Steve Englehart and Sal Buscema’s tour de force gets a new release in 2023…
One Marvel’s biggest storylines of the ’70s — Captain America: Secret Empire — is finally getting its own Epic Collection next year.
Dig this description from an Amazon listing:
CAPTAIN AMERICA EPIC COLLECTION: THE SECRET EMPIRE
By Steve Englehart and Sal Buscema
One of the most influential Captain America stories of all time, filled with action, suspense, and political intrigue
Steve Englehart and Sal Buscema take Captain America and the Falcon on a journey through the madness and machinations of Doctor Faustus. The mind-bending Doctor has captured Sharon Carter, a.k.a. Agent-13, but little does Cap know, Faustus also has Peggy Carter, Cap’s long-lost love from World War II! Then, Nick Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D. conscript Cap in the fight against the Yellow Claw. But the real menace to mankind is subtly concealed. A Secret Empire moves behind the face of American power. Their goal is to frame and discredit Captain America, replacing them with their own “patriotic” icon. Only the combined efforts of Cap, the Falcon, S.H.I.E.L.D. and the X-Men can hope to topple them. It’s a shocking saga that defined Captain America for the ’70s!
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A few thoughts:
— It never occurred to me that this hasn’t been in an Epic Collection before. Then again, the storyline has been reprinted a few times in the past. The new, 416-page paperback lists for $39.99 and is due June 27, 2023.
— The listing does not name the issues that are in the volume, but the fine folks at the Epic Marvel Podcast say it’s #160-179. Secret Empire itself ran from #169-176, so the Epic Collection will include not only the prior issues but the ones that led up to Steve Rogers becoming Nomad (which happened in Issue #180).
— Such timing. Issue #171, which provides the Epic Collection with its wonderful cover by John Romita and Tony Mortellaro, came out this week in 1973. Check out this week’s RETRO HOT PICKS for more. (Really, you want to!)
— Englehart once wrote for us a guest column on Secret Empire. Click here to check it out.
— Standard caveat: This has not been officially solicited by Marvel yet, so anything can change. That said, I fully expect this to see print. Keep checking back at 13th Dimension for updates.
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MORE
— MARVEL Sets Date For Next Bronze Age AMAZING SPIDER-MAN EPIC COLLECTION. Click here.
— Annie Nocenti’s DAREDEVIL to Get Epic Collection. Click here.
December 1, 2022
That was a great run. If I didn’t already have these issues in Marvel Masterworks form I’d be all over this Epic Collection! Steve and Sal did a phenomenal job on Cap. For several years, up until Kirby’s run, Cap was one of Marvel’s best titles. It took several years for Cap to recover from the Kirby era. The title lost focus and direction for a long time after Kirby came in and ignored what Englehart and Buscema did. But that just points out how great these issues were – for over a decadea afterwards almost everything on this title fell short of the stuff contained in this Epic Collection!
December 1, 2022
Can I just say the Marvel Epic Collections deserve a lot of praise… The “mapping” of what they collect is usually on point, and they always use great (i.e. not glossy) paper stock, with superb coloring. I also appreciate how they are numbered, even if they are not printed in sequence.
December 2, 2022
You can just say that. And I agree with you 100 percent!
December 8, 2022
Totally agree