(March 1984)

Marvel, 1984 Series
Volume
1
Price
2.00 USD; 2.25 CAD
Pages
52
Indicia Frequency
monthly
On-sale Date
1983-11-29
Indicia / Colophon Publisher
Marvel Comics Group
Brand
Marvel [standalone or inside vertical box]
Editing
Jim Salicrup (credited) (reprint editor); Jim Shooter (credited) (editor-in-chief)

Issue Notes

Collects Jim Steranko stories from 1969 & 1967. On-sale date from Marvel Age #6 (1983), within Last Minute Additions... column, with with newsstand on-sale date of 1983-12-20.

[The Strange Death of Captain America] (Table of Contents)

Captain America / cover / 1 page (report information)

Script
Jim Steranko
Pencils
Jim Steranko (signed)
Inks
Jim Steranko (signed)
Colors
Ken Feduniewicz; George Roussos
Letters
Jim Steranko (logo)

Genre
superhero
Characters
Captain America (statue); HYDRA; Rick Jones
Reprints

Introduction (Table of Contents: 1)

text article / 1 page (report information)

Script
Jim Salicrup
Letters
typeset

Indexer Notes

Jim Salicrup discusses Steranko's career, his magazine MEDIASCENE PREVUE and this issue's contents. He mistakenly refers to the Nick Fury story reprinted in this issue as coming from STRANGE TALES #169 rather than #159!

The Strange Death of Captain America (Table of Contents: 2)

Captain America / comic story / 20 pages (report information)

Script
Jim Steranko (plot); Stan Lee (dialogue)
Pencils
Jim Steranko
Inks
Tom Palmer
Colors
Ken Feduniewicz; George Roussos
Letters
Artie Simek
Editing
Stan Lee (original story editor)

Genre
superhero
Characters
Madame Hydra; HYDRA; Rick Jones; Vision; Black Panther [T'Challa]; Iron Man [Tony Stark]; Hawkeye [Clint Barton]; Thor [Dr. Don Blake]; Nick Fury; Sharon Carter; Jasper Sitwell (cameo); Dum Dum Dugan (cameo); Gabe Jones (cameo); Captain America [Steve Rogers]
Synopsis
The news reports Cap's death and explains that "Steve Rogers" was a fake identity while Madame Hydra has Cap's HYDRA file burned. A flashback reveals how she replaced Baron Strucker as head of the organization. The Avengers, Nick Fury, Sharon Carter and several SHIELD agents hold a wake but are suddenly gassed by HYDRA. Rick follows to the cemetery and is almost caught, but Cap unexpectedly appears on a motorcycle, very much alive! A battle follows, ending when a set of missiles miss their target and kill Madame Hydra. Cap reveals he faked his death in order to retain his secret identity.
Reprints

Indexer Notes

Part 3 of 3. The climax of this story in part pays tribute to "Spy Ambush" from CAPTAIN AMERICA COMICS #10 (January 1942). Nick Fury presumably appears between NICK FURY #11-12. HYDRA would finally return to battle SHIELD this month in NICK FURY #12 (May 1969). After all the effort to get Cap and Rick together as a regular team, it would prove short-lived, as Roy Thomas and Gil Kane wound up teaming Rick with Captain Mar-Vell in CAPTAIN MARVEL #17 (October 1969).

Following the cancellation of NICK FURY, Nick, SHIELD and HYDRA became recurring elements in the CAPTAIN AMERICA series. In the wake of Baron Strucker's demise, most HYDRA stories beginning with this one involve regional factions rather than one big, centralized organization. Although she appeared to have been killed at the end of this episode, Madame Hydra would return-- renaming herself "The Viper"-- in CAPTAIN AMERICA #180 (December 1974).

Dark Moon Rise, Heck Hound Hurt (Table of Contents: 3)

Knock Furious, Agent of S.H.E.E.S.H. / comic story / 7 pages (report information)

Script
Arnold Drake
Pencils
Frank Springer
Inks
Tom Sutton
Colors
Ken Feduniewicz; George Roussos
Letters
Herb Cooper
Editing
Stan Lee (original story editor)

Genre
satire-parody; spy
Characters
The Hound Of Ravenmad [Snoopy]; Knock Furious; Lord Ravenmad; Cousin Gotta Lotta Gaul; Cousin Edgar Allan Schmoe; Cousin Vava Va Voom; Cousin Robert Mashem; Colonel Von Twothreefour (Nazi Corps commander, Hitler confidante, torture-camp recreation director, general sadist-about-town); Arnold Drake (writer, raconteur, rotten pool player); Frank Springer (artist, designer, martini enthusiast)
Synopsis
After a huge beagle attacks a Scotsman & chews up his bagpipe, Knock Furious is hired to investigate the mystery of Ravenbad Castle. When some "pea-brained, sieve-headed, vacuum-skulled idiot" opens a door Knock was rushing to break down, he finds himself in the castle's "sub-cellar"-- so called because it's got a sub (also twelve planes, three tanks, and four nuclear-armed missles). At that point, Arnold Drake finds he's stuck for the rest of the plot, and he and Frank Springer toss ideas around-- until Knock can take no more!!
Reprints

