The First Avenger was First a Howling Commando!

Ahhhhh the scintillating Silver Age of Marvel Comics! Throughout comics history appearances and histories have become a bit muddled, constantly being rewritten, reworked, reinvented, and reimagined. This topic will be the focus of the next installment of SUPER-BLOG TEAM UP (publishing on Feb 19^th) and yours truly, Jubilant Jeff V, will be exploring the reintroduction of one of the MOST beloved creations of the Joe Simon/Jack Kirby era into the Silver Age! Now for a bit of background and then onto the fun (and by that I mean none other than FANTASTIC panels of course). One of the most popular and well known issues in all of comicdom is Avengers #4 (March 1964) which features the reintroduction of Captain America into the Silver Age of Comics! As it is well known, Cap got his beginnings WAY back in the Golden Age of Comics and was a monumental hit during war time. Stan the Man, ever with his ever-loving finger on the pulse of comicdom decided that he wanted to test the waters a bit in November of 1963 and see what kind of reception the Golden Age Gladiator of the Red, White, and Blue would get in the Silver Age and what we got was a Stan Lee/Steve Ditko team up that brought us…STRANGE TALES #114. 

On my bookshelf sits a fantastic little gem that I picked up back before Christmas time entitled “Stan Lee’s Amazing Marvel Universe” which features Stan’s handpicked favorite moments during his time at Marvel, complete with audio commentary by Stan himself! In it, Stan discusses Strange Tales #114 and the myriad of fan mail that Stan received about how excited readers were to see Captain America again (even if the story turned out to be an imposter, the fact that Cap was still there in some form was what Stan was looking for feedback on). 

So, what was Stan’s answer to this demand by the readers to see more Cap? Well the answer for that can be found right on the cover of Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos #13 (December 1964)! 

 

The line right under Commandos on the cover reads “Guest Starring: (In Answer to the Greatest Reader Demand in Marvel’s History) Captain America and Bucky! This issue featured Cap back in his Golden Age glory battling Nazi Germany, but this time he was fighting alongside the ever-loving Sgt. Nick Fury!

So loyal readers and followers of SAS, there ya have it! Cap, as himself, physically appeared and was published months before his triumphant and much heralded return to the Silver Age in March of 1964 on the pages of Avengers #4. The caveat here though is that though Cap did return on the pages of Sgt. Fury #13, he was “returning” as the Cap of the Golden Age, as a continuation of his story line, where on the pages of Avengers #4 Captain America was starting anew but that my friends is a story for another day, on another platform, the platform of…SUPER-BLOG TEAM UP!!! Until then…EXCLESIOR!