Ok so what is so special about issue 4 for it to merit this review? It was if you couldn't tell by the picture the re-emergence of one of Marvel (or as it was known back then Timely) comics Golden Age heroes Captain America who is right up there with Spiderman as one of Marvel Comics most iconic characters.
Before Captain America Joined the Avengers were not a very cohesive team. It was made up of Iron Man, Giant Man, the Wasp and the Hulk. The Hulk hated the rest of the team and after one issue defected and began to work with the Submariner. This partially led to Captain America joining.
The issue begins with the Avengers pursuing the Submariner. After the Submariner gets away from the Avengers he witnesses some Eskimos worshiping a man frozen in a block of ice. In a fit of anger the Submariner throws the man into the ocean.
Once there the ice rapidly begins melting. The Avengers find him and bring him aboard they immediately recognise him as Captain America. He recounts the story of how he came to be trapped in the ice.
1945: Captain America and Bucky were disguised as security guards defending an army base against a drone filled with explosives. The two climb aboard the drone in an attempt to defuse it. Bucky's arm becomes trapped and Captain America falls off. The last thing he sees before while falling is the drone exploding with Bucky still attached. What I don't get is when he went in the water he was still wearing the security guard uniform but when he comes out is in his Captain America outfit and what's more the outfit is completely undamaged after being underwater for over 20 years.
The Avengers get back to New York where they are confronted by the press and mysteriously turned to stone. Captain America leaves the ship to explore New York. Along the way a girl says that her father was a fan of Cap. I think that this is symbolic of how Cap will become popular for multiple generations.
Cap meets Rick Jones and is stunned by how much he looks like Bucky. Rick tells him that the Avengers are missing. The two work together analysing the pictures at the docks and see a man with a strange gun.
Cap goes investigating and eventually finds the man from the picture. He rushes in and gets into a fight with some armed thugs. After the fight is over the man reveals himself to be an alien who crashed to earth in ancient times and became the origin of the Medusa myth. This is something I like whenever SIFI/fantasy stories relate to ancient times like this.
Cap takes the alien to the Avengers to return them to normal. In return the Avengers agree to return the aliens ship from the bottom of the ocean. While doing so they are attacked by the Submariner and his men. The two groups are evenly matched until Cap gets involved due to him having the element of surprise. The Submariner is soon defeated due to the alien's ship leaving the planet. The Avengers then invite Cap to join them. Rick Jones sits on a rock wondering how the Hulk will take it when he finds out that he has been replaced with Captain America.
