First appearing in 1941, Marvel Comics’ star-spangled super soldier, Captain Steve Rogers/Captain America, has become one of Marvel’s most recognisable and celebrated characters not just for his super patriotism but also for being a prominent member and leader of Marvel’s premier super team, the Avengers. Having successfully made the jump to live-action, Cap is now a widely celebrated, mainstream superhero and, given that today is Independence Day, this seems like the perfect excuse to pay tribute to the star-spangled man with a plan himself!
Story Title: “Captain America Joins…The Avengers!”
Published: 1 March 1964
Writer: Stan Lee
Artist: Jack Kirby
The Background:
In 1941, the Second World War was well under way; Nazi Germany overtook Denmark and Norway in April 1940 and the United States finally entered the fray in 1941 to oppose the combined “Axis powers” of Germany, Japan, and Italy. Due to the ever-escalating conflict, patriotism and national pride ran rampant in America, leading to Joe Simon and the legendary Jack Kirby debuting Captain America and his kid sidekick, James Buchanan Barnes/Bucky, who took the fight directly to the enemies of America and encouraged readers to support the war effort by any means necessary. However, after the War ended, superheroes saw a decline in popularity and Captain America’s solo title was cancelled in 1954, but the character got a second chance when he was recast as a “man out of time” in this issue of The Avengers. The Avengers came about as a direct response to rival DC Comics’ Justice League of America; Martin Goodman tasked Stan Lee with bringing together Tony Stark/Iron Man, Doctor Bruce Banner/The Hulk, Doctor Donald Blake/Thor Odinson, Doctor Hank Pym/Ant-Man, and Janet van Dyne/The Wasp as Marvel’s premier superhero team. With their ever-changing roster and prominence in some of Marvel’s biggest events and stories, the Avengers became a consistent and influential presence in Marvel Comics, even more so after the Star-Spangled Avenger joined their ranks in this historic issue.
The Review:
Marvel Comics always liked to hype up their stories and issues back during this time period; front covers would proclaim even the most bizarre-looking characters as being must-see events and issues generally always featured celebratory mentions of the creatives involved, and The Avengers #4 is no different. There are a couple of notable unique features in the full-page title splash for this story, though; first, a big explosive bubble of text directly attributes the return of Captain America to an “avalanche of fan mail” and a dialogue box at the bottom of the page makes sure to mention that “glorious” Stan Lee and “grand” Jack Kirby both collaborated on Captain America’s debut story, thereby lending further prestige to his return to the then-modern era of Marvel Comics. The story itself takes a little while to get started as the first page of panels is dedicated to recapping the Avengers’ battle against Prince Namor McKenzie/The Sub-Mariner and the Hulk in the previous issue; after the Hulk disappeared, Namor was forced to flee from the overwhelming odds and returned to the depths of the ocean. The sting of defeat is great for the proud Mutant but pales in comparison to the frustration he feels at being abandoned by his people after the inhabitants of Atlantis questioned his loyalty. Vowing to never stop searching for his lost people, Namor finds himself lost amidst the frozen wastes of the North Sea, where he comes across a tribe of Eskimos who worship a mysterious figure frozen in a block of ice. Interestingly, despite the Eskimos being isolated from the rest of the world, they instantly recognise “the dreaded Namor”, who wastes no time in mocking their idol and turning his anger upon them. In his rage, Namor decimates the frozen landscape, terrorises the simple folk, and hurls their frozen idol into the sea.
Free from the frigid temperatures of the northern climate, the ice block slowly melts and, by the time the Avengers come across it in their little submarine (I assume they were tracking Namor, that seems to make sense as to why they’d randomly be out there), the ice has completely melted, freeing the unconscious body trapped within. Giant-Man brings the body aboard and the team are stunned to find that it’s none other than the slumbering body of the legendary Captain America, a star-spangled crusader of justice so prolific that even Norse God Thor is aware of his accolades. The team’s shock at this discovery turns to panic when Cap suddenly awakens and lashes out in a confused daze, desperate to keep his kid sidekick, Bucky, from harm. Thor, Iron Man, and Giant-Man leap in to restrain the raging legend, but his madness quickly passes. Within the space of five panels, he resigns himself to the memory that Bucky is dead and reclaims his identity, shield, and mantle of Captain America. Though impressed, the Avengers are so puzzled by Cap’s youth and vigour that they suspect some kind of trick. Thus, Cap invites them to test him, easily dodging Thor’s magical hammer, overpowering even the hulking Giant-Man, and is only kept from embarrassing the group further when Wasp stops him in his tracks by challenging his chivalry. Suitably convinced that Cap is the real deal, tensions calm long enough for Cap to tell the tragic story of how he came to be encased within a block of ice. Back during the Second World War, Cap and Bucky were posing as security guards at an Army base when a mysterious Nazi figure launched an explosive-filled drone in a bid to either kill the two or rob the United States of a powerful weapon. Although Cap failed to reach the plane in time, Bucky leapt onboard and was seemingly vaporised when the plane exploded; the heartbroken Cap was hurtled into the ocean depths off the coast of Newfoundland, where he became encased in ice and effectively held in suspended animation. When the Avengers reach New York City, they’re greeted by the press, hungry for the big scoop on their battle against Namor and the Hulk, but the team are suddenly and inexplicably turned into stone statues by a flash of light! Cap missed the event since he was still inside the craft and, when he emerges topside to find everyone gone, he assumes that the statues are in honour of the colourful heroes and ventures out to explore the strange new world he’s found himself in without a second thought.
