Captain America Omnibus (Marvel Omnibus) Hardcover – January 1, 2011

I love this book now, especially in the oversized Omnibus format. So much better than the Masterworks size. But I must confess that when these issues of Cap first appeared I hated them. During this time I was in law school, a Marvel fanatic and bought almost all Marvel printed. Cap had been a favorite since Avengers 4, and with Lee, Steranko and others enjoyed a wonderful history. Then came the return of Kirby, the focus of this book.Kirby came back to Marvel in the mid 70's at a time the Marvel Universe was both expanding and experiencing a cohesiveness across the books that was unique. Too, the storytelling and tenor of the story lines was targeted to a high school and college audience. You had Wolfman's "Tomb of Dracula", Englehart and Brunner on "Dr. Strange", Starlin on "Captain Marvel", Claremont and Byrne tearing up "X-Men", a truly cosmic and mythic Thor, and many more. Stories were more mature, more relevant and part of a Marvel Universe Continuity. Into this boiling pot of new creativity dropped Kirby on Captain America. His was an older format. Forties and Fifties Monsters and Nazi villains every month and dialogue aimed more at the 10 year old than the "new" Marvel Audience. Although not stated, Kirby's Cap was not part of the Marvel continuity. The Kirby Cap and the Avengers Cap were separate entities. Drove me crazy. Every month I prayed that someone else would edit or script. The art was pure Kirby, exploding off the pages, but the scripting mirrored Kirby's childish 40's Cap and was almost anti-Marvel.All that said, I do love this book. Reading the stories today, when they are not being compared to the next issue of Captain Marvel, the 70's Avengers, or Amazing Spiderman in your stack of monthly books allows one to appreciate Kirby's work on its own merits. And that art, wow. Great fun. Now.

When Jack Kirby came back to the iconic character he created in the 1940s in collaboration with Joe Simon, the stories were bigger, wilder and one could even say crazier than anything he'd previously done on the series. Much has been written about Kirby's supposed shortcomings as a writer, but he knows Cap inside and out and isn't afraid to take on the country's complex political landscape of the 1970s. Collecting up "Bicentennial Battles", "Madbomb," "The Swine" and King-Sized Annual #3 ("The Thing From the Black Hole Star"), this can been seen as "King" Kirby's last hurrah. It belongs on a bookshelf with "Golden Age Captain America" and "Captain America" (the omnibus featuring the stories from the character's 1960s revival). The stories inked by Frank Giacoia bring a uniformity to the stories that makes it (look at least like) a genuine continuation of his middle-period work on the star-spangled avenger. By this time, even his heroes had begun to look more grotesque than they ever had before, but Giacoia mutes this somewhat and brings the overall look of these adentures more in line with the stories that had preceded them . If you love Kirby (and what diehard Marvel Comics fan doesn't?), this is a keeper.

The ideas kept pouring out of Jack Kirby's active, fertile mind. Returning to Captain America, Kirby presented lunatic fringe within the country trying to overthrow individuals' rights (hmmm...), went beyond physical combat, beyond chemical warfare and into madbombs - psychic battle! That was his first story arc, from Captain America #193-200.This volume oddly starts with the Treasury Special, Captain America's Bicentennial Battles and Captain America Annual #3. These, as well as the concluding tale reprinted from Captain America Annual #4 were stand-alone tales that did not fall into even the continuity of Kirby's run in #193-214, but these are odd placements to be sure. (I prefer the sequence in the 3 trade paperbacks, putting all three together between #200 & 201. Ah, well.)Extras include the covers from the aforementioned TPBs and 5 covers in pencil form, 2 more than the softcovers. The reprinted bio of Kirby that was in the third volume is missing, but it was sparse anyway. The letters columns are not included, which is nice; the editorial slant from the assistant who did not like Kirby's work here slanted the columns with negative comments and do not make for good reading.All in all, a wonderful collection of some of Jack's final work for Marvel Comics.

Kirby came back to Marvel at the time of their original publication. A lot of fans disagree with me, however I do believe this was Kirby's best run on Captain America. I only wish that the editors left him on the book without the negative letters. Mad Bomb was my favorite. The rest all follow Kirby's view of the character. I loved the fact that Kirby was alble to write without Lee's influence. While many fans at that time (1976) didn't embrace the period Kirby came from; I understood it was coming from someone in the World War II era.I enjoyed this work in it's original run and hope other readers embrace Kirby's art as much as I do. It's too bad that more of his work can't be presented in this omnibus format. It's worth every penney!I do have to add that the pages are oversize and re-colored especially for this edition. It's a vast improvment over the original colors. I bought these during their original publication in late 75'to early 77'. Nothing matches the bright and vibrant colors in this edition.

The book itself came in excellent condition. The binding is one of the best of many omnibused I own. The only slight criticism of the physical condition is that the paper is somewhat lower quality than omnibuses from the past. I've noticed a trend of marvel using cheaper and cheaper paper all across the board.As for the content, the Kirby art doesn't disappoint although storyline I would not say this is Kirby's best. His other marvel work at the time such as Eternals and 2001 seems more representative of his best, but Captain America is just "eh".

Criado por Jack Kirby em parceria com Joe Simon, em 1941, o Capitão América foi revivido pelo artista, agora numa parceira com Stan Lee, nos anos 60 e posteriormente revisitado por ele entre os anos 1975-76, e todos os números desse reencontro estão aqui.Não foi um período isento de percalços: Kirby era conhecido por ignorar totalmente a continuidade dos demais títulos da Marvel enquanto roteirizava suas obras. Isso aconteceu com a revista do Pantera Negra também, por exemplo. E nesse caso os leitores americanos reclamaram muito, o que pode ser constatado nas seções de cartas, muito oportunamente reproduzidas aqui. Aliás, esta é a grande diferença entre este Omnibus gringo e o similar publicado no Brasil, pela Panini.Mas nada disso empalidece a genialidade do Criador que, ainda que ignorando as relações entre personagens (Asa Vermelha, o companheiro inseparável do Falcão, por exemplo, desaparece totalmente nesta fase) e títulos (os Vingadores nunca são mencionados) entrega histórias interessantes e principalmente uma arte empolgante e cheia de energia.

disappointing though, as the book was sold as new by JUDS STOCK SOLUTIONS LIMI but dust jacket delivered with serveral impacts, although being protected by schrink-wrap...

Jack the King Kirby returns to the character he created all those decades before and it's a glorious and utterly barking run of stories. Kirby's kinetic, dynamic art is absolutely top notch.

Der Band ist super! ein muß für jeden Comic-Fan.Der Band ist perfekt, alle Kirby Ausgaben des 70er Jahre runs sind enthalten, einziges manko ist das für mich zu weisse Hochglanzpapier und die neuen zu grellen farben. DC-Comics macht das mit seinen Kirby-Omnibussen besser.Zu den Comics an sich:es ist ein sehr fetter Band, manche Storys sind super, manche eher lahm.... ich denke Kirby waren andere Serien wichter als Cap. Amerika, dennoch, ein Meilenstein.bei Kirby-Comics, die nach 1963 entstanden sind kann man keinen Fehler machen, einfach kaufen, es hat einen Grund warum Kirby der König der Comics genannt wird!

Arte de Jack Kirby espetacular. Livro capa dura com acabamento superior. Realmente um omnibus diferenciado.