CAPTAIN AMERICA: WHITE

"IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT" | "YOU CAN'T TAKE IT WITH YOU" | "LOST HORIZON"
"A HOLE IN THE HEAD" | "POCKETFUL OF MIRACLES" | "IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE"
Storytellers: Jeph Loeb & Tim Sale | Colors: Dave Stewart
Lettering: Comicraft's Richard Starkings | Design: Comicraft's John Roshell
Production: Idette Winecoor | Consulting Editor: Richard Starkings
Assistant Editor: Jon Moisan | Editor: Mark Paniccia | Editor-in-Chief: Axel Alonso
Chief Creative Officer: Joe Quesada | Publisher: Dan Buckley
Executive Producer: Alan Fine | Captain America created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby

Last year I wrote about the original three Marvel "color" series from Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale -- DAREDEVIL: YELLOW, SPIDER-MAN: BLUE, and HULK: GRAY. I've loved the first two of those since their original releases circa 2003 and they're still very special to me, while GRAY has always left me a little cold. Unfortunately, CAPTAIN AMERICA: WHITE falls closer to the GRAY end of the spectrum than the YELLOW or BLUE end.

WHITE, which originally received a #0 issue back in 2008, finally saw the remainder of its installments published in 2015. Considering the circumstances, it's a remarkably consistent read; I can only assume the script was written entirely in advance. Where the previous three "color" books featured the title characters mourning the losses of the great loves of their lives, WHITE is about Captain America, recently awakened in the modern day, recalling his relationship with his partner and best friend, "Bucky" Barnes.

The story, set in World War II, follows Cap and Bucky on a mission to Europe as they meet up with Nick Fury and his Howling Commandos, then head into Paris to investigate the Red Skull's presence there. In France, the group teams up with a resistance fighter named Maryline, a.k.a. the Gypsy, and her band. Cap stops the Red Skull from destroying the Eiffel Tower and killing Bucky, then the Americans leave Paris to continue their war while the Gypsy and her people remain behind to carry on their own battle.

SPIDER-MAN: BLUE

"MY FUNNY VALENTINE" | "LET'S FALL IN LOVE" | "ANYTHING GOES"
"AUTUMN IN NEW YORK" | "IF I HAD YOU" | "ALL OF ME"
By Jeph Loeb & Tim Sale
With Richard Starkings & Comicraft's Wes Abbott / Steve Buccellato
Comicraft's JG Roshell / Bronwyn Taggart / Nanci Dakesian / Joe Quesada / Bill Jemas
Dedicated to Stan Lee & Steve Ditko & John Romita, web-heads all!

It's hard for me to choose a favorite between DAREDEVIL: YELLOW and SPIDER-MAN: BLUE. Both are tremendous pieces of work, perhaps the finest retellings of these characters' earlier periods than anything else I've ever read. But in the end, BLUE edges out YELLOW by a slight margin, simply because it stars Spider-Man, my all-time favorite superhero character.

And it's not just any Spider-Man we're following here, either. This is the web-slinger as I love him best, as I was introduced to him via reprints of the Stan Lee/John Romita comics. This is Peter Parker, in college, rooming with Harry Osborn. He's moved past the formative high school years and become, in my opinion, the most iconic version of the character. There are those who prefer Spider-Man in high school. There are those who prefer him married, or as a single adult. But for me, there is absolutely no better status quo for the wall-crawler than as an undergraduate at Empire State University, and there is no better run of Spider-Man issues than roughly AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #40 - 100.

So it's no surprise that I love BLUE so much. It begins during AMAZING issue 40, immediately after the wall-crawler's most influential artist, John Romita, came onto the title (apologies to you Ditko-fans out there -- I like the guy, and I fully acknowledge that without him we would not have Spider-Man or most of his best enemies -- but taking that for granted, I much prefer the style Romita brought to the characters and the stories).

DAREDEVIL: YELLOW

"THE CHAMPIONSHIP SEASON" | "THE MEASURE OF A MAN" | "STEPPING INTO THE RING"
"NEVER LEAD WITH YOUR LEFT" | "AGAINST THE ROPES" | "THE FINAL BELL"
Storytellers: Jeph Loeb & Tim Sale | Colors: Matt Hollingsworth
Lettering: Richard Starkings & Comicraft's Wes Abbott
Editors: Bronwyn Taggart & Stuart Moore | Man Without Fear: Joe Quesada
President: Bill Jemas
Dedicated to Stan Lee & Bill Everett & Wally Wood, prizefighters all!

The term "bittersweet, timeless classic" gets thrown around a lot these days, but in the case of DAREDEVIL: YELLOW, no description is more apt. This is a wonderful story from Loeb and Sale, told via a framing sequence set in then-modern continuity, as Matt "Daredevil" Murdock struggles to cope with the recent death of his longtime girlfriend, Karen Page. At the urging of his friend, Foggy Nelson, Matt writes a series of letters to Karen in which he describes the earliest days of their relationship.

Unlike HULK: GRAY, which structured (or, in terms of publication chronology, will structure) its entire six-part story to fit within the first issue of the Hulk's original series, covering less than 24 hours' time and therefore making up a great deal of material, DAREDEVIL: YELLOW threads its tale through the first four issues of the classic DAREDEVIL series, covering what seem to be the first few months of Daredevil's career and drawing heavily upon the original stories by Stan Lee, Bill Everett, and Joe Orlando, resulting in a much more satisfying read.