Cap is impressed by how much has changed, from clothing and fashion to the establishment of the United Nations and the upgrades to everyday vehicles, and stuns the public, who instantly recognise him as the legendary hero of World War II. Directed to a hotel by a helpful police officer, Cap briefly marvels at the wonders of television before dozing off in a troubled exhaustion. Already questioning his place in the modern age, Cap is startled to wake up and find Bucky alive and well in his hotel room…only to realise that it’s perennial sidekick and Avengers mascot Rick Jones. Concerned by the Avengers’ disappearance, Rick confronts Cap; since Cap was the last person to see them, Rick basically accuses him of being involved and threatens to set the Hulk on him if he doesn’t help find the team. This threat means little to Cap since he doesn’t know who the Hulk is and he’s still struggling with the uncanny resemblance between Rick and Bucky, but he promises to help find the team despite Rick’s rude demeanour. After reviewing the photos taken of the team by the press, Cap spies a suspicious man holding a camera-like gun and Rick wastes no time in contacting his “teen brigade” to try and find him amongst the teeming masses. Laughably, the teens come up with nothing but dead ends and false leads, but Cap finds the guy seemingly at random just by scouring the city’s rooftops. Once he spots the man he’s looking for, Cap wastes no time in springing into action and confronting him and his armed goons. Even these lowly mobsters recognise Cap and they’re easily overwhelmed by his indomitable shield, uncanny agility, and Herculean strength; while the goons quickly surrender, their leader desperately tries to turn Cap to stone with his ray gun, only to miss and be unmasked as a bizarre extraterrestrial lifeform! Unfazed by this, Cap threatens the alien (who goes unnamed in this issue but is eventually revealed to be named Vuk), who gladly tells his story to avoid being handled by “primitive beings”. Vuk crash-landed on Earth centuries ago and, encountering nothing but fear and hostility, would turn men to stone with his ray gun in self-defence, which Cap realises directly led to the myth of the hydra-haired, stone-eyed Medusa. Vuk relates that the Sub-Mariner promised to help Vuk return to the stars if he turned his weapon against the Avengers and, recognising the Sub-Mariner’s name from the past, Cap vows to help Vuk in return for undoing the damage he’s inflicted upon the Avengers.
Namor witnesses these events from his deserted imperial castle using his “undersea scanner” and vows to avenge himself upon his enemies, a promise that suddenly becomes more viable when he conveniently stumbles upon a loyal troop of his elite guard. True to his word, Cap leads the Avengers in finding and freeing Vuk’s ship from the ocean depths, an act that earns them Vuk’s eternal gratitude and Cap’s admiration for the group’s unparalleled teamwork. Their victory is short-lived, however, as Namor and his elite guard suddenly attack the group; Iron Man goes toe-to-toe with Namor but his armour struggles to withstand the sledgehammer-like blows of the Sub-Mariner. In desperation, Iron Man blasts Namor with a “full [intensity] magnetic ray”, but this only grants him a temporary reprieve; with his armoured foe’s “greatest weapon” exhausted, Namor redoubles his attack, smashing a rock over Iron Man’s head and manhandling him to the ground. Momentarily powerless as he waits for his transistors to recharge, Iron Man is saved from certain death by the timely intervention of the Wasp, who Namor easily shrugs off before answering his lieutenant’s plea for help in subduing the rampaging Thor. Thanks to his mighty hammer, Thor easily holds back Namor’s forces by himself and repels the energy bolts fired at him by their ray guns, forcing Namor to leap at the Thunder God to tackle him directly. After slipping free of the Atlantean’s net and saving himself from drowning, Giant-Man returns to the fray to assist Iron Man, hurling the Atlanteans off-panel with his massive strength before rushing to aid Thor in tussling with Namor, who’s become obsessed with wrestling Mjölnir from Thor’s grasp. Watching from the side lines, Cap can’t help but be impressed by the power and courage of the Avengers and in awe of Mjölnir, a weapon so powerful that only the Mighty Thor can lift it. Although the Avengers clearly have Namor beat, the proud prince refuses to surrender and lowers himself to threatening Rick’s life. This irks Cap so much that he finally leaps into action, tackling Namor’s elite guard and briefly being overpowered by the Sub-Mariner before the tiny isle on which they’re all fighting suddenly (and conveniently) breaks apart from an undersea explosion caused by Vuk’s ship. Confident that his enemies will drown beneath the resulting waves, Namor commands his forces to retreat, unaware that the heroes easily survived by clinging to the remains of the island. Impressed by Cap’s prowess in battle, the Avengers ask him to join their little team and he gratefully accepts, but Rick is left pondering the fate of his friend and partner, the Hulk, whose rage at being “replaced” by Captain America is as sure as the inevitability that the Avengers will butt heads with the Sub-Mariner again before long.
