Cap #45-46 at Couture's

(as seen in the pages of Advanced Iron #57)

CAPTAIN AMERICA #401

«After the storm» - June 1992

Story: Mark Gruenwald
Pencils: Rik Levins
Inks: Danny Bulanadi

The "Storm" that is being referred to in the title is actually Operation: Galactic Storm, this great Avengers storyline during which Earth's mightiest heroes found themselves in the middle of an intergalactic war between the Kree and Shi'ar empires.

During that event, Iron Man surrendered the team to the enemy without consulting with Cap and later he broke rank to pursue his own plan (IM #279 and Cap #399). Finally, IM was part of the Avengers group who, despite Cap's protest, endeavoured to terminate the Supreme Intelligence's existence to keep it from causing further harm (Avengers #347). Let's face it, those two guys have quite a history and most of it hasn't been good recently.

Cap is totally depressed. The Black Widow is afraid he might be heading for a burnout. She convinces Hawkeye to take him out of the mansion so he can get his mind off his worries and have a man to man talk. Clint manages to convince Steve to follow him out (it requires a bit of arm-twisting). If Steve had known where Barton was taking him, he would've required a lot more convincing! A bar… and as the man to man conversation goes on, our two Avengers receive the visit of a third and unexpected member: Tony Stark (seeing Stark in a bar of all places is not lost on Rodgers).

The two heroes proceed to talk about their past differences. They can't pretend to agree on everything, but at least they can finally understand the other one's point of view. And in the end, their respect for each other is renewed.

Now don't get me wrong, this is an excellent, well-written and very well-drawn comic. A thoroughly enjoyable read.

But don't expect to see a lot of super-hero action in here because you'll be very disappointed! Iron Man is only wearing armor in a very small number of panels, most of the time he's just good ol' Tony Stark. But is that a bad thing? I don't think so.

If, for you, respect of continuity is important and if you enjoy evolving relationships between characters and character development, then you'll love this comic. Gruenwald takes the time to sit Tony and Steve at a table to get them to finally talk about where they're coming from and what they want to see happen next. That makes these fantastic characters incredibly realistic and human, and that's why we love them.

Another very cool thing about this comic is the occupants of the bar in question. If you take the time to look carefully in the background, you'll recognise a lot of people. In fact, you'll probably recognise even more people than me because I'm not an American. Many characters of American comics' early days are there like Dick Tracy, Popeye and the Yellow Kid. You'll also recognise old actors like Humphrey Bogart and many others. Heck, even Albert Einstein is there! Next time I'm in New York, I gotta stop for a drink at the Laughing Morse ;-).

The writer seems to be unaware of the fact that Stark was very weak and on the verge of death at that point in time because he seems just fine in this comic.

Upon entering the bar, Clint says: "I'll tell ya my theory. There's three kinds a' bars - yuppie bars, lowlife bars an' old men bars." Steve asks: "And what's this?" Clint replies: "A lowlife bar, of course! They're the most fun!"

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