Marvel Comics; $2.99

“Writer Ed Brubaker and artist Steve Epting start on the cover and keep things in high gear through the very last page. If this series is as good as this first issue, long-suffering Captain America fans will be thrilled,” I wrote when this issue hit in 2005. 

Little did we know what was in store for us.

We didn’t know it was the first issue of a long arc that would define Captain America for a generation. We didn’t know that it would serve as a springboard for the entire Captain America subset of Marvel Cinematic Universe. We didn’t know that it would be almost instantly thought of as one of the greatest runs the character had even enjoyed.

No, Cap fans just knew it was really, really good.

And we were right.

– J.C. Vaughn