Captain America #239 Is a Snapshot Of One of Marvel’s Greatest Eras

Captain America is Marvel Comics‘ greatest legend. While today, we think of Marvel as the most dominant force in superheroes (even if their comic sales have fallen in recent years), but it wasn’t that way back in the Golden Age. Timely, the future Marvel Comics, entered the superhero game because of the success of DC Comics. While DC was creating iconic characters left and right, Timely only created a handful, with Captain America being the only one that survived into the 1950s. He was the only Golden Age Marvel icon (yes, I know about Namor and the original Human Torch, and neither of them are icons, neither is Bucky; I said what I said) and his return in Avengers (Vol. 1) #4 was one of the big Silver Age turning points for the company. He’s since become one of the most popular superheroes in the world.

Marvel Comics and Captain America have changed a lot since his debut in 1941. There have been numerous eras of Marvel and Cap has been important to all of them. He’s the leader of the Marvel Universe, the hero everyone looks to his, and his books have taken him in many different directions. One of the most interesting periods for the character was the ’70s. This was the decade of Marvel stepping out of shadows of Stan Lee and took Cap in his most interesting direction – seeing him give up the stars and stripes for the first time and becoming the Nomad. Marvel in the ’70s was in a state of flux, but one of the best periods of the decade was its later years. From this era came Captain America (Vol. 1) #239. This issue is a pretty standard Cap story, but it comes from one of the most interesting phases of Marvel history. The late ’70s were an amazing time for the publisher and Captain America (Vol. 1) #239 is a perfect example of what was in the air in the Marvel Universe and thanks to the ComicBook Vending Machine, you can own it.

The Late ’70s Prepared Marvel for Their Greatest Decade

I’m going to level with you – Captain America #239 is not going to be confused with the best Captain America stories of all time. It’s basically a run of the mill comic from 1979, seeing Cap dealing with the threat of the Mind-Master. There’s an amazing John Byrne/Terry Austin cover, and the story comes from the team of Peter Gillis and Fred Kida, two creators you’ve never heard of. There’s no big debuts and he doesn’t have one of his many partners; this is just Cap fighting his way into a villain’s base and foiling Mind-Master’s plot to use the psychic Snowfall into his personal assassin. It’s a good comic, one that if you paid 40 cents for, you’d be pretty happy.

The ’70s are one of Marvel’s strangest decades. The ’60s were the massive boom times that defined the publisher, creating the stars that we’re still talking about today. The ’70s started out as a victory lap of sorts, but the creators of the House of Ideas never rested on their laurels. We got all kinds of amazing new characters like Luke Cage, Iron Fist, She-Hulk, Wolverine, Punisher, and Ms. Marvel. The X-Men for their second chance in 1974 and began their upward climb. Roy Thomas’s run on the Avengers would truly make the group into Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. As the years went on, we got some amazing runs on numerous books and Marvel was riding high, slapping down the DC Explosion, which saw the distinguished competition flood the market with books to compete with the publisher.

The last few years of the decade saw Marvel begin to set up “The Dark Phoenix Saga” in Uncanny X-Men (although back then, it was still titled X-Men) and put out the brilliant “Korvac Saga” in Avengers. It was a time of growth for the publisher, with creators like George Perez, Jim Shooter, Chris Claremont, Frank Miller, John Byrne, Len Wein, David Michelenie, Roger Stern, and many more putting out brilliant stories. There was a lot of amazingly imaginative stories coming from the House of Ideas at the end of the ’70s and Captain America (Vol. 1) #239 is a perfect example of exactly what the publisher was working with.

It’s an exciting popcorn movie of a comic, with some excellent action and an engaging plot, as Cap does his best to brave the dangers of the Mind-Master. There’s some fun flashbacks but one of the things that sticks with me about the book is the way that it doesn’t feel like modern Cap stories. Too often, Cap stories can get to be a little too much about who he is and what he represents. In 1979, everyone knew what he represented, so they didn’t need to read stories that talked about it every year, they just wanted good superhero stories. Marvel was giving them more of those than anybody at the end of the ’70s and Captain America (Vol. 1) #239 is a perfect example of that. It helped set the stage for Marvel’s massive successes of the ’80s, when the publisher would create definitive stories for a variety of their characters.

Captain America (Vol. 1) #239 Is Impressive In Its Own Way

The ’70s saw Marvel do their best to expand on their universe and the end of the decade saw them ramping up their biggest franchises for the ’80s. In that decade, we’d get amazing runs on the X-Men, the Avengers, the Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, Iron Man, Daredevil, and many more. It was a time of wild experimentation, but it wouldn’t have been possible without the chances took in the ’70s. The House of Ideas did their best to expand on the domicile of story they had built and that paid off in the next decade. A lot of people love ’60s Marvel and that’s valid, but for my money there’s nothing like the ’80s. The ’70s served as a perfect bridge between these two eras and Captain America #239 is endemic of why that time was so fun.

Captain America (Vol. 1) #239 isn’t some groundbreaking comic, it’s just a standard superhero comic of 1979. Cap fights a couple of villains and saves a girl, saving SHIELD from a psychic threat that would have devastated them. It’s just a cool superhero story, one that will draw you in perfectly. These old comics gave you your money’s worth and this one is no different. It’s not a key comic, but it’s definitely worth your time.