Writer/Artist: Dave Gibbons, Lee Weeks, Stan Lee, Jack Kirby

Publisher: Marvel, $12.99 (out of print)

If you just want a really fun self contained Captain America story done in a What If?’ style, then you should try and hunt down the Cap Lives arc. Originally published in Captain America (Vol4) #17-20, the story starts with Captain America being found frozen in the North Atlantic in 1964. Except this time it’s by a German submarine that takes him back to an occupied New York renamed New Berlin. The Nazis won WWII and are cementing their hold over the world, and the return of Captain America to see everything he fought for gone is the icing on the cake for the Red Skull who is still alive and attempting to find a way to conquer space and time now.

Unwilling to become a puppet of the Red Skull, Captain America escapes and finds safety with the Underground movement. The story introduces a lot of familiar faces such as Don Blake, Reed Richards, Luke Cage, Peter Parker, and many more whose lives have turned out much differently due to the change in history.

Dave Gibbons provides a tight script and a fun plot, telling a complete and well paced story in just four issues. I’ll usually like anything Lee Weeks is attached to, and this is no exception. His storytelling and layouts compliment the plotting perfectly, and he tells a dirty and street level war story with a good flair of sci-fi and pure super-hero action in it. The last issue in the book reprints Tales of Suspense #66 by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, retelling the origin of the Red Skull. So considering you’re getting a solid dose of Kirby at the end, you’re doing pretty good with this collection.

Now for the bad news. This particular collection is out of print (get your ass in gear, Marvel), so you may have to do some hunting. Amazon has it listed from $8 to $75, so you might have to settle for a beater copy. You might also want to just hunt down the single issues, and if that’s the case you really shouldn’t have to pay too much for them. You can probably get away with spending $3-5 bucks each at the most, and you might find them fairly easily in a discount bin considering a lot of people didn’t really bother to check this story out. Still, if you can get the trade for under $20 it’s still a good deal considering the original price was $12.99 and you get a good Kirby reprint in the back.

If you like this then try: Pretty much the entire Brubaker run of Captain America, Captain America Operation Rebirth, Enemy Ace, Avengers Earth's Mightiest Heroes (Joe Casey)

Related Links: Captain America Library