RECOMMONDAY

MARVEL MASTERWORKS, CAPTAIN AMERICA, Volume 3

 

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This volume reprints the run of Captain American comic books #101 – #113 (1968), and it's fascinating for its transition from the intuitive, grotesque, prolific and power-packed brilliance of Jack Kirby to the meticulously planned, slick pop-art brilliance of Jim Steranko.

 

And the comparison is brought into focus by the great Afterword by Steranko, in which he describes his intentions in a page-by-page, panel-by-panel analysis of #110.

 

The differences between the two artists can be seen clearly in the Steranko illustration used for the book's cover, and this Kirby cover.

 

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The book illustrates the beginnings of the shift from the spontaneous, visceral Silver Age to the self-conscious, pretentious Bronze Age.  It's also a lot of fun.

 

Buy it here.