The story begins as Matt and Foggy near the end of law school. Matt's father, "Battlin'" Jack Murdock, a boxer, is killed by an agent named the Fixer when he refuses to throw a fight. Matt, blinded at an early age by exposure to a radioactive isotope which exponentially heightened all his remaining senses, dons a yellow-and-brown costume crafted from his father's gear and, calling himself Daredevil, goes for revenge upon the Fixer. The agent dies of a heart attack, however, robbing Daredevil of the chance to see justice done.

HULK: GRAY

"A IS FOR APPLE" | "B IS FOR BOY" | "C IS FOR CRY"
"D IS FOR DOG" | "E IS FOR ELEPHANT" | "F IS FOR FATHER"
Storytellers: Jeph Loeb & Tim Sale | Colors: Matt Hollingsworth
Lettering & Design: Richard Starkings & Comicraft's John Roshell
Managing Editor: Nanci Dakesian | Associate Managing Editor: Kelly Lamy
Editor-in-Chief: Joe Quesada | President Bill Jemas
Dedicated to Stan Lee & Jack Kirby, the original Jade Giants!

I don't know much about the original Hulk comics on which this story is based, but as it turns out, I really needn't have read them anyway. Unlike the other two "color" series, DAREDEVIL: YELLOW and SPIDER-MAN: BLUE, as we'll see in coming weeks, I had forgotten that HULK: GRAY draws much less on early Marvel continuity, instead creating much of its story from whole cloth.

The tale is narrated by Bruce Banner and Dr. Leonard Samson, set up via a framing sequence. Banner is on the lam as usual, but wants someone to talk to. Enter Samson, his psychiatrist pal. Together they delve into the first day or so after the Hulk's creation in order to better understand the triangle relationship between the Hulk, Betty Ross, and her father, the Hulk's arch-antagonist, General "Thunderbolt" Ross.

Even though it was published last in the set of "color" series, I've chosen to cover GRAY first because it's my least favorite of the group and I want to go in ascending order of preference rather than publication order. I suppose part of the reason this series does so little for me is simply that I've never been much of a fan of the Hulk as a solo character. I like him as an antagonist in other characters' series, and I enjoy him solo when he's intelligent -- but reading about the big dumb Hulk is about as appealing to me as reading about the adventures of a brick.

WOLVERINE & GAMBIT: VICTIMS

"PART ONE: IN HARM'S WAY" | "PART TWO: IN DEEP"
"PART THREE: NO WAY OUT" | "PART FOUR: A WOMAN SCORNED"
Words and Pictures: Jeph Loeb & Tim Sale
Lettering: Richard Starking and Comicraft | Colors: Gregory Wright
Separations: Digital Chameleon (issues 1 & 2) & Malibu's Hues (issues 3 & 4)
Editor: Mark Powers | Editor-in-Chief: Bob Harras

Come with me now to the nineties, a decade extremely near to my comic book reading heart but one which I've covered very little (if at all?) since beginning this blog. In 1995, the X-Men were in a state of flux. The post-Chris Claremont era's status quo had changed somewhat following the "Age of Apocalypse" crossover, and it was an exciting time to be an X-fan. Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters had moved to Massachusetts under the stewardship of Banshee and the reformed Emma Frost. The name "Onslaught" (Who was he? What was he?) was on everyone's lips. And Wolverine was devolving by the day into a feral shadow of his former self.

Which brings us to VICTIMS, by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale. At the time Loeb was the regular writer of both X-MAN and CABLE. Over at DC, he had teamed with artist Sale on a handful of projects including three well-regarded BATMAN: HAUNTED KNIGHT Halloween one-shots, but, aside from a short annual backup story starring Bishop (more on that below), this was the duo's first work for Marvel.

Loeb and Sale use Wolverine's deteriorating humanity as the springboard for their story, as Gambit learns that an old friend in the London police is the latest victim in a string of modern day "Jack the Ripper" murders. Gambit heads to England to investigate and runs afoul of the law, as well as Wolverine, who is apparently the killer.

MARVEL BY JEPH LOEB & TIM SALE

As seems to be the case with many fans, I find a great deal of Jeph Loeb's writing pretty awful. But somehow, when partnered with artist Tim Sale, his work usually rises to the point that, if not brilliant, I would at least call it "very good". I love the duo's team-ups over at DC. BATMAN: THE LONG HALLOWEEN was probably the very first hardcover reprint I ever purchased, back in 2000 or so. I actually find its sequels, DARK VICTORY and CATWOMAN: WHEN IN ROME, even more enjoyable, and they reside right next THE LONG HALLOWEEN on my bookcase, along with SUPERMAN FOR ALL SEASONS.

But Loeb and Sale have done similarly good work at Marvel, and that's what I'm going to cover for the next few Fridays. We'll start with 1995's WOLVERINE & GAMBIT: VICTIMS, followed by HULK: GRAY, DAREDEVIL: YELLOW, and SPIDER-MAN: BLUE from 2001 - 2004. Please note that I'm covering those last three not in release order, but in order my preference, finishing with my favorite of the trio.