Comicsdad wrote:
Somehow reading the all Marvel superhero comics during the past few Marathon segments I've come to call this period of Kirby his 'mature Marvel' phase. I mean, everything we have come to expect from 60s Kirby stories is there, the marvelous ideas and concepts, Kirby Machinery, dynamic action scenes, small (sometimes large) slices of humor... This story adds one element, i.e. Marvel continuity. It works in many directions. First, we have the introduction of the Red Skull to the modern Marvel age, and even an explanation (however flimsy) how he survived until the present day. Well, the present day as we understand it here in the Marvel Masterworks Marathon. But still, a nod to the Golden Age. Second, we have the connection to the then-current ST #146 (actually ToS #79 takes place before it, i.e. I read them in the wrong order, THE HORROR!!!). Count Royale of THEM and A.I.M. (I guess?) is seen here before his appearance on the SHIELD helicarrier. Third, and the importance of this will be revealed only later, we get our first glimpse of the Cosmic Cube! It is interesting that one of Kirby's most cosmic concepts was introduced in Captain America, not the most cosmic comic out there. 



Kirby and Lee smartly brought the Red Skull into the present Marvel age, where technology was a threat in the wrong hands. The updated Skull could not represent true horror, restricted by the Comic Code, so he became a more sophisticated version of his earlier self. Thus, the Skull continued as a viable antagonist for Cap.

    http://nick-caputo.blogspot.com/