Captain America Epic Collection: The Lazarus Conspiracy

Artist Mike Zeck makes his Captain America debut!

Captain America has never faced a threat more ironic than an animated statue of Honest Abe at the Lincoln Memorial! Who is Animus, the man behind it all — and what is his grand plan? This volume features legendary artist Mike Zeck’s first Captain America story in a team-up with the Avengers, followed by a shocking battle with a legion of Red Skulls that strips Cap of his Super-Soldier powers! Then comes an unforgettable crossover with the Hulk as the Falcon finds himself trapped on Alcatraz. And after the iconic team-up of Falcon and Captain America draws to a close, Cap confronts the National Front hate group head-on. Plus: thrilling team-ups with Nick Fury, the Incredible Hulk, Sharon Carter, Daredevil and — in one of his earliest appearances — the Punisher! And the first-ever Falcon solo story.

COLLECTING: Captain America (1968) #222-246, Incredible Hulk (1968) #232, Marvel Premiere (1972) #49

Written by Roger McKenzie, Peter B. Gillis & Steve Gerber with Roger Stern, Mark Evanier, Mike Barr, Steven Grant, Alan Kupperberg, Jim Shooter, David Michelinie, Michael Fleisher, Chris Claremont & Paul Kupperberg
Penciled by Sal Buscema with Don Perlin, Fred Kida, Mike Zeck, Frank Springer, Rich Buckler, Carmine Infantino & Jerry Bingham

Peter B. Gillis began as a 1970s freelancer on Marvel Two-in-One, Super-Villain Team-Up and other titles. Later, he became the regular writer on Defenders, Eternals and Strange Tales, in which he subjected Doctor Strange to a soul-searching gamut of good and evil magic. Elsewhere in the Marvel Multiverse, he wrote Micronauts: The New Voyages and launched Strikeforce: Morituri with Brent Anderson, telling tales of a universe in which superhumans must embrace death to protect the Earth. He has also written for First Comics, TSR Games and others; he co-created Shatter, the first digital comic.

After a start as inker to his older brother John, Sal Buscema penciled Captain America, Defenders, Incredible Hulk and more. Famed for his ability to meet tight deadlines, he spread his talents across multiple genres. His 1970s work ranged from Ms. Marvel and Nova to Sub-Mariner and Spider-Woman’s first appearance in Marvel Spotlight. He was the uninterrupted artist on Spectacular Spider-Man for more than a hundred issues and penciled the web-slinger’s adventures in Marvel Team-Up, in which he and writer Bill Mantlo introduced Captain Jean DeWolff. After handling more team-ups in the Thing’s Marvel Two-in-One, he reunited with brother John on Steve Englehart’s Fantastic Four. He later provided inks for Tom DeFalco’s Spider-Girl titles and Thunderstrike miniseries.

A creative stalwart that put his all into his work on long-running series like Ghost Rider and Defenders, Don Perlin plied his talents in virtually every discipline in the comic-book field — penciling, inking, creating new characters and sometimes editing and writing. A student of Burne Hogarth’s, Perlin launched his career in 1951, drawing horror comics for various publishers and also penciling Will Eisner’s The Spirit. After serving in the Army, Perlin returned to comics with Harvey in the late ’50s as well as Charlton in the ’60s. In 1973, he began his long association with Marvel, finishing John Buscema’s art on Thor and inking several titles. He took over Werewolf by Night from Mike Ploog, penciling and inking the book for much of the next two years. He also penciled and inked the supernatural adventures of Johnny Blaze in Ghost Rider, his name becoming very closely identified with Marvel’s monster biker. In the ’80s, he drew Defenders for a long run before turning his attention to Marvel’s adaptation of Hasbro’s Transformers. His early ’90s work on Valiant’s Solar, Man of the Atom and Bloodshot was extremely popular, after which Perlin went into semiretirement.