Dec 1984
Cap vs. the Red Skull… to the Death! or Das Ende!
by J. M. DeMatteis, Michael Ellis, Paul Neary, Dennis Janke, Diana Albers, Bob Sharen, Mark Gruenwald
Captain America and the Red Skull fight. The Red Skull is convinced that this is their destiny, to die fighting one another. Captain America is enraged at the death of his friends but he refuses to kill the Red Skull when given the chance. He instead holds back and the poison kills the Red Skull.
Cap carries the Red Skull from the bunker only to discover that Skull House was not destroyed as he thought it was.
Nomad, Falcon, Bernie, and Arnie escape from the building where they were being held.
Dave Cox awakens from the coma. He thanks Captain America for giving him the strength to wake up but it was Black Crow who actually came to his help. Jesse Black Crow also helps Cap to recover from the Red Skull’s poison. Cap sees Black Crow in his mind but not with his eyes, just like Dave Cox.
The battle with the Red Skull is over, at last. Captain America and his friends are free. Black Crow played a pivotal role. The narration indicates that he and Captain America have some sort of bond, that they are brothers or kin of a sort. Steve Rogers is cured of the poison but he still looks old at the end of the issue.
Black Crow is not in the next issue. His next appearance isn’t until Daredevil 225 (Dec 1985). His next appearance in a Captain America comic book isn’t until Captain America 440 (Jun 1995).
There is nothing particularly noteworthy in this story for me. I suppose the death of the Red Skull is an important milestone but people frequently return from the dead in comic books by scientific or magical means. The Red Skull manages just such a feat, 4 years later, according to my research, in Captain America 350 (Feb 1989).
This was originally slated to be a double-sized issue. It was scaled back to a regular-sized issue when Jim Shooter disapproved of the direction that DeMatteis wanted to take the book.
Just one more issue to go and then I will be done with this story and this run of Captain America. These last few issues have been a bit of a slog.
American Graffiti
There is an image of the Red Skull and Captain America, without their masks on, throwing punches at one another in place of letters. Above the image is written, The End of a Era! Below it is written Next Issue: Old Heroes Don’t Die…!
Bullpen Bulletins
Jim Shooter pays tribute to Sol Brodsky (1923-1984) who died on June 4, 1984. Brodsky worked at Marvel for a few decades as Production Manager, Vice President (Operations), and Vice President (Special Projects). He worked at Marvel from the early 1950s until his death. The image of Brodsky included here was also used as the cover image for Marvel Age 22 (Jan 1985).
No comments:
Post a Comment