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Cover: Sal Buscema & John Verpoorten

Captain America #168

Name: Captain America #168
Brand: Marvel
Availability: InStock

Dec 1973 · Marvel · 0.20 USD

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“...And a Phoenix Shall Arise!”

★ 1st appearance — Helmut Zemo

About this Issue

Captain America #168 (December 1973) is the first appearance of Helmut Zemo, the son of WWII villain Baron Heinrich Zemo, who would eventually grow into one of Marvel's most consequential antagonists — masterminding the siege of Avengers Mansion, founding the Thunderbolts, and later anchoring multiple MCU films and Disney+ series. Though the issue presents him as a seemingly disposable one-off villain operating under the alias 'The Phoenix,' his survival and reinvention as the full Baron Zemo in the early 1980s retroactively made this Bronze Age issue the starting point of a decades-long character legacy. The issue also carries structural significance as a bridge piece: it slots between the Yellow Claw storyline and Steve Englehart's landmark 'Secret Empire' arc, marking the last moment of relative calm before one of the most politically charged runs in Captain America history.

writer Roy Thomas · writer Tony Isabella · artist Sal Buscema · inker J. Tartag · inker G. Roussos · colorist L. Lessmann · letterer C. Jetter · letterer June Braverman · cover Sal Buscema, John Verpoorten

ComicBooks.com Value

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Raw (Fine) $22

CGC 9.8 · 22 in census $1,097

CGC 9.6 · 38 in census $254

CGC 9.4 · 53 in census $173

CGC 9.2 · 38 in census $115

CGC 9.0 · 32 in census $115

CGC 8.5 · 34 in census $115

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CGC 8.0 · 36 in census $68

CGC 7.5 · 31 in census $56

CGC 7.0 · 21 in census $52*

CGC 6.5 · 15 in census $29*

CGC 6.0 · 8 in census $29*

CGC 5.5 · 6 in census $29*

CGC 5.0 · 8 in census $29*

CGC 4.5 · 5 in census $29*

CGC 4.0 · 5 in census $29*

CGC 3.5 · 2 in census $26*

* estimate — limited direct-sales data at this grade

Our model’s value — refined as new sales data arrives · CGC census counts shown where available

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CGC 9.6 ▾ $585 2 listings

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CGC 9.4 ▾ $125–$230 2 listings

CGC 9.4 $125 CGC 9.4 $230

CGC 8.5 $135 1 listing CGC 7 $89.99 1 listing CGC 6 $49 1 listing CGC 5.5 $99.99 1 listing

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FN+ $21.47 FN+ $31 FN+ $32.3

Raw — FINE ▾ $24–$56.99 3 listings

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Raw / ungraded ▾ $11.69–$180 29 listings

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More listings for this title

Newsstand $9.97 FINE $19.95 FINE $20 VG $25 FN $29.99 VF $64.95 FINE · Signed $64.95 Captain America and Falcon 168 Dec 1973 Vol 1 Marvel Comics $22.58

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History

The issue was produced as a fill-in while regular series writer Steve Englehart was occupied collaborating with artist Alan Weiss on the creation of Master of Kung Fu, leaving an editorial gap that editor/writer Roy Thomas stepped in to address. According to Tony Isabella — who completed the script — Thomas provided the plot and wrote the first six pages, while Isabella fleshed out the remainder, particularly Helmut's backstory and unhappy childhood, working from brief margin notes that Sal Buscema had sketched onto the art boards. Isabella has noted the arrangement was informal and improvisational, reflecting the rapid-turnaround production culture of 1970s Marvel, and the division of labor between Thomas and Isabella is corroborated by Englehart himself in later commentary on the issue.

Trivia · 8 facts

First appearance of Helmut Zemo (the 13th Baron Zemo), introduced under the alias 'The Phoenix' — the codename has no connection to the X-Men's Jean Grey, whose own Phoenix identity would debut years later.
Written by Roy Thomas (plot and first six pages) and Tony Isabella (remainder of script), with pencils by Sal Buscema, inks by John Tartaglione and George Roussos, and colors by Linda Lessmann.
Published December 1973 (cover-dated); the series indicia at this time read 'Captain America and the Falcon,' reflecting Sam Wilson's co-starring role.
Helmut is depicted as the son of Heinrich Zemo, the Nazi scientist killed in Avengers #15 (1965); he blames Captain America for his father's death and the chemical disfigurement Heinrich suffered, establishing the dynastic grudge that defines the character.
Helmut apparently dies at the issue's end by falling into a vat of his father's own invention, Adhesive X — an ironic echo of his father's fate — but is revealed to have survived when J.M. DeMatteis and Mike Zeck resurrected and fully developed him starting in Captain America #275 (1982).
The issue was adapted as a book-and-record set by Power Records in 1974, titled 'And a Phoenix Shall Arise,' with a narrated 45 RPM record packaged alongside a reprinted comic with a custom hard-stock cover; audio from this recording was later sampled in Eminem's 'Rap God.'
Collected in Marvel Masterworks: Captain America Vol. 8 and also falls within the range of the Captain America Epic Collection: The Secret Empire (collecting #160–179).
Daniel Brühl portrays Helmut Zemo in the MCU, appearing in Captain America: Civil War (2016) and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (2021), significantly raising collector and fan interest in this debut issue.