Unca Cheeks the Toy Wonder's Silver Age Comics Web Site!
ON CAPTAIN
AMERICA
. . . AND THE TRIUMPH OF THE SPIRIT
[1]
I don't suppose it's much of a secret, by this point, how I feel about Captain America.
The very first time I ever laid eyes upon Marvel Comics' star-spangled sentinel
was -- if memory serves -- in the pages of AVENGERS #9 (1st series); a older
comic one of my fellow third graders had brought to class with him, back in
the days when your (now painfully arthritic) Unca Cheeks was busily setting
new and exciting records in Applied Classroom Insolence over at Robertson Academy
Grade School, down Nashville way; records which (I am reliably informed) still
maintain, in fact, even unto the present day. (... and they said I'd never
amount to anything...!) 
Ostensibly, the "big story" here was the debut of misguided hero/villain (and -- years later -- full-fledged Avenger) Wonder Man; and perhaps it was, insofar as storytelling "events" (and Bob Overstreet) are concerned...
... but: not for this kid, it wasn't.
You see: the ranks of the Avengers (at that time) numbered precisely five characters: Norse thunder god Thor; inventor and adventurer Iron Man; stiff-as-a-board behemoth Giant Man; the aforementioned's somewhat addlepated fiancé, the Wasp...
... and: *C*A*P*T*A*I*N* *A*M*E*R*I*C*A*.
Whereas the other four heroes all seemed (to my then as-yet-unjaundiced eye) much of a cardboard muchness with one another, characterization-wise (Thor was the one who spoke in a deliriously faux quasi-Shakespearean dialect; the Wasp giggled and swooned over anything wearing pants; etc.)... the redoubtable Captain, by way of honest storytelling comparison, was:
... a time-lost myrmidon;
... a man who mourned the tragic death of his erstwhile "sidekick" and confidant, Bucky;
... a man whose entire being was dedicated, paladin- like, to an ideal; one larger and grander and (seemingly; at times) more impossible than himself;
... a native strategist and tactician around whom the other members orbited as naturally and efficiently as electrons 'round a nucleus.
In the pages which follow, one of the good Captain's many meta-fictive Boswells characterizes him as a sort of four-color "Jimmy Stewart."
This, to me (a man who lives and breathes old movies from the '30s, '40's and '50's), gets it exactly right.
In a world of garishly costumed Sonny Tufts and John Agars -- heroes who are heroes, by and large, because the script says they're heroes; "heroes" whom, on auctorial whim, might just as readily be wife-beaters (Henry Pym) or alcoholics (Tony Stark)...
... Captain America most assuredly is the comics medium's undisputed answer to Jimmy Stewart.
(Now: remind me to tell you, someday, which ones
are Cary Grant; Spencer Tracy; William Powell; and Humphrey Bogart.)
In the course of the following series of "mini-interviews," we'll be treated to the sagacious observations and ruminations of the following gentleman, re: this most iconic and enduring of comics characters:
*** Noted comics scripter; television scenarist; and (most to the point, in this particular) Jack "King" Kirby scholar emeritus Mark Evanier, on how the character of Captain America was molded and influenced by that most prodigious and Promethean of writer/artists;
*** '70's CAPTAIN AMERICA
AND THE FALCON scripter Steve
Englehart, whose "Fake Captain America" and "Phantom Empire" story arcs still
define much of what we know of the former, even twenty-five years after the fact
(no mean feat, in a medium as willfully amnesiac as this one); and whose
painstaking (and wholly admirable) explication of the character of "Sam Wilson"
-- a.k.a. the Falcon -- stands unnchallenged as that character's
finest meta-fictive "hour," in turn;
*** CAPTAIN AMERICA: LIBERTY'S TORCH co-author (and online diarist) Tony Isabella, whose frequent
(and shared) ruminations on the socio-political
issues of the day have informed much of the best of his present-day writing; and
whose creation of the villainous Phoenix, in turn (no relation to the X-MEN
character), served as partial inspiration, years later, for THUNDERBOLTS creator
--
*** Kurt Busiek (see how it all begins to tie together...?)
Kurt is (arguably) best known for his multiple award winning ASTRO CITY comics
series; as well as the groundbreaking MARVELS limited series of a few years
ago. More germane to the subject at hand, however: he is also the
writer of record for Marvel Comics' THE AVENGERS... and (therefore) maybekindasorta
has a thing or three to say about a certain star-spangled sentry as well, re: How He Fits Into This Whole "Earth's Mightiest Heroes" thing.
... but wait! There's MORE -- !!
*** We'll also be hearing from the gentleman whose recent work on both CAPTAIN AMERICA and CAPTAIN AMERICA: SENTINEL OF LIBERTY has been providing more than its fair share of appreciative ooohs and aaahhhs, these past few years: the estimable Mark Waid, his own bad self! Boy howdy -- !!
Oh, yeah. We're rockin', this week.
The management would like to take this opportunity to profusely thank each and every one of these fine and upstanding gentlemen for taking time out of their hectic workday schedules to hang out here at Casa del Cheeks for a spell. Between the patience and generosity displayed by worthies such as these, and the recent FANZING "Best of Fandom" status awarded this site...
... well: it's been one heck of a month, hereabouts, hasn't it...?
For anyone reading these words who may be thinking about giving this week's entry a "miss," for whatever reason(s)... the patriotically-
garbed gentleman immediately below has a message for you:
You know... I think he means it.
This week's very special site entry is for all the good folks (both fan and
pro) who've sent me such shamelessly flattering and encouraging e-mail over
the past sixteen months, week in and week out; the ones who voted for this site
in this year's "Squiddy" awards; the ones who've been so breathtakingly generous
to loan me (or give me, outright) much-needed comics for purposes of
scanning and/or review; and the ones who've been my online guardians and shepherds
for the past four years now (give or take a seeming eternity).
You people are the bloody best.
"PANNING FOR SILVER: Captain America"(MARK EVANIER) (Page 2)
"PANNING FOR SILVER: Captain America" (STEVE ENGLEHART) (Page 3)
"PANNING FOR SILVER: Captain America" (TONY ISABELLA) (Page 4)
"PANNING FOR SILVER: Captain America" (KURT BUSIEK) (Page 5)
"PANNING FOR SILVER: Captain America" (MARK WAID) (Page 6)
"MORE COMIC BOOKS," YOU SAY...?
The DC Comics Sub-Directory
The Marvel Comics Sub-Directory
The Miscellaneous Comics Sub-Directory
The "Gotta Find That DC Character" Menu
The "Gotta Find That Marvel/Miscellaneous
Character" Menu