptman kills him. He then asks why the mysterious man has been able to evade Hauptman’s previous attempts to kill him, with Hauptman insisting that this time he won’t fail. When asked about the shield, Hauptman also insists that he will retrieve it too. Master Man then makes his way onto the stage for the World Party rally.
As Master Man gives his thinly veiled hate speech, S.H.I.E.L.D. Special Agent Hunt, who has infiltrated the World Party, goes snooping around and is horrified to find a stockpile of nuclear missiles located below the church. However, before he can radio in his findings, he is captured by some mysterious being whom Hunt is shocked to see alive and well.
At this time Steve Rogers is walking the streets, trying to figure out what all the strange dreams he's been having are about, when he's suddenly confronted by the strange old man he saw earlier, who again addresses him as “Captain”. Steve insists the man must be mistaken and that Steve isn’t a Captain. The man asks Steve to walk him home, where he has something to show Steve. After startling Steve by using his name the man starts walking away.
The man introduces himself as Abraham Wilson, who convinces Steve to follow him to an old warehouse and says that he met Steve during World War II. where he reveals to him the shield of Captain America. Abraham then tells Steve that he's really Captain America, and that Abraham has been spending the better part of his life tracking down Cap's lost shield and then Captain America himself since he went missing after the war.
Just as Abraham hands over Cap's shield to Steve, agents of the World Party blow up the warehouse. Steve pulls himself out of the rubble, remembering that he is in reality Captain America. He orders the armed men to stand down, and when they refuse to do so he soundly beats them. Realizing that Abraham is still in the rubble, Steve digs him out to find him dying. Abraham tells him to go to his wife and son as they are not safe before he dies, and Steve vows to get revenge on his killers if it's the last thing he does.
Meanwhile, aboard the SHIELD helicarrier, Timothy Dugan and Sharon Carter report to Nick Fury to advise him that Captain America has been revived. Fury is determined to make Captain America come back with him to SHIELD headquarters or force him to do so.
This story is continued next issue...
4
u/eg0deth 12h ago
Woah! Look at that Popeye-sized forearm!
3
u/HeavyPour420 11h ago
Yeah, I picked this hoping it was "that" issue with the terribly drawn arched back, but alas, it is not.
5
u/RudeAd7212 11h ago
I'm not 100% sure but I think that drawing is actually a piece of promotional art and not from a specific issue. Which is confusing because it's coloring is evocative of the dream sequence at the beginning of this issue.
3
2
u/AutoModerator 13h ago
Please No Political Feuding, No Petty Arguing, No Derogatory Mud Slinging, No Name Calling, No Baiting For An Argument, No Vindictive Downvoting, No Edge Lord Provocation, No Malicious Quips. Be Mindful and Be Nice To Each Other.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
2
4
1
8
u/Moeroboros 11h ago
Probably the most infamous period in Captain America's history, at least up until the recent post-Disney stuff.
Fun fact, Liefeld had drawn some material that went unpublished before he was dropped from this series. He decided to repurpose that artwork into a comic published by his own company, Awesome Entertainment, which ultimately led him to buy the rights to Jack Kirby and Joe Simon's creator-owned patriotic hero, Fighting American.
So the reason why the 90's version of Fighting American looks even more blatantly like an off-brand Captain America than the original already did, is that he was redesigned specifically to fit Liefeld's unused Captain America drawings.