The Summary:
I quite enjoyed “Captain America Joins…The Avengers!” I sometimes struggle with Jack Kirby’s more bizarre artwork and designs but there was none of that here (save for the Avengers’ submarine and the brief depictions of Atlantean technology), which really helped these colourful characters to stand out all the more prominently. I especially liked Cap’s brief walk around New York City and him being impressed by the advances in technology and society since his day, and the panels that took place underwater, which evoked a murky, almost alien environment. Unfortunately, paralleling this was the pretty haphazard and confusing flashback to Bucky’s final mission, where it’s a bit difficult to make out where the characters are in relation to the plane, and the depiction of Vuk, who ends up looking more like Beaker than anything remotely impressive. I also really didn’t care for the reveal that an alien was behind the Avengers’ petrification; it was weird that Cap took it in stride and that the story didn’t treat it as a big deal, and it just came out of nowhere. I think it would’ve been far better to have it be an Atlantean in disguise, maybe switch the order of events to show Namor recruiting his elite guard before the Avengers reach New York, and then Cap could just threaten the Atlantean into helping him. It’s a minor thing to complain about but that’s kind of the problem; Vuk doesn’t even get a name and it just seems so random to just insert a Medusa-like alien into the story when the primary focus is the antagonism against Namor. Normally, I’d also complain about the depiction of women and youth during this time but, aside from being a bit too rude and confrontational, I didn’t have much of an issue with Rick Jones here and I was actually very impressed by the restraint show with the Wasp. She doesn’t fawn or coo over Cap upon seeing him and actually proves quite useful in the scuffle with him and Namor…but then all that goodwill gets thrown away on the very last page where it’s revealed that the Wasp disappeared from the battle to powder her nose!
However, I enjoyed the angst of the Sub-Mariner as depicted here; Namor’s anger against he surface world has only exacerbated since his people abandoned him after questioning his loyalty due to his mixed heritage and he’s desperate not only to find his people, but to subjugate humanity to prove his superiority. There’s a tragedy to Namor that’s present even here; he lashes out at everyone and everything because he doesn’t want to be alone and craves power and adulation, but he’s tormented by being a child of both worlds and his status as a Mutant amongst even his bizarre people. Depicted as both an underhanded tactician and a formidable physical force, Namor’s threat is enough to require the attention of all the Avengers even without his elite guard and I liked how he easily overpowered Iron Man and matched even Thor’s God-like power (even if he was unable to lift Mjölnir). Of course, the true star of this story is Captain America; I really enjoyed how the issue went to great lengths to talk up Cap’s status as a legendary figure and that even randomers in the street recognised him as a hero from their youth. The Avengers are awestruck by his presence and seem delighted to not only have him amongst them, but also to test his abilities in battle, and Cap is equally impressed by the team, who he wishes could’ve been by his side during World War II. While it seems like Cap quickly regains his senses and returns to his confident and commanding persona, the story does touch upon the grief and anguish he feels at Bucky’s death and his feelings of belonging in the then-modern world. Though impressed by how far the world has come since his day, Cap briefly feels as though he doesn’t belong there, and it isn’t until he’s back in action, tracking down the Avengers’ mystery attacker and engaging with the Sub-Mariner, that he truly feels himself again. This was the perfect way to sell newcomers and sceptics on Cap’s return and make him relevant amongst his modern contemporaries and I really enjoyed how he meshed with the Avengers and their mutual respect for each other. Take out the Vuk stuff (or replace it with something better) and this would’ve gotten full marks from me, but it’s still a blast to read and one of the quintessential Avengers and Captain America stories.
My Rating:
Great Stuff
Have you ever read “Captain America Joins…The Avengers!”? If so, what did you think of it and did you enjoy seeing Captain America join the Avengers? Was this your first exposure to Captain America, and if not what was? Were you also disappointed by the inclusion of Vuk? What did you think to the depiction of Namor and Cap’s introduction to the then-modern world? Which of the Avengers is your favourite? How are you celebrating Independence Day today? Whatever your thoughts, drop a comment below or on my social media and be sure to check out my other Captain America content across the site!
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