With the announcement of the Disney+ miniseries Falcon and the Winter Soldier, I thought I'd take a look at the first issue of a mini-series that celebrated the history of Captain America. An underrated mini-series that teamed up some of the various characters that wore the mantle and suit of the American Avenger. This is Captain America Corps #1!
The cover is well-drawn, but it is a bit basic. A Phil Jiminez and Dan Brown piece, it depicts Bucky Barnes in his Captain America costume, looking ready for action with his shield and a rather large dagger. The cover is generally a plain white, putting Bucky front and center. There's also an inset on the bottom right corner showing what looks like soldiers in WWII. I like that little detail, as it links to Bucky's past as one of the Invaders during that war.
"Missing in Action"
Writer: Roger Stern
Penciler: Philippe Briones
Inker: Philippe Briones
Colorist: Matt Milla
Letterer: Cory Petit
Editor: Tom Brennan
Editor-in-Chief: Axel Alonso
The story begins with a group of Inuit men at the Arctic Circle years in the past, hauling up something frozen in the ice.
The men are in awe. There's a man frozen in the ice, perfectly preserved. They wonder who this man is, when he vanishes in a flash of red light. The Inuit are confused, but another man, a bald man in the distance, is not. In fact, this man is worried. He is Tath Ki, aka the Contemplator.
The Contemplator is one of the Elders of the Universe, semi-cosmic beings who are known each for having a particular specialty. You may be familiar with the Elders known as the Grandmaster and the Collector if you are a fan of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The Grandmaster appeared in Thor: Ragnarok, and the Collector appeared in the Guardians of the Galaxy movies as well as Avengers: Infinity War. Tath Ki's thing is, well...contemplating. He dedicated himself to expanding the mind and spirit. In general, the Contemplator is not one to worry about things...so the fact that's he actually worried here? Yeah, that's a big deal.
Ki discusses his issue with Uatu, the Watcher. The Watcher is not bothered by this. After all, Steve Rogers is still just one man. Also, if someone was doing this to mess with the timeframe, all they'd do is just create an alternate reality. However, Ki has pointed out that if counterparts of Steve Rogers keep disappearing, it could end up wrecking the multiverse. He pleads for the Watcher to help him, only for the being to vanish. Ki has to do something. But what? Well, there's one chance...and for that, we have to go to Camp Lehigh in April 1941.
It's there we meet Steve Rogers, who is getting ready for a mission.
A flash of blue light appears in the room, and Steve is gone. We next go to New York City in the present day. It's there that one James Buchanan Barnes, who has taken up the mantle of Captain America after the seeming death of Steve Rogers, is busting up a Neo-Nazi ring. As he is handing said Neo-Nazis their butts, some people are watching a show called "Vox Populi" on their mobile devices.
The talking head on the show is remarking about Barnes's past as the Winter Soldier, trying to set him up as a traitor to the nation who needs to answer for his crimes. Bucky is unaware of this, as he's lamenting at there still being lots of work to be done at the scene of the Neo-Nazi meeting. He gets visited by the Contemplator, who recruits him for a mission. Bucky follows him, and he ends up in Ki's cosmic home, alongside some guests.
The two Captains are joined by John Walker/U.S. Agent, Shannon Carter/American Dream, and a new character named Kiyoshi Morales, aka Commander A. John Walker first appeared in Captain America #323 (November 1986), Walker started out as the Super-Patriot, but then was chosen to be Captain America after Steve Rogers quit in the beginning of the "Captain America No More" storyline [See my review of Captain America #332 (August 1987) for details]. After that kerfuffle, he became U.S. Agent. American Dream comes from the MC2 imprint that focused on a potential future of the Marvel Universe.
The Contemplator introduces everyone to each other, and explains the mission he recruited them for. Walker, being the reasonable calm fellow he is, thinks Ki is full of it. He also finds it hard to believe the mantle of Captain America would eventually pass to a woman (Shannon), and a man of color (Kiyoshi Morales). Yup, he's the right-wing Cap, alright. Morales points out he's also one-quarter Nez Perce.
The others also have their skepticism. Steve thinks this is straight out of "Buck Rogers". Both Kiyoshi and Sharon are from different points in the future, and they both say according to their histories, Steve never vanished. As a way of showing proof, Ki takes them to present-day New York City...a twisted present-day Times Square to be exact.
The Caps are mostly shocked (John just sneers. Ever playing tough guy, our Johnny). The city's screens are filled with fascistic messages like "Real Americans First" and "Our Way". A large screen shows a rally centered around two seemingly new superheroes: Broad-Stripe and Bright Star.
Bright Star states to the cheering and chanting crowd that it was because of them that they were able to "take back" America. Steve is naturally confused. Was the country invaded? However, the Captain America Corps (title drop) get spotted by a bunch of cops dressed in black uniforms with gold masks.
Their uniforms are based on the obscure character known as the Americop. First appearing in Captain America #428 (June 1994), created by Mark Gruenwald and Dave Hoover, Bart Gallows was a former Houston PD officer who grew disillusioned with the police's inability to stop the lawless. He would resign and become an independent vigilante.
U.S. Agent brawls with the Americops, forcing the Corps to flee. They get pursued by an Americop who's got himself a jetpack.
Yup, they fly now. With help from the boys, American Dream is able to disable the flying Americop. They look for a place to hide, but get blocked by a giant shield, wielded by what looks to be a giant robot Captain America.
Meet the Ameridroid, another obscure piece of Cap's past. First appearing in Captain America #218 (February 1978), the Ameridroid was a powerful robot built by a Nazi scientist named Lyle Dekker. Dekker's mind would end up inside the robot. He's basically Captain America as a giant robot, and he's pretty tough. Our heroes are in trouble...
This issue was really good. In fact, I consider the entire miniseries really underrated and worth a read. Roger Stern really shows his knowledge of Cap's history, and it's great seeing allusions to obscure parts of the Captain's past adventures. As a bit of a nut for obscure characters, I was happy to see them here, used in a way that make sense: the Americop concept being morphed into a fascistic police force, and the Ameridroid being a powerful enforcer. Stern is a writer that to me, never really got the spotlight he deserved, despite the great work he put in on Captain America, Avengers, and Spider-Man.
From what I can remember, this miniseries was my first exposure to the art of Philippe Briones, who is a French animator and comic book artist. He worked on "A Goofy Movie". And it's really good. It's very clear, and there are points where I can really "see" the movement between panels, no doubt his experience as an animator showing.
Captain America Corps is a miniseries that I never see anyone talk about. And to me, that's a shame. It's very good, and a very underrated Cap story. If you ever find the 2011 trade paperback Captain America Corps somewhere, please pick it up. You'll love it. I guarantee it.
thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, spread it around! Join me next time, as in honor of Black History Month, I take a look at an adventure of a young hero that only has one question: What's up, danger?!
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