It’s time to reach within my memory banks and pick out my favorite Captain America battles. There’s plenty of shield slashing fun to be had. The movies have actually done a good job in showcasing Cap’s impressive fighting skills, particularly Captain America 2: The Winter Soldier. I ‘m old enough to remember a time when the 1990 Captain America movie was all we had in terms of Cap on screen. Sigh… a bad movie but I loved it as a kid!
5. Captain America vs Daredevil: Streets Of Poison – By Mark Grunwald & Ron Lim
What a way to start the list. Hero vs hero. Cap does indeed go nuts, but there’s a twist. The whole story, and particularly this one, is a cautionary tale about drugs. Turns out that Cap is high as a kite. This turns him into a very paranoid and angry super solider. Daredevil steps in to try to “knock” some sense into him.Usually these covers don’t represent the quality or length of any fight between two heroes. In this case It’s a great fight and it surprisingly satisfies. Ron Lim turns in some exciting acton scenes. There is also the added treat of watching Red Skull & Kingpin go toe to toe!
4. Captain America vs Zahnmorder: Captain America: Sentinel Of Liberty : By Fabian Nicieza & Kevin Maguire
I find that this mini series is criminally underrated. It’s a very cool re imagining of Cap’s origin with terrific art to boot. Kevin Maguire is at the top of his game in this one. His skills particualirly shine when he pairs Cap against the evil Zahnmorder. There’s a real danger to this fight that made it impossible for me to look away. It’s Cap’s first real test as the super solider and man, is he ever tested. Add another Nazi henchmen and you got yourself a real fight! I urge you to find this gem and see for yourself.
3. Captain America vs The Winter Soldier: The Winter Soldier: By Ed Brubaker & Steve Epting
No surprise to have an Ed Brubaker tale on this list. This is actually the first story arc he ever wrote when he started his epic run on Cap. To me it’s so good that nothing managed to eclipse it. Bringing back Bucky Barnes turned out to be a monumental move that is still felt in the Marvel Universe today. The movies only exemplify that. Much like Batman and the death of Jason Todd, Bucky’s death haunted Cap for years. His best friend , now turned foe. The emotional weight of accepting that Bucky is lost and not coming back is really what makes this fight stand out. Sure, it’s a great fight aesthetically, but it’s Cap’s refusal to give up hope , that makes it compelling and emotionally draining all at once.
2. Captain America vs Red Skull: Captain America: Sentinel Of Liberty : By Fabian Nicieza & Kevin Maguire
Yup. This mini series makes an appearance on this list again. This time it’s the grand finale with none other than Cap’s greatest foe. The Red Skull. I think this mini series was a large inspiration for the Marvel films. I dare say, it was a bit bolder than said films. It kept the Nazi overtones. So much so, that the last fight is an arena brawl, filled with onlookers. Among them is Hitler proudly anticipating the humiliation of an American icon at the hands of the ” superior” Nazi fighter, Wonderfully drawn again by Kevin Maguire. The prestige format well deserved for this Mini series.
1. Captain America vs Iron Man( Round 2) : Civil War: By Mark Millar & Steve McNiven
As you can see plenty of reason to be excited for Marvel’s upcoming Civil War film. It’s a bit of a easy pick for fans. As mentioned before, having two heroes duke it out is extremely satisfying for some reason. I suppose it’s just an excuse to end nerdy arguments among fans regarding who would beat who in a fight. In this case I never really thought Cap would lose. Even though logic dictates that Iron Man is more than a worthy combatant. Sure enough, Cap and Iron Man fight twice in this story. ( spoiler) in round one, Tony beats the crap out of Captain America. It’s really pretty one sided but the rematch is a more even affair and Cap gets his revenge. The unique thing about this whole hero vs hero scenario, is that they both actually have a compelling reason to fight each other. I mean, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen Hero B run into hero A in his own comic and just start fighting each other. For no other reason than because they happen to be in their respective city, Eventually they battle for about a page or two and end up teaming up. This is a more common trope with inter company crossovers but still. Civil War never really had any of that There was a finality to the fight that made it all the more dramatic. We were left with the feeling that things would never be the same after these events.
Let’s see how faithful Marvel studios stays to the comic when it ends up coming out next year.
Stay tuned for my next installment featuring Spider-man!
Hey Val – you’ve picked some good ones here … I’ll be honest, Cap was never my favorite comic book hero (I love his movies though), as he was always too goody/goody if you know what I mean? I know he was Marvel’s answer to Superman and his red/white and blue all American goodness, but it felt like they took it too far.
His personality has been balanced out nicely in the movies though & leavened with an appropriate amount of humor (“language”) which is I think what the books were missing.
Civil War did change this for me however as I really started to enjoy Cap and his conflict with Iron Man in that book … I jumped in and out of the series as it was tied into too many different titles, but I really enjoyed the way he fought and acted in that one.
Hey thanks for the comment. I was actually surprised that Cap was anti government in Civil War. It seemed out of character for him until I heard his reasoning. I agree that the movies do Cap justice but I think that they stayed pretty faithful to his character. Probably one of the most faithful actually. The humor they add is just enough where they don’t rely on it.