The 22nd Co(s)mic Comic Book Broadcast: The Return of the Holy Grail

I've been tied up with work for the past few days, it's been hectic and crazy but I got everything done last night and today I thought I would finally post something.  Yeah took me long enough.
Welcome to the 22nd Co(s)mic Comic Book Broadcast and I'm want to share with you another comics that I would love to have in my collection.  Yes it's time for "The Return Of The Holy Grail".  This issue is very high, very very high on my Holy Grail List.

Here it is, it's a comic from 1986.  Look at this cover!                                                                        

Isn't that just BEAUTIFUL?  Here it is, this is Captain America Annual # 8 from 1986, the year Marvel celebrated their 25th Anniversary, clearly stated on the cover in the corner box.  The first time I laid eyes on this issue was at a friend's house and I went nuts for it.  I wanted it!  But there was no way I could get it then, so I've always remembered it and it's been on my list ever since.  That is just a beautiful cover, I think I've seen a few artists doing their homage to this cover and over the years, there's been a few versions out there.

It's a great cover and also a kickass poster!!  I believe that both Arthur Adams and Brandon Peterson did their version of this cover, I could be wrong but I think there's one version featuring the Ultimate Universe version of Cap and Wolvie.  (oh, as I type away here, Ultimate End should be on sale now, brings a tear to my eye to see that the Ultimate Universe is coming to an end....apparently, I love the Ultimate Universe)

Okay, Captain Annual # 8, the cover is by Mike Zeck, inked by John Beatty.  I'm a long time fan of Mike Zeck and he is the main reason this book is so high on my Holy Grail list.  Titled: Tess-One, it's written by the late Mark Gruenwald, Pencils by Mike Zeck, Inks by John Beatty and Joe Rubenstein, Colours by Gynnis Oliver and Letter by Jim Novak.   Storywise Cap and Wolvie try to stop a former SHIELD agent in a hi-tech battle suit and his adamantium coated, World War II era, super soldier killing robot from sending all of America's nuclear missiles to the bottom of the ocean floor in a bid to restore his bomb fearing son to sanity. Oh, the issue was edited by Mike Carlin who later went on to be editor of the Superman comics at DC Comics. 

We start off like a bar room brawl, you would have thought that this bar room brawl was started by Wolverine but nah, he's sitting at the bar contemplating life's vicissitudes (?) that means changing fortunes by the way.  Back in the day when there were guest stars in any comic, it was a big thing then.  A guest star was a big thing, worth the cover price.  These days it's common place to have guest stars almost every issue, it's no longer "special" but this was SPECIAL.  Now what do you get when you want the Total Exterminator of the Super Soldier- You get TESS-1— the ultimate man-killing robot! It's target is Cap! But when Wolverine enters the fray, TESS-1 just might bag two for the price of one!

Wolverine springing into action!!  In this issue, we had Captain America [Steve Rogers]; GUESTS: Wolverine; Bob Frank, Jr. [Nuklo]; VILLAINS: Overrider [Richard Rennselaer] (intro); Tess-One [a robot].  That's Tess-One over there manhandling Bob Frank Jr. formerly Nuklo.  

It would be a few pages before Cap and Logan would finally meet and when they did, wow! Did the sparks fly!  Those days, the formula for a meet up between two heroes would be for them to meet, have a little confrontation and then later, they would team up, a formulaic concept that's become commonplace today.   See, they team up.

Here's something ironic about a statement Cap makes in this issue, Captain America makes a comment about the Avengers never accepting Wolverine among their ranks is ironic, since almost twenty years later Wolverine would be a member of the Avengers alongside Captain America as of New Avengers # 7.  

Yeah there's the panel where Cap makes a false prediction there but hey it's all good.   Wolverine proves his worth and a few years later, he and Cap would be teammates.  Okay, what makes this issues so collectible to me? Well for one, Mike Zeck is the penciler  and I am a big fan of his work.  I liked what he did in Captain America Annual #8.  I hope one day to be able to find a mint or near mint copy of this issue, so if you know where I can find a copy, please let me know, okay?  I would appreciate that.  Thanks for taking the time to read the Co(s)mic Comic Book Broadcast.  Oh by the way what's on your Holy Grail list?  What comics are you looking for?  Let me know okay, that way we can compare notes.  Again thanks for dropping by, we'll talk again next time on the Co(s)mic Comic Book Broadcast.

#cosmiccomicbookbroadcast #mike zeck #john beatty #mark gruenwald #captain america #wolverine