Apr 1984
An American Christmas!
by J. M. DeMatteis, Paul Neary, Ed Baretto, Diana Albers, Bob Sharen, Mark Gruenwald
Steve Rogers and Bernie Rosenthal goof around after he tells her about his encounter with the giant black crow which was first seen in Captain America (1968) 290. Their horseplay gets interrupted by Steve’s roommate, Jack Monroe. He tries to give them some privacy but they insist that he stay.
Jessie Black Crow, a wheelchair bound, former construction worker who lives in Queens, reflects on his past and that of his people. He knows what has to be done. He must kill Captain America in order to set things right.
Black Crow attacks Steve weeks later while he and Bernie are out shopping for Christmas gifts. Black Crow has Steve down on the ground but settles for cutting a few locks of Steve’s hair rather than killing him.
Black Crow vanishes and isn’t seen again until Christmas Eve when Steve and Bernie are hosting a Christmas party. A small black crow appears at the window. Steve knows what it means. He apologizes to his guests and then rushes out into the night. He follows the bird to the Brooklyn Bridge.
Nomad and Bernie follow Steve but they are unable to help him. Captain America and Black Crow fight on the bridge, high in the air. The fight ends when Captain America stops attacking and instead kneels before Black Crow. The two men embrace and then Black Crow disappears.
Bernie and Nomad come running up after the fight. She asks Steve to marry her. Nomad stands and watches as the two lovers kiss.
Several days later, the Avengers (Captain America, Thor, Captain Marvel [Monica Rambeau], Vision, Scarlet Witch, Mockingbird, Hawkeye, Starfox, She-Hulk, Wasp) approach an alien device that materialized in Central Park. Six of them (Captain America, Captain Marvel, Thor, Wasp, Hawkeye, She-Hulk) step into the device and vanish.
Notes
There is no letters column or Bullpen Bulletins page in this issue.
This is the first issue of Paul Neary’s run as penciler of Captain America. He remained the regular penciler of the book for just over 3 years. His last issue was Captain America 331 (Jul 1987).
This is the first appearance of Black Crow.
The vanishing Avengers story on the last page of this issue is picked up in the Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars limited series.
Thoughts
This reads a bit like a one off story but I am pretty sure that there will be some follow up on this story a few issues down the road. I wonder about the evolution and ideas behind this story. DeMatteis is clearly saying something about Captain America being a symbol for a country and a government that horribly mistreated Native Americans.
No comments:
Post a Comment