Sunday, July 27, 2014

Captain America Annual #11 (Citizen Kang, Part 1)




Normally, I hate cross-over events in which after you read Book A you then must buy Book C and then to finish up you’ve got to buy Book B. It’s a tricky ploy by publishers to increase sales and to force readers to buy lower selling (and usually lower quality) titles in order to complete a storyline. But in the 80s and 90s, Marvel and DC would often link their annuals into a summer-long storyline bonanza!

Maybe I am biased but I loved those events! There’s several reasons why- 1: reading was one of the few joys I had during the summer. 2- The publishers did a great job with checklists and putting the part numbers on the covers. And 3- the grocery stores and pharmacy near my house were more likely to carry the annuals and that meant I could stock up every week my mom went grocery shopping.

In this ‘event’ Captain America is on the hunt for fellow Avenger the Vision. Vision recently discovered during a diagnostic run that one of his circuitry parts were from 1939, years before he was even built. But during his mission to uncover the anachronism, the Vision went missing. So, Cap is hoping to discover what happened to his friend and teammate. But one wrong turn in the small town his is visiting’s only factory means that the hero of WWII has been thrust into pre-biblical times! Now hoping to return to his home time, Cap must team up with another fellow Avenger, Gilgamesh- only this Gilgamesh is from a time prior to becoming an Avenger and doesn’t speak English!

Along with this thrilling adventure, we get a look at Cap’s top 10 villains of all-time. Also, there’s the beginning of an ‘oral history’ of Kang the Conqueror’s. Plus there’s a couple of great pin-up, though if you were to clip them out of this annual your comic’s value would sink like a stone in a lake.

This is a really enjoyable issue that I would’ve loved as a kid to have had in my grubby mitts. The art is a little to 90s for my taste but it’s not the worst offering I have seen. There are 3 more parts to this storyline and I am looking forward to them as well as learning more about the most confusing character in the Marvel Universe- Kang!

Worth Consuming.
Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

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