Although one would expect Captain America to be be the spearhead in the 60s Marvel battles with Communism, there is only one story in this book with a Communist villain. For the most part, Cap is shown battling sinister organizations and remnants of the Nazis. And Battle he does, Kirby shows more kinetic energy in these stories than any of the other series he worked on. Perhaps it was the fact that his connection with Cap goes back to the 40s. Every story shines with drawings of Captain America flipping, jumping and slamming his way through battle after battle. And we get classic stories from the 60s-the Sleepers, Nazi superweapons programmed to arise in the 60s, The Cosmic Cube, the most powerful device in the universe. Add to this great villains like the Red Skull, Zemo, the Adaptoid and Modok. I only have one quibble with the book, the starkness of the black and white art does not allow us to see Cap is risking his neck to rescue a black Air Force pilot from Vietnam-the pilot is white here. In many pages, the Black Panther when out of costume is white. The only inkling we get that the greatest of the black superheroes is actually black comes because some of the pages had to be photocopied from actual comics. The Panther was a groundbreaking character in comics but his relevance is almost lost in this anthology.

Alright, let's clear the air as far as reviews go. Yes, this is a black and white book (ALL Marvel's "Essential" books are), and the print is only a little better than newspaper print, but it still won't smear easily and it's cheap. ...

I do have to knock off one star for the lack of color, but it's still a solid 4 star book for the sheer amount of material presented at such a low cost.

The collected stories are reprints of "Tales of Suspense", the book that featured Cap before he got his own title, from issue #59 (his first appearance in the series) to issue #99. At issue #100 the book was re-titled "Captain America", and issues 100, 101, and 102 are included as well.

Essential Captain America Vol. 2 picks up at issue #103 and runs up to issue #126. But before you criticize 40+ issues in volume 1 vs. 20+ issues in volume 2 , realize that "Tales of Suspense" was a book split between Cap and Iron Man. There may be half the issues in volume 2, but they're twice as long. It all balances out, really.

Just be careful what you expect vs. which volume you order since the same reviews post for both volumes.

The only problem (aside from the black and white that people love to moan about) is some of the writing doesn't hold up so well by today's standards. (Insert "Golly!" here. Or mention somebody in "deadly danger".) Although as long as you take into account the time period this was written in, it's just fine.

Including Avengers issue #4 would have been nice too, since it's Cap's first (true) appearance since WWII, but I guess there's always volumes of Essential Avengers... All things considered, if you want a full run of Cap's coninuity, this is the most financially responsible decision you can make.

I thought this book had some of the best Captain America comics ever! They had great stories of good vs. evil, with patriotic Cap in the lead, and fantastic artwork by the late great, Jack "The King" Kiby. The Red Skull is a featured bad guy quite a bit, and he makes for excellent opposition against Cap. Finally, I like the length of each individual comic in the book. 20 pages is too long, and I like the 12-page format used in all but 3 of the Cap comics. Buy and enjoy the Essential Captain America Volume 1, then buy Volume 2.

Set during the Alaskan gold rush, Tara Kane goes to the Yukon in search of her husband who is believed dead. Her quest leads her in many directions and on many adventures. She is a woman alone in a man's world, beset by trials and tragedy. In the end she overcomes them all but at what price?

Surprise twist ending...bittersweet, exciting, fast paced. Worth reading! I no longer have my copy of it and would love to read it again.