Captain America Annual #4

History

Jack Kirby returned to Marvel in 1976 after five years at DC Comics, negotiating a deal that gave him full creative control over Captain America as writer, penciller, and editor, beginning with issue #193. The Annual #4 was written, drawn, and edited by Kirby and falls near the very end of that run — published on sale in May 1977 with a November 1977 cover date, slotted between Captain America #212 and #213. According to a commentary by Mark Waid in the Marvel Masterworks: Captain America Vol. 11 collection, the decision to use Magneto in the story was driven by editor-in-chief Archie Goodwin, who recognized the surge in mutant-related readership following the X-Men's revival; Waid noted that Kirby himself appeared less invested in Magneto specifically, as the villain's role could plausibly have been filled by a generic antagonist. Inkers John Verpoorten and John Tartaglione, colorist George Roussos, and letterer Jim Novak rounded out the production team.

Trivia · 8 facts

• First appearance of the second Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, consisting of five new Kirby-created mutants: Burner (Byron Calley), Lifter (Ned Lathrop), Peeper (Peter Quinn), Shocker (Randall Darby), and Slither (Aaron Salomon).
• First and only appearance of Mr. One and Mr. Two, a symbiotic mutant pair sharing a single consciousness across two radically different bodies; both characters die in this issue.
• Written, pencilled, and edited entirely by Jack Kirby — one of only two Captain America annuals produced during his 1976–1977 return to Marvel (the other being Annual #3).
• The story's title is 'The Great Mutant Massacre!'; the cover was pencilled by Kirby with inks by Frank Giacoia.
• Archie Goodwin served as editor-in-chief (consulting editor) on the issue; inkers were John Verpoorten and John Tartaglione, with colors by George Roussos and lettering by Jim Novak.
• The five Brotherhood members introduced here survived the issue and reappeared as the Mutant Force beginning in Defenders #78 (December 1979), then later became the Resistants in Captain America #343 (1988), making their debut here the origin point of a villain team with a publishing lifespan spanning decades.
• The issue has been reprinted at least four times: in the trade paperback Captain America and the Falcon: The Swine (2006), Captain America by Jack Kirby (2010), a Spanish-language Marvel Gold edition (2017), and the Captain America Omnibus Vol. 4 (2023), as well as in Marvel Masterworks: Captain America Vol. 11 (2019).
• On sale date was May 1977 (cover date: November 1977); the issue runs 34 pages at the Bronze Age cover price standard of the time.

Full credits

Key issues in Captain America Annual

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#3 1st appearance — Threkker

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#9 1st appearance — Ramona Napier