CAPTAIN AMERICA'S BICENTENNIAL BATTLES...

Copyright MARVEL COMICS

If you can remember the long hot summer of 1976 then, like me, you're positively ancient.  There was a heatwave that year and I recall seeing waves of steam rising from the tarmacadam roads like a tangible force.  Jack 'King' Kirby had returned to Marvel only the year before after a five year stint at DC, and in '76 he had two new Marvel Treasury Specials on sale.  Namely, Captain America's Bicentennial Battles and 2001: A Space Odyssey.  The two currently in my collection are replacements I acquired a good number of years ago and one glance at them returns me to those days of the mid-'70s in a heartbeat.

It's said you can get too much of a good thing, but I've never let that deter me from buying different printings of the same comics.  Facsimiles, True Believers, collected editions, etc., are a magnetic lure to me I find nigh-impossible to resist.  That's why I recently forked out for a new printing (well, 2021) of Cap's Bicentenial Battles Treasury, plus a Cap America collected volume (2005) containing the same titanic tale (as well as a few other Cap reprints).  The TS is almost the same dimensions as the original, though on better paper, with a deluxe overlapping cover.

The book is around the same dimensions as a standard comic mag (but with more pages obviously) and also contains CA #s 201-205, again on superior paper.  Whoever was responsible for compiling the credits for the front of the book had clearly never heard of Barry Smith, as, presumably having referred to the credits on the tale's splash page where Barry is listed only as B. Smith, appears to have taken a guess and rendered his name as Bob Smith.  (I wonder what Barry would say if he ever finds out.)  Thing is, because the original '76 Treasury is a peculiar size, being presented in a smaller format leaves too large a margin below each page.

The original 1976 Treasury Special

The 'new' Treasury is a very handsome affair and if you're a Captain America or Jack Kirby fan, it's definitely one you should consider adding to your collection - even if you already own its original incarnation as it also features Marvel's Bicentennial Calendar in the back (one month per page).  And just to be complete, below is the cover to Kirby's other '76 Treasury Special - 2001: A Space Odyssey.  If you once had either (or both) of these two publications (or still have them), share your thoughts about them in our comments section.

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Afterthought: I re-read my replacement '76 Bicentennial Battles a good number of years ago, so didn't really recall too much about the story.   I therefore started to read my 2021 edition not long after it arrived, but had to do it in instalments as it didn't really grab me.  After some reflection (and in seeming contradiction to what I wrote above), I realised the story isn't actually up to much, being Kirby's 'promotional propaganda pamphlet' for America in its 200th year.  It's mostly a dry read where nothing of significance ever really happens and it's a bit of a plod up to the end of the 'happy-ever-after' tale.

It's at times like this you realise just how much Jack needed Stan Lee to give the dialogue some 'oomph'.  JK tends to tell a tale with captions instead of dialogue, both of which are often stilted and unnatural sounding.  Art-wise, even the Smith-inked pages have a few dodgy panels among the better ones, which are only better because of Smith.  Reading this again made me realise I was immersing myself in memories of my own lost youth of 50 years ago, rather than any literary merit in the way the tale was written, which it doesn't really have.  A series of meaningless random encounters doth not a story make.

However, it's by Kirby, from a time when I thought he could do no wrong, so I'm still glad to have it.  You could say it's a portal into the past as opposed to a great read, but that's good enough for me.  I'm assuming the new edition didn't sell very well as a lot of them available via eBay are remaindered copies - even ones still safely ensconced in their shrink-wrap.  Interestingly, the '70s Fireside Silver Surfer book by Jack & Stan was likewise heavily remaindered, indicating that the King's reign was finally at an end.