Indexer Notes

A parody of Jim Steranko's "Dark Moon Rise, Hell Hound Kill!" from NICK FURY, AGENT OF SHIELD #3 (August 1968). This was published only 4 months after the original. Frank Springer had become the regular artist on SHIELD at the time this came out (and doing this may have been what caused Herb Trimpe to have to pitch in on pencils for NICK FURY #8). "Knock Furious" header removed from splash page for this reprint.

My Heart Broke In Hollywood! (Table of Contents: 4)

comic story / 7 pages (report information)

Script
Stan Lee
Pencils
Jim Steranko
Inks
Jim Steranko
Colors
Ken Feduniewicz; George Roussos
Letters
?
Editing
Stan Lee (original story editor)

Genre
romance
Characters
Wendy Nelson; Victoria Grant ["Vick"] (aspiring actress); Artur Lavelle (movie director)
Synopsis
Wendy and Victoria go to Hollywood to make it in pictures, and meet director Artur Lavelle, whom "Vick" falls in love with.
Reprints

Indexer Notes

Steranko's last story for Marvel.

Spy School (Table of Contents: 5)

Nick Fury / comic story / 12 pages (report information)

Script
Jim Steranko
Pencils
Jim Steranko
Inks
Jim Steranko
Colors
Ken Feduniewicz; George Roussos
Letters
Jerry Feldmann
Editing
Stan Lee (original story editor)

Genre
spy; superhero
Characters
Dum Dum Dugan; Jasper Sitwell; Nick Fury; Gabe Jones; Laura Brown; Yancy Street Gang (flashback cameo); Mamma Fury (flashback cameo); Jake Fury (unnamed; flashback cameo); The Gaff [Sidney E. Levine]; Val [Contessa Valentina Allegro De Fontaine]; Captain America [Steve Rogers]
Synopsis
Fury reminisces with Laura about his days growing up in Hell's Kitchen and later offers her a job as an agent. Attending a training session for recruits Fury meets two agents: Sidney E. Levine, a tech expert (who agrees to replace Fury's destroyed Porsche 904) and Val, who scoffs at his attitude that the spy game is man's work. Fury takes on Captain America in a display bout for the recruits, but gets dizzy due to a side-effect of the invisibility pill he used earlier. Cap tells him he's found out who was responsible for a job they tackled "a year ago"-- "The Big Blackout".
Reprints

Indexer Notes

Part 1 of 9. 1st appearance of Fury's apartment, The Gaff & Val. During the fight, Cap mentions the last time he and Fury met was when they fought "THEM"'s Humanoid Assassin in TALES OF SUSPENSE #78 (June 1966). That story was clearly Cap and Fury's 1st meeting since WW2 in SGT. FURY AND HIS HOWLING COMMANDOS #13 (December 1964), as Cap had been trying to contact Fury for months about possibly becoming a SHIELD agent (seen in several issues of THE AVENGERS). Yet 4 pages later, Cap refers to a job they tackled together "a year ago". (Perhaps "The Big Blackout" took place immediately after TOS #78, as there was a break between issues #78 and #79.) Meanwhile, after loitering in the shadows outside Stark Industries for 2 months, Jasper Sitwell would become a regular in the Iron Man series in TALES OF SUSPENSE #95 (November 1967).

Featuring: The Great Captain America! (Table of Contents: 6)

Nick Fury / cover reprint (on interior page) / 1 page (report information)

Script
Jim Steranko
Pencils
Jim Steranko
Inks
Jim Steranko
Colors
Ken Feduniewicz; George Roussos
Letters
?
Editing
Stan Lee

Genre
spy; superhero
Characters
Nick Fury; Captain America [Steve Rogers]
Reprints

Indexer Notes

Back cover.

Editing
Related Scans
Series Information
Table of Contents
  1. 0. [The Strange Death of Captain America]
    Captain America
  2. 1. Introduction
  3. 2. The Strange Death of Captain America
    Captain America
  4. 3. Dark Moon Rise, Heck Hound Hurt
    Knock Furious, Agent of S.H.E.E.S.H.
  5. 4. My Heart Broke In Hollywood!
  6. 5. Spy School
    Nick Fury
  7. 6. Featuring: The Great Captain America!
    Nick Fury
This issue was modified by, among others
  • Nick Caputo
  • Steve Coates
  • Robert K. S. Croy, Sr.
  • Steve Jenner
  • Henry R. Kujawa
  • Derek Reinhard
  • Ramon Schenk
  • Jim Van